Where do we go when we die?

The last few weeks we have looked at some major points of belief and key-points for a Christian faith.

Yesterday we looked at the realities of life and death where we all are confronted with.

Having spoken about coming times and the possibility of entering a Kingdom of God, we look today at a great misunderstanding by many christians. Lots of them think they go straight to heaven when they die. But would this thought be according to the Bible, the infallible Word of God?

Lots of people have different ideas about where we go when we die. Let us look for the key elements given in the Holy Scriptures.

Man is mortal.

“God formed man of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7)

“The first man is of the earth, earthy” (1 Corinthians 15:47)

“I (Abraham) am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27)

“He knows our frame: he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).

“Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19).

The life of man or spirit of man is the invisible real energy or power of God by which all creatures live.

“God gives to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25).

“In his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10).

“If he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together and man shall turn again unto dust” (Job 34:14-15).

“For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals … they all have one breath” (Eccles 3:19 NKJV)

“The spirit (at death) shall return to God who gave it” (Eccles 12:7).

Man and heaven

The Bible testifies that no man has ever gone to heaven.

“No man has ascended up to heaven” (John 3:13).

“David is not ascended into the heavens” (Acts 2:34).

“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s, but the earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psalm 115:16).

Reward for the dead

The Bible teaches that the dead have not yet been rewarded.

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them” (Hebrews 11:13).

When the seventh angel sounds,

“Thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged and that thou should give reward unto thy servants the prophets” (Revelation 11:15-18)

Can dead people see us, think and feel?

The Bible teaches that the dead are completely unconscious.

“The dead know not anything … their love, their hatred and their envy is now perished.” (Eccles 9:5).

“In death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave, who shall give thee thanks?” (Psalm 6:5).

“The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence” (Psalm 115:17).

“The grave cannot praise thee: death cannot celebrate thee” (Isaiah 38:18).

Judgement by Christ

In case people after they die go straight into heaven or into purgatory or in hell, why and who shall Jesus have to judge at the end of times?

The Bible teaches that the dead will be judged and rewarded at the resurrection when Christ comes again to the earth.

“Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14).

“The Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then shall he reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27).

The Lord Jesus Christ

“shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1).

Jesus says the hour is coming when those that are in the graves

“shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and that they have done evil, unto the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:29; Daniel 12:2).

Reward of immortality and inheritance the earth

The righteous will be rewarded with immortality and inherit the earth.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

“Such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 37:22).

“Those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth” (verse 9).

“The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth” (Proverbs 11:31).

“I shall give thee (that is, the Son of God, see v7) … the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psalm 2:8).

“We shall reign upon the earth” (Revelation 5:10).

Preceding

God’s Self-Revelation

The Greatness of the eternal God

The New Testament and Judgement

To be prepared for the Day of Judgment

Living as a believer in Christ

A participation in the body of Christ