I am not worried about what if I am wrong. Worst case scenario, Jesus is at the other side, waiting to help us make the crossing!
Posted on 08/10/2015 6:26:09 PM PDT by imardmd1
Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some hold that after death, everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell. Others believe that at the moment of death, people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still others claim that when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell, to await the final resurrection, the final judgment, and then the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say happens after death?
First, for the believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that after death believers’ souls/spirits are taken to heaven, because their sins are forgiven by having received Christ as Savior (John 3:16, 18,36). For believers, death is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). However, passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 describe believers being resurrected and given glorified bodies. If believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, what is the purpose of this resurrection? It seems that while the souls/spirits of believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, the physical body remains in the grave “sleeping.” At the resurrection of believers, the physical body is resurrected, glorified, and then reunited with the soul/spirit. This reunited and glorified body-soul-spirit will be the possession of believers for eternity in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22).
Second, for those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. However, similar to the destiny of believers, unbelievers also seem to be sent immediately to a temporary holding place, to await their final resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny. Luke 16:22-23 describes a rich man being tormented immediately after death. Revelations 20:11-15 describes all the unbelieving dead being resurrected, judged at the great white throne, and then being cast into the lake of fire. Unbelievers, then, are not sent to hell (the lake of fire) immediately after death, but rather are in a temporary realm of judgment and condemnation. However, even though unbelievers are not instantly sent to the lake of fire, their immediate fate after death is not a pleasant one. The rich man cried out, “I am in agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24).
Therefore, after death, a person resides in a “temporary” heaven or hell. After this temporary realm, at the final resurrection, a person’s eternal destiny will not change. The precise “location” of that eternal destiny is what changes. Believers will ultimately be granted entrance into the new heavens and new earth (Revelations 21:1). Unbelievers will ultimately be sent to the lake of fire (Revelations 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all people—based entirely on whether or not they had trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation (John 3:36).
One would hope! :)
I am too.
Yet I am terrified of dying.
I'm not.
Thanks. I appreciate it. The people who do that have kinda freaked me out.
I know I’m late to this discussion - but just a couple of thoughts.
1) At death, time becomes eternity and we are at the resurrection - no delay. Note that Jesus said that the thief would be with him “today” in Paradise.
2) Those in Christ will never die - just reside in heaven. Those not in Christ will face judgement - and condemnation.
My old man on his death bed said “Well, like I’ve always said, the day I die will be the best day of my life!” He (and I) would talk about what we would ask God about first.
My pastor last year was preaching a bit about heaven. He was saying (and using verses) where we will still be working, still learning, etc. I thought “Well dang - I wanted to have instant knowledge of EVERYTHING!” Of course at the very beginning God put Adam to work - naming the animals and tending the garden. It was only until after the Fall that work became miserable.
An old friend of mine (a geologist) on his death bed, woke up once and said heaven had nice geologic outcrops. I thought he was just dreaming - but perhaps not. Perhaps he is up there climbing around doing what he loved best.
Oh - he also said there was beer in heaven!
Bttt
Henry Houdini promised that he would contact us from the afterlife if there was one. And, hey, if Houdini can’t do it...
I am not worried about what if I am wrong. Worst case scenario, Jesus is at the other side, waiting to help us make the crossing!
What about the millions of people who lived during and after the time of Christ, who never knew he existed due to geographical location? Seems rather arbitrary and unfair to condemn people for that.
I know the Bible says that knowing Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. But there are people in remote parts of the world who may never get a chance to hear about God or Jesus. What happens to them when they die?
You’re right, the Bible is clear that apart from Christ, you can’t go to heaven. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
How does this apply to someone who never hears the gospel? The Bible says, “The truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God” (Romans 1:19-20, New Living Translation).
No one has an excuse for not knowing God. That knowledge comes to us naturally—much like the way we instinctively reach for water when we’re thirsty. It’s not something we have to learn.
And it’s not just instinct that draws people to God. God uses visual aids too—his creation. We can see God through the divine design of nature.
When someone responds to these instincts and “visual aids” and truly reaches out to God, God will make sure that person understands his or her need for Christ. God, who loves us beyond comprehension and wants everyone to go to heaven (2 Peter 3:9), will arrange the details for that person to know the gospel—through a missionary, a tract, a Bible, whatever.
You might think, But what if a missionary never visits that island, or a tract never falls into those hands. What then? If those things never happen, we can be assured that God, who is loving and just, is still in control. God is sovereign, and he will always do what is right.
God is an awesome God, and nothing will stop him from getting the good news to even the most remote parts of the world, “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And as if to prove it, God even gave John a glimpse of heaven, where he saw people “from every tribe and language and people from every nation” (Revelation 5:9).
The bottom line: God is obviously able to reveal the truth about himself to anyone, anywhere. But he often uses us to do it. That’s why Jesus’ last words to us were instructions to tell everyone, everywhere, the good news of God’s love (Matthew 28:19-20).
God calls all of us to share his love with the people around us. Maybe he’s even calling you to take this good news “to the ends of the earth.” Wouldn’t that be exciting?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/iyf/advice/faithdoubt/what-if-someone-never-hears-about-jesus.html
We know this world, as unpleasant as it is and can be. We are at least familiar with it and can manage it to some degree.
We know what we’ve been told in Scripture about what is beyond death, but it’s still really a great unknown and we naturally fear what we don’t know.
I feared death, too, until I came too close to dying for comfort.I don’t fear it now.
Not looking forward to the process, but when the time comes, you will have peace and God will take care of the fear.
Any fear is from the enemy, FWIW.
You are human just a Jesus Christ in His time on earth in flesh was in human body. Read Luke {the physician} account of Jesus in the garden before His arrest. Luke ch 22 starting at verse 39. Jesus knew His eternal destination. Jesus knew He was to suffer a very agonizing & painful physical death on the cross. He knew death had no power over Him. Yet His own spirit was so troubled that in His third prayer He sweated blood.
On to the cross and what happened there. Jesus uttered the words "My GOD, My GOD, why has Thou forsaken me?" Jesus fear was separation from The Father. Something He had never experienced happened on the cross because GOD could not look upon the sins placed upon Him which were our sins.
The fear is natural. Our carnal minds can not quite grasp the spiritual transformation which occurs at death. We only know The Father through our earthly senses and earthly mind and body. The next life to us is an unknown at this point to us just as separation from GOD was unknown to Christ. Good News. He overcame death, hell, and the grave. Our last breath her in these bodies is our first one in our spiritual bodies in the presence of The Lord. Fear is natural. Just believe. Jesus did as much hanging on the cross. Jesus even though He certainly knew what His future was still feared the unknown to Him which was those few hours of separation from The Father. Christ will be there waiting on the other side when we pass from this life.
To all who answered my post with its fears, my eternal thanks.
I go forward in this life certain that the death of the body is not the end, but the beginning.
Jesus Christ my Savior, have pity on my petty fears.
I’ll welcome death when God calls. It’s like falling asleep.
The worst part of dying is the possibiltity that your friends won’t be there.
...
Mostly dog and cats in my case.
No; it will be much better than that.
It’s not ‘like’ anything; it’s actually going through a new door, into something much larger and finer.
=JT
Good testimony bro. Very sobering. Thank you.
I don't think God is fair, do you? If God Is totally righteous (which He is claimed to be), and absolutely fair, I would have been dead a lo-o-ong time ago, judging on my mistakes.
Well, I've done the sinning, and He's done all the saving. so I'm still alive, at least for a little while.
Oh I don't know, how things look on the outside is often very different than how things are experienced on the inside.
When I was a kid, I somehow slammed my hand into a closed car door. As my parents turned to open the door and get me out, I remember everything got really slow. I looked at the closed car door, and saw my own hand disappearing into it, and it made no sense. My hand couldn't fit in there, there just wasn't any room for it. Then the door was popped open and my hand came out, crumpled and numb and, ultimate, incredibly completely unhurt except for some bruising.
My family members who saw the whole thing were freaked. I was freaked. The visual was out of a horror movie. Yet - on the inside, the whole thing was distant and numb and unreal, like a movie, the whole time.
Later I learned about shock, etc. which is the biological explanation. But the experience was incredible. And I've often wondered, when we hear of some apparently horrible death, how much of it was actually horrible, and how much not, for the person going through it.
Personally, I think that the body is the source of the suffering. To the extent the body is held on to, that life is fought for, there's going to be suffering. But to the extent that an inner separation takes place, the suffering ends with the separation from the body, no matter how it looks on the outside.
So don't be so pessimistic! Dying might be the funnest experience you ever have - but of course, you won't be able to tell anyone about it. And on the other side, everyone will just say, "yeah, we already know, it was great." Frustrating, eh? LOL!
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