For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything…
Ecclesiastes 9:5 KJV
Death is a subject that affects us all in this life; we are born, we live and grow and eventually we die but what actually happens to us after death? This is the question that man has been asking for millennia.
We live in a world where there are so many conflicting views & theories. Some say we are reincarnated and come back to life in another person’s body, others say nothing happens at all, that when we die that is the end of us for all eternity. In addition, these conflicting views are seen not only in the world but also in the Church. Christianity today teaches that when a person dies, they go immediately to heaven or to hell and some say one even goes to a place called purgatory: a sort of limbo, where you remain for a time.
But with so many different views, which one is correct?
As a Bible believing Christian, I believe that we must allow the Bible to have its say on the topic, for it, the Bible, is the inspired Word of God, it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path Psalm 119:105 KJV, “the entrance of” God’s Word “giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple” Psalm 119:130 KJV, therefore, we are to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4 KJV.
To understand this topic of what happens after death, we must lay a foundation that things may be made clear.
Scripture teaches us that when Eve was first approached by the devil, who appeared unto her as a serpent, he deceived her with the first lie ever told.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.
Genesis 3:4 KJV
Satan basically insinuated that it was fine to disobey the word of God, Genesis 2:17 KJV, and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For if you eat from it, said he unto Eve, you shall not surely die, i.e., you shall live forever and have immortality, death does not exist.
This first deception sounds a lot like what we hear today, some thousands of years later. How many of us have gone to funerals of deceased loved ones, only to hear that our dead friend or relative is looking down on us from heaven? It is even taught in the secular new age teachings of the day that our dead loved ones become part of the “life force”, whatever that is, to live on in nature. Not to mention the amount of times we see these conflicting views of death in mainstream media and in Hollywood. These are the common teachings of the day.
But what does Scripture say?
…our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality…
1 Timothy 6:14-16 KJV
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Psalm 90:2 KJV
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
The Word of God teaches us clearly that God is the only one that has immortality, and man, being created by the very Creator Himself, is not immortal, he is a mortal being, that returns to the grave at death.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Genesis 3:19 KJV
Shall mortal man be more just than God?
Job 4:17 KJV
Shall a man be more pure than his maker?
But having said all this, what actually happens to us when we die? This is the topic of discussion today.
The Bible teaches us that when a person dies, they are in a state of sleep in the grave. They return unto dust to await their reward. That reward is given by Christ to every single person who has ever lived upon the earth, according to our works done in the body.
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away:
Job 7:9-10 KJV
so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
He shall return no more to his house,
neither shall his place know him any more.
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God:
Psalm 13:3 KJV
lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
John 11:12-14 KJV
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Revelation 22:12 KJV
By accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, the only acceptable offering for our sins, John 1:29 KJV, and by living a life that reflects the principles of God’s kingdom and His character, in total obedience to Him, we shall receive the reward of eternal life at the Second Coming of Christ.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 KJV
…for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Corinthians 15:52-53 KJV
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished…. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Revelation 20:5,11-13 KJV
If the dead are indeed already in heaven or hell, why then would they need to be raised again? It’s a serious question to consider because if one is already in heaven for example, why then is Christ returning?
On the other hand, if we reject the call of mercy to surrender our lives unto Christ, and to repent of our sins and continue to live a life of wickedness, then we shall receive the reward of eternal death and punishment in the lake of fire and brimstone.
For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,
Isaiah 66:15-16 KJV
and with his chariots like a whirlwind,
to render his anger with fury,
and his rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh:
and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jude 1:14-15 KJV
The primary reason for this teaching that our loved ones are already in heaven and not in the graves as Scripture makes clear, is that many misinterpret the meaning of what a soul is. A popular teaching among Christianity today is the the soul is a distinct and separate entity from the human body. However, this is contrary to the Scriptures.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:7 KJV
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1 Peter 3:20 KJV
The soul that sinneth, it shall die
Ezekiel 18:20 KJV
The Bible shows us that man and the soul are not separate, but in fact, the lifeless body plus the breath of life which coms from God creates a soul. The soul is the living person. It is not a free flowing spirit floating around as we see taught today. Notice what God says.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die
Ezekiel 18:20 KJV
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV
As we can see, when the breath of life, also called the spirit, is removed from an individual, that person or soul ceases to exist. The physical body with the breath of life in it refers to the living soul; the soul in itself is not a separate entity as is falsely taught.
All the while my breath is in me,
Job 27:3 KJV
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.
If persons, therefore, had a much clearer understanding on what the Bible says on this topic, they would not be deceived by a lot of these false teachings that are in the world today, which have also found themselves in the Church. We need to study the word of God more and make the effort to search the Scriptures for ourselves, for it is “a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path”, making clear the way which God would have us to walk.
If we open up ourselves into believing that the dead are in fact not truly dead, then we are no different that Eve, who believed the word of satan, who said that “you shall not surely die.” Not only this, but we open up ourselves to be deceived by the many spiritists and mediums in the world, who claim that they can communicate with the dead or even worse off giving the devil an opportunity to deceive us even further by manifesting himself to us in the form of one of our dead relatives or loved ones.
Friends, Christ is coming and coming quickly and He has a reward with Him to give unto all of us according to the works done in this life. Some of us may die before that time comes for we don’t know when God will require the breath of life from us, therefore, let us turn to God and put away the sinful pleasures of this life. Let us set our minds on things above, that heavenly reward, and not upon the fleeting things of this earth which shall pass away.
Surrender your lives over to the Creator of the heaven, the earth, the sea and all that in them is, that we may receive “the crown of life which He has promised to them that love Him.” James 1:12 KJV
Loud Cry Compendium
Loud Cry Compendium 