About Death

WHAT HAPPENS TO US AFTER DEATH?
A Christian will go straight to heaven.  An unbeliever will go straight to hell or what the bible calls “Hades” awaiting the Great Throne Judgment.

Jesus refers to this when He speaks about the death of a wicked man and the death of a righteous man in the Gospel of Luke:  Luke 16:19-23, 27-28  “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.  20 “But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,  21 “desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  22 “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.  23 “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom…    27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,  28 ‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’

Death is not the end of human existence. The Bible states that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that comes the judgment. After the judgment every person will find themselves forever in heaven or in hell. Your eternal destiny will be determined by whether or not you believe the claims of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9:27   And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. Note: There is no reincarnation

Believers also have appear before Christ to be judge, but the Christian will be rewarded for his deeds or lack thereof, but the believer will not be sent to hell.

2 Corinthians 5:10   For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Romans 14:10-12 … we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”  12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

1 Corinthians 3:11-16  For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,  13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.  15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.  16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

When Jesus taught about this He said: that some will go to Heaven but others will be sent to Hell.

Matthew 25:31-34 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

In the following verses, the Apostle John speaks about the judgment of the unbeliever:

Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.  12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.  13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.  14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:7-8  “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.  8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Those that receive the work of Jesus will go to heaven and those that do not receive Jesus will go to hell. The Bible teaches us that we are all sinners. To be a sinner means that you have disobeyed God, broken His laws.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The Bible teaches us that all sinners have to pay for the wrongs we have done. Just like anyone who gets charged with a crime has to pay for what they did. So too with us when we break God’s laws. The price for breaking God’s law is death

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The good news is that God sent Jesus to pay the price for all the laws that we broke. Someone has to pay for your crimes, you or Jesus. You can be forgiven of all the wrongs you have done by agreeing with God that you’re a sinner and thanking Jesus for what He did for you, suffering and dying in your place.

Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

If you deny Jesus (that is if you say I don’t believe in Jesus), and your attitude is “I don’t want to live for Him, I want to do my own thing and I don’t care about what He did for me”, then you will not be allowed in heaven.

Matthew 10:32-33 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

The Bible teaches us that God doesn’t send any one to hell. People are already (because of what they do), on their way to Hell. But God has given us a chance to be forgiven and go to be with him in Heaven.

John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.