But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.’ Therefore he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.’ For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay.
-Acts 13:34-36
Do not miss a key point both Peter and Paul make in the Acts, after the resurrection: Christ did not decay! The resurrection is the great undoing of the curse. Adam brought death AND decay into the world. In Adam all die. Dust you are and unto dust you shall return.
The Lord Jesus Christ is not a triune being on his own. His life (breath, spirit) went back to the Father, and who he is went to the abode of the dead, Hades. All believers, when they die, in the state of death, are said to be in Hades. But the Lord Jesus clearly stated, unequivocally, that he was in the “heart of the earth” for three days and three nights. He was nowhere else. He was not simultaneously in heaven, mythical “hell”, and in the tomb.
The victory of Easter is the great undoing of the curse! Though we die, though we decay, in Christ we have the power of resurrection working in us. We will receive a celestial body in the resurrection to replace this terrestrial body of dust.
In the great resurrection chapter, 1 Cor 15, Paul points us to his only use of “hades.” Hades is used of believers. Victory is in the hope of resurrection, and not before. The great WHEN/THEN of the resurrection. It is in resurrection that we “put on immortality” and not before (scripture teaches that God ALONE has immortality).
“So WHEN this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
When we teach that believers go to heaven upon death or that God is somehow torturing people in “Hades” upon death, we rob from the glory of the resurrection. Our future resurrection is not just a footnote. It is the glorious victory over the curse of sin and death!
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
-2 Timothy 1:9-10
The Lord did not die for his own sins, he died for our sins. The Lord claimed victory over that death by not decaying. Death had no power over Him. The glorious victory in the resurrection set the stage for the destruction of the "last enemy," death.
One day, death and Hades will be destroyed from the earth. Death will be no longer, no one will be in a state of death. All these wonderful things are possible because the Lord Jesus Christ took our sins upon himself at Calvary, died in our place, then undid death and decay and freely offers the power of his resurrection to all who will simply come and believe!
