Tag / What Happens When we die? Bible teaching on death

by In Light Of The Cross

Genesis to Revelation Teaches the Truth About Death and God’s Love

One of the saddest things I have ever had to do, was go to a funeral for a little girl who was hit and killed by a car. In the funeral the minister talked about how much fun Jesus and the little girl were having in heaven right now. I thought, how cruel the minister is making Jesus look to the girl’s poor mother. Jesus does not break our hearts and tear our world apart so He can have fun with our loved ones while we suffer. Jesus will be reunited with the little girl the same time the mother is-at the second coming. This is why it is so important to study the topic of death in the light of the cross and the light of God’s love. 

The minister even tried to use David as an example, claiming that when he died, he went straight to heaven to be with his son who had died. After the service I wanted to mention to the minister what Peter said in Acts 2 while sharing the prophecies about Jesus in Scripture. 

“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Acts 2:34-35 NKJV

Peter makes it clear that David’s prophecy was about Jesus and not himself, as David has not gone to heaven yet, but remains in his grave, awaiting the resurrection. 

The minister then talked about how the little girl who died is now an angel watching over us. Many believe that angels are our dead loved ones. They find comfort in the false idea that our dead loved ones are watching over us, but this lie not only leads to spiritualism, but it also leads to idolatry as it puts dead loved ones in the place of God. I find it comforting knowing God is watching over me. Why would I think my dead loved ones watching over me would be more comforting than God watching over me, when my soul hungers and thirsts for God’s love more than my family’s love? 

Nowhere does the Bible teach that our dead loved ones are angels. As a matter of fact, in Genesis we read:

So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24 NKJV

We all know Cherubim are angels, In Genesis 3 we have angels before anyone has died. Therefore, angels are clearly not our dead loved ones. God Himself and the angels of heaven are watching over us now, while our dead ones are resting from their labors. I find that way more thrilling and amazing than the lie that my dead loved ones are watching over me. Prophecy teaches me our dead loved ones are taking a deserved rest. 

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” Revelation 14:13 NKJV

While we are looking at Genesis and Revelation lets look at another passage that has been skewed by the lie of spiritualism. 

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. Revelation 6:9-11 NKJV

Many twist this passage to say that the souls of dead loved ones are literally under the altar in heaven. This makes no sense literally as we will not be living under the altar in heaven. Plus, if the dead are currently in heaven why would they be asking for vengeance against those who put them in heaven? Remember in Genesis 4:10 God tells Cain that Abel’s blood was crying out for vengeance. Abel’s blood was not literally crying out. It was symbolic. the situation was symbolically crying out for justice. Likewise in Revelation 6:9-11 it is the situation that symbolically cries out for justice, as the passage goes on to explain, while the dead continue to rest. 

From Genesis to Revelation the Bible is clear that God is love. God loves us more than our family loves us, and therefore the truth about God and angels is comforting, knowing God Himself and His angels are watching over us, and not our dead loved ones. God is also not going to tear a young mother’s world apart so He can go have fun with the mother’s child. When a child dies, God will be reunited with the child the same time the mother is, at the second coming. 

From Genesis to Revelation, we see the truth about the state of the dead, in the light of the cross and God’s love. 

You may study this week’s sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

Does Eccelsiastes 12:7 Teach That we go Straight to Heaven When we die?

Death

Brief overview: Death is a state of unconscious sleep. The dead do not know anything at this time and are not awakened until the last trump at Christ’s second coming. See Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Job 14:12, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Why is it important to know the truth about Death:

The teaching that you don’t really die is a lie Satan started in the Garden of Eden when he told Eve, “Ye shall not surely die.” By telling this lie Satan hoped to get Eve and all mankind to believe that there is really no consequence for disobeying God. He also wants us to believe that we are all immortal regardless if we have a relationship with God or not. This opens the door for spiritualism where people may actually be communicating with the devil and his angels, thinking they are speaking with their loved ones. Our salvation does not come from knowing what happens when we die. Our salvation is found alone in God’s love. However, no lie is ever harmless, and when Satan told the lie, “Ye shall not surely die”, not only was he lying but he was also calling God a liar. Not a safe path for us to follow.

Why understanding death in the light of the cross is important:

First of all if you don’t really die then Jesus did not really die for us and we still need a Savior. The lie that we don’t really die destroys the cross and everything Jesus endured and accomplished on it. If Jesus was not really tasting death likeHebrews 2:9 says He did, then we have just minimized the cross to a six hour pain endurance marathon.

I remember sitting in a funeral a while back for a little girl who was hit and killed by a car. Her mother sat on the front pew sobbing uncontrollably. Meanwhile the pastor talked about how happy the little girl and Jesus were right now up in heaven. Do you know how cruel that made Jesus look to the poor mother? Would Jesus tear a mother’s heart apart just to go have fun with her daughter? I think not! The little girl is resting in her grave and will be united with Jesus in heaven when the mother is reunited with her at the second coming.

For Further study on Death

What did Adam become?

Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Genesis 2:7 NLT

Note: The KJV says man became a living soul. A living person is a soul. To be living you must have the combination of breath and a body. Breath + Body = “soul” or “person.” Without both the body and breath there is no soul or person. Just like a box made of wood and nails. The box is the combination of wood and nails. Take the nails away from the wood and you have no box. Take the breath away from the body and you have no soul or person.

Whose spirit returns to God?

For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  Ecclesiastes 12:7 NLT

What is the Spirit?

As long as I live, while I have breath from God. Job 27:3 NLT

Note: The KJV says, “All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, Job 27:3.  The NLT makes it clear that the spirit is simply our breath. So in Ecclesiastes 12:7 all that returns to God when we die is our breath. We are not conscious.

What does God take that turns the body to dust?

But if you turn away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust.  Psalm 104:29 NLT

What age old question did Job ask?

“But when people die, their strength is gone.  They breathe their last, and then where are they? Job 14:10 NLT

What is the Bible answer?

people are laid to rest and do not rise again.  Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be roused from their sleep.  Job 14:12 NLT

Do the dead know what happens to the living?

They never know if their children grow up in honor or sink to insignificance. Job 14:21 NLT

How much do the dead know?

The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.  Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 NLT

What did Jesus call death?                                                                                                     

Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. John 11:11-14 NLT

How long had Lazarus been dead?

When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.  John 11:17 NLT

Did Martha believe Lazarus was in heaven when he died?

“Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” John 11:24 NLT

Was Lazarus called from heaven, hell or the grave?

Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” John 11: 43-44 NLT

When are the dead raised?                                                                                          

And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. 1 Corinthians 15:16-23 NLT

When do we receive immortality?                                                                                  

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 NLT

Our hope and comfort:                                                                                                     

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have diedwill rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.   1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NLT