"Are ghosts real? Is there such a thing as ghosts?
You know, speaking about ghosts, many people would not have that great an issue if the ghost was like Casper, the friendly ghost. I mean, even his uncles are not so freaky (although they try to freak people out). But many a times, at the mention of the word ghost, we will not think of Casper but a scary ghost, as we see in the movies.
Before we attempt to see if they exist, what are ghosts actually? The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as "an apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living". An easy functional definition would be that if a person died and his soul/spirit still roams the earth, that is a ghost. Think Ghost Whisperer, wherein the 'ghosts' are actually people who have not "crossed over".
Theologically, I hold on to that mankind are formed of 3 parts: body, soul, and spirit. Body is the physical body that we have. Soul is the emotional and rational part of the human being and the spirit is the part that seeks that communion with God.
What happens then when someone dies? Can they still remain on earth? I would say that it is not possible. One example in the bible is found in Luke 16:19-31, which is the story about the rich man and Lazarus. In this parable, we see that after death, the rich man went to hell and Lazarus went to Abraham's side. Though Jesus was not really teaching about that through this parable, it shows us one thing about the thought then: When a person dies, he or she does not remain on earth but will go to a place of eternity, either in heaven or in hell (assuming that Abraham's side is heaven). But the afterlife is another lengthy issue on its own. With this is mind, it is then not possible for the souls of deceased people to still linger on this earth after death.
What about ghost stories and psychics who really speak to the dead?
"I've seen people like John Edward and how they communicate with the dead. And they are dead accurate! How do you explain that?"The simplest answer to this is: there is no such thing as ghosts but there are demons. To put it simply, there was a rebellion in heaven and the outcome of it was that Lucifer, also known as Satan, was punished by being banished from heaven, together with the one third of angels that followed his rebellion. They are known to us as fallen angels, a.k.a. demons. Man was created different from angels. Man has a relationship with God that angels can never attain. In fact, man was created in the very image of God. Because of this, Satan hates man. Satan hates also the fact that man gives worship unto God. After all, it was his "I will" statements that caused his fall. Therefore, he wants to deceive man into rejecting God, so that man will share the same punishment with him.
One of the deception that Satan uses is the existence of ghosts. This goes against the biblical teaching on what happens after death. If Satan succeeds in making man believe in the existence of ghosts, then man will exclude the possibility of the existence of heaven as his eternal home and God as his Father. Therefore, there are no such things as ghosts but rather demons disguising as ghosts so as to deceive you or play with one of the powerful weapon against human beings: fear.
But the mediums very 'chun' wor!
Yes, because they are aided by the demons! Demons have existed way before even man existed (in the form of angels) and supernaturally, they have some powers. Therefore, it is no wonder that they know details about you or even your loved ones. Even Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, "And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions."
Then how ar?
Always remember one thing. "You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) In the context of the verse, the 'them' refers to the spirits of the world that do not confess Jesus (for the context, read 1 John 4:1-6). Our God is far greater than the powers of darkness! Christ has broken their power and we in Christ, too, have authority! (Mark 16:17 says "These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name THEY WILL DRIVE OUT DEMONS; they will speak in new languages", emphasis placed.) In closing, remember the words of James in James 4:7, "So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you." There are no such thing as ghosts but rather demons in their appearance to deceive men. But we have more authority because Christ lives in us! So, Ghostbusters, you are out of business!
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