One of the most confusing debates among Christians, let alone mankind, is what happens when we die. The mass of Christendom believes that when you die you go to heaven or hell, depending on your faith and how you lived. Therefore, if your grandmother dies, at her funeral you’ll hear statements of comfort like, “She’s in a better place” or references to pearly gates and streets of gold. Yet at the same time, in the very same service, the preacher may also speak of her taking part in the resurrection that occurs at the end of the age. So where is she? In heaven looking down on us? Or is she dead, in the grave? Is there another place she could be?
Even the Catholic Church, with it millions of saints up in heaven, has this statement in its Apostles’ Creed:
“He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
The word dead simply means “absence of life”. There is no consciousness whatsoever.
Ask yourself: how will he judge the dead if they’re either in heaven with Him or committed to hell already? And who will He resurrect if they’re still conscious and alive somewhere else? Don’t you resurrect (bring back to life) that which is dead?
But what does the Bible, the word of God, teach us? What about Jesus Himself? What did He have to say on the subject?
When you go through the Bible, a very clear, consistent theme emerges.
The Words of Jesus
Where better to start than with the words of our Lord. Let’s take a look at John 6 to start:
And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (:39)
In this same chapter, he uses the phrase “the last day” in describing the resurrection 4 different times (:39, :40, :44, :54). What happens between the day one dies and “the last day”? It’s a fair question.
To further clarify, earlier on the Lord said:
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. (John 3:13, ESV)
Without exception, no man – including Abraham, Joseph, King David, Elijah or Enoch – no man has ascended to heaven. Very conclusive. Could it be any more clear than that? As Colossians 1 plainly declares, “he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead.” (v. 18).
On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached:
“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day… For David is not ascended into the heavens…” (:29, :34)
David, a type of Christ, is still dead and buried, along with all the other patriarchs, awaiting the resurrection of the dead that occurs at the end of the age, at the return of Christ. So where do we get the idea that when a believer dies, they are whisked off to heaven into the arms of their Lord?
That’s why, in Hebrews 11, we read at the conclusion:
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (:39, ESV)
What was the whole premise of Hebrews 11? It speaks of the saints’ endurance, despite present circumstances, and hope of eternal life. That is what was promised and that was what they were looking for. Yet, as verse 39 tells us, they did not receive it – yet. They are in the grave.
Even a holy, wise man like Daniel was told to “go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” (Dan. 12:13).
So, from the words of Christ Himself, we see that there is a day coming in which there will be a resurrection. Until then, the grave is our home. This may cause some to get discouraged, but what it should do for the believer is clearly illustrate the power of the resurrection – the bringing to life of that which was once dead.
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
In the Gospel of Luke, a parable of the Lord is recorded, which seems to illustrate what happens when we die. Those who have lived justly inherit heaven, and those that do wickedly go to hell. But look at it more clearly for a moment.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom… (:22)
As we have seen (John 3:13 for example), Abraham is not in heaven himself, but is dead, awaiting the resurrection at the “last day” as Jesus said. To conveniently say Abraham is in heaven is to directly contradict the words of the Lord. This is not a parable outlining the ultimate ends of man, but rather demonstrates the hardness of the Pharisaical heart. Not only had they ignored the leaders they claimed (Moses and the prophets), but even if a man rose from the dead (Christ), they would not acknowledge the truth:
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (:31)
They were spiritually dead, unrepentant and intent on enjoying the trappings of this life while pretending to serve God. But there is coming a day of reckoning. That is the warning of this parable.
Even regarding the repentant thief on the cross, we know he did not ascend to heaven? How can we know this? Because even Jesus Himself did not go to heaven that day. On the day of his resurrection, a few days later, look what he says to Mary near the tomb:
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)
Does the Bible contradict itself? Didn’t he promise the thief that he would be in heaven before the day was out? No. The thief asked Jesus to remember him “when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). He understood there was a day coming – not that day though – that Christ would return to establish His kingdom. The Lord assured him that indeed he would inherit eternal life on the “last day”. We must always remember that scripture needs to be harmonized and that Christ would not contradict His own words and promises.
The Old Testament
But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:10-12, 14)
The oldest book in the Bible (Job), clearly acknowledges that after death, we are embraced by the grave. Death feeds on us, but for the believer, this is just for a time. That’s why it is referred to as “sleep”. Remember when Stephen, the church’s first martyr was stoned? How did the scripture describe this event?
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:60).
All throughout the Old Testament, it was clearly and plainly acknowledged that upon death a person did not go to heaven or into some holding pattern (ie: purgatory), but simply died. The scriptures never depart from this. The hope of the Old Testament saints was a coming day when the works of sin and death would be destroyed. As the Lord Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” (John 8:56).
Where the “first Adam” failed, the “Last Adam” would succeed and destroy the works of sin.
The Epistles
So far we have seen that upon our last breath, we enter into death. ”Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. (Eccl 9:10). Once you are dead, there’s no consciousness, no heaven, no hell. But for the believer, all hope is not lost. There is a morning coming, a “morning without clouds”, called resurrection morning, when the Lord Jesus comes again and brings to life those who died in Him.
Perhaps nowhere else in the epistles is the concept of life and death dealt with as clearly as in 1 Corinthians 15.
Here Paul speaks of the fact that the entire fate of humanity hangs on the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ rose physically from the dead. There can be no waffling on this point. If He never rose to life, the entirety of Christianity is a hoax. But if He did, then what are the implications?
He speaks of the power of death, which feeds on us all as children of Adam. But he goes on:
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. (15:22-23)
When does the resurrection occur? “At his coming.”
Until then we are still subject to death, but we ought not to sorrow as those who do not have hope. Why? Because when the Lord returns:
… this mortal shall have put on immortality, then [at his coming] shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (:54-55)
But until then, the day of the Lord’s coming, death still affects us. The hope we have is in the resurrection – a hope we never had before Christ. At that time, the chorus will be: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
A day is coming, in which the dead (absence of life) are resurrected (brought back to life) for eternity. This hope of eternal life is the “crown of righteousness” Paul speaks of in his parting letter to Timothy (2 Tim. 4:8) – a crown reserved for “that day”. We will also see the same consistency in 1 Thessalonians 4.
So, we see that when a man dies, he is simply dead, without life, consciousness or anything else. That’s why the scripture refers to it as sleep. But in the morning, the day of the Lord, the sting of death and the power of the grave are forever done away with.
This is what Paul was speaking of when he mentions the “power of the resurrection” – the bringing to life of that which was once dead. (Phil. 3).
The Concept of an Immortal Soul
Immortality of the soul was a typically Greek philosophical notion quite foreign to the thought of the ancient Jews, at least until their exile. Hopefully, from the above scriptures, you can now see that the soul is not immortal. It is subject to death. The main dispute between the Sadducees and Pharisees of Jesus’ day circled around the concept of the afterlife. The Pharisees correctly believed in a coming day when the dead would be resurrected, while the Sadducees believed there was no afterlife at all (and denied the existence of angels).
The promise of the gospel is that if you are a believer, it is your soul that will resurrect to eternal life, and it will be clothed with a new body (1 Cor 15:44).
Think of yourself like a lighbulb. There are three parts. In the beginning, we read this account: “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.” (Gen 2:7). Body, spirit and soul. The bulb itself is the body. The electricity is the spirit (which all living beings possess, including animals). The light the bulb gives off is the soul. When the bulb dies or you shut off the electricity, what happens to the light? It’s gone. It doesn’t go somewhere else. It simply ceases to exist.
Our souls are not immortal. But at the return of Christ, we have this promise: “this mortal shall have put on immortality” (1 Cor 15:54).
The concept of our souls being immortal is pagan in its origin.
All throughout scripture, we see the two ultimate ends of mankind presented to us… They are not heaven and hell, but life and death. The most famous scripture in the Bible, John 3:16, tells us as much.
The Jewish religion stood alone among the ancient pagan traditions and beliefs, not only because it proclaims a single God, but because it recognized that the soul was mortal. Every other religion – whether Egyptian or Greek myth - taught that when one dies they immediately were taken elsewhere, conscious but in a spiritual state, based on the life they lived.
But the Jews, having an understanding of the One True God, grasped that when a man dies, he dies… until the time of the resurrection at the end of the age.
The early church maintained this view, as we have already seen. Our faith must be built on the foundation of the apostles, prophets and the Lord Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone. But sadly, years after the apostles died, pagan concepts made their way into the church, affecting not only our views on life-after-death, but touching almost every area as well.
We ought to follow the clear teachings of the Bible, especially in matters of eternal hope, even if this means forsaking the traditional teachings of men.
It is because of the hope of the resurrection that Paul tells the Corinthians:
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:58)
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm
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thanks for the enlightening article , i also request you to explain john 14 vs 1 where man pple talk about mansions in heaven
This is a good question. John 14:1 is one of the most misinterpreted scriptures in the New Testament. Hundreds of songs have been created speaking of these mansions, and it has been the subject of many a sermon.
The term mansion is properly interpreted “dwelling places” or “abodes”. To see for yourself, check various Bible translations at http://www.biblegateway.com. Only the King James uses “mansions”.
Additionally, in that same chapter it speaks of Jesus going to prepare a place, only to return again. In the end, the eternal kingdom of God will be established on Earth.
For a beautiful picture of this, see Revelation 21. Notice that the New Jerusalem (the bride) is “coming down” “out of heaven”. The curse will be lifted off of the Earth, death will die, being swallowed up of life. Most importantly, there will no longer be any separation between God and those He saves. This is the hope of the Bible.
Dear brother this is a really good article, I´ve been deeply edify. I have a question however. You said “David, a type of Christ, is still dead and buried, along with all the other patriarchs, awaiting the resurrection of the dead that occurs at the end of the age” My question is when does Isa 26:19 “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” I thought this happened in Mat 27:50 “… many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” If these are not the patriarchs who are they?
Hi Rene – a fair question.
In regards to the translation you’re referring to, it’s King James. In this case, it is a bit misleading. Check all the other translations here: http://www.biblegateway.com.
You’ll find that they say “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise” rather than “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” I think it’s the word “together” that is causing issue. There’s a footnote in the NKJV that says:
Syriac and Targum read ‘their dead bodies’; Septuagint reads ‘those in the tombs.’
So this appears to be a translation issue. But, even if it woesn’t…
A couple things I would humbly point out. The people who arose at the time of Christ’s death were not specified. If they were indeed the patriarchs, certainly Matthew would have made this clear. Also, Peter would not have made the statement he did of David in Acts 2, being “both dead and buried.”
Additionally, those who were raised in Matthew 27 were not raised to eternal life. It’s similar to Lazarus. He was raised, but he would die again some time later. The Lord Jesus and God the Father alone have eternal life.
How do we know this? Because of John’s reference to Jesus Christ as the “firstborn from among the dead.” (Rev 1:5). Why would he make this statement? Because these others (in Matt 27) were resurrected before Jesus was resurrected, but not eternally. Again, just like Lazarus. (See Acts 26:23 also).
Jesus was the first, and so far the only, to be raised from the dead to eternal life.
So, our principle is that scripture agrees with scripture. When it doesn’t there’s usually a language issue at hand, as in this case.
brother you talked of man being made up of the body ,breath of life and the two leading to a live soul my question is what is the breath of life is it not pure oxygen for without it man is just a corpse (Gen) and this breath can come from the different compass directions as in the valley of the dry bones what do you mean brother by implying it to be a spirit pliz help
Magumise,
Scripture seems to illustrate that man is made up of a soul, the spirit/breath of life and a body (1 Thess. 5:23). All 3 work together to make a man what he is. The breath of life is more than oxygen (which is only a gas). It is the very life that God possesses, which lives in every living creature. What makes a man unique though, is his possession of a soul (which other creatures don’t possess).
When a man, or any being, dies, the spirit just returns to God, while the soul awaits the resurrection at the return of Christ, when we will receive new bodies and be clothed with immortality.
I believe that none has ascended to heaven but how can we harmonize Gen 5vs23 and Heb 11vs5 with the other body of established truth. Where was Elijah taken to and what’s the mystery of the transfiguration? Was Moses and Elijah there bodily. Thank you for the earlier reply its greatly appreciated.
Magumise,
Unfortunately the scripture doesn’t go into great detail about the nature of the translation of Enoch. The scripture simply says, “and he was not”.
What the scripture does tell us is that he is awaiting the resurrection. He is included in Hebrews 11, which concludes:
“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.”
What had been promised was eternal life (the focus of Hebrews 11).
In regards to the Transfiguration, we see at the end of Matthew 16, the Lord setting the stage for what would shortly come to pass in Matthew 17.
Matt 16:28:
“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Then, 6 days later, this is fulfilled with a foretaste of the glory of the coming kingdom.
We must take the Lord at his word, when, in John 3:13, he said: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven–the Son of Man.”