What is the intermediate state?

The Intermediate State as a Theological Concept

What is the Intermediate State? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org. The Intermediate State is a theological concept that speculates regarding what kind of body, if any, believers in heaven have while they wait for their physical bodies to be resurrected.

The Bible makes it clear that deceased believers are with the Lord. The Bible also makes it clear that the resurrection of believers has not yet occurred, meaning that the bodies of deceased believers are still in the grave.

So, the question of the Intermediate State is whether believers in heaven are given temporary physical bodies until the resurrection or whether believers in heaven exist in a spiritual, non-corporeal form until the resurrection.

Revelation 6:9 and the Souls Under the Altar

The Bible does not give a great amount of detail regarding the Intermediate State. The only scripture that specifically, but indirectly, speaks to the issue is Revelation 6 .9. In this verse, John is given a vision of those who will be killed because of their faith during the end times.

In this vision, those believers who had been killed are under God's altar in heaven and are described as souls. So, from this one verse, if there is a biblical answer for the Intermediate State, it would seem that believers in heaven are in spiritual, non-corporeal form until the resurrection.

The New Heavens and New Earth

The heaven that ultimately awaits believers is the new heavens and new earth. Heaven will indeed be a physical place. Our physical bodies will be resurrected and glorified, made perfectly fit for eternity on the new earth.

Currently, heaven is a spiritual realm. It would seem then that there would be no need for temporary physical bodies if believers are in a spiritual heaven. Whatever the Intermediate State is, we can rest assured that believers in heaven are perfectly content enjoying the glories of heaven and worshiping the majesty of the Lord.

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