What Happens When You Die?
Understanding Bible prophecy depends upon correctly understanding the truth about what happens when you die. For example, if, as some teach, the dead are already in heaven with Jesus, why are they resurrected at His second coming? Why did Jesus tell the disciples He would be with them again when He returned instead of when they died (John 14:3)? Why does God forbid us to consult with our departed loved ones, if they are alive and can talk to us? In this lesson, we will learn the answers to these important questions.
1.) What is a living soul?
It takes two elements to make a living soul. A body, and the breath of life which comes from the Creator of life, God. If you have one without the other, there is no life or living soul (person). When you have both, you have a living soul (person). Genesis 2:7 “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.”
What part was made of dust? The body.
What was added to the body? The breath of life from God.
What resulted? The body became a living soul.
2.) What caused a living soul, or man, to be subject to death?
The life of this living soul (person) is conditional upon obedience to God. When we disobey, we sin and sin brings death. Genesis 2:16,17 “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
Job 4:17 “Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?”
Romans 6:12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
2 Corinthians 4:11 “For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.”
3.) Is the living soul immortal?
Only God is by nature immortal. 1 Timothy 6:14-16 “That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality… ”
4.) What does the bible declare sin to be?
Sin is the transgression of God’s law. 1 John 3:4 “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
5.) What is the consequence of sin?
Sin brings death. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
6.) What happens to the soul at death?
At death the body returns to dust, and the breath returns to God. Ecclesiastes 12:7 “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit [BREATH] shall return unto God who gave it.”
7.) Is what returns to God a living, conscious spirit?
The spirit [BREATH] that returns to God is not conscious. Ecclesiastes 9:5 “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”
Psalm 146:4 “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”
Psalm 115:17 “The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.”
8.) How did Jesus describe death?
Jesus called death a sleep. John 11:11-14 “These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.”
9.) How did the apostle Paul describe death?
The apostle Paul also called death a sleep. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
King David called death a sleep. Psalm 13:3 “Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”
Other Old Testament writers also called death “sleep.” Job 14:12 “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.”
Jeremiah 51:39, 57 “In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD… And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.”
Daniel 12:2 “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
1 Kings 1:21 “Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.”
10.) Is there any memory in this sleep of death?
There is no memory in this sleep of death. Psalm 6:5 “For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?”
Isaiah 38:18 “For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.”
Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10 “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun...Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”
11.) Where did King David go when he died?
King David didn’t go to heaven when he died. Acts 2:29, 34-35 “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: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
Acts 13:36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption.”
12.) Aren’t the dead in heaven or hell?
The dead are in the grave until the resurrection. John 5:28-29 “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
Job 14:12-15 “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.”
The dead sleep, unaware of anything, until Christ returns and gives them their reward. Matthew 25:31-34, 41 “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world… Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
John 14:2-3 “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Revelation 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Jesus brings His reward at His coming. The rewards of eternal life are not bestowed until then. Some think that this contradicts the words of the Saviour when speaking to the thief next to Him on the cross. Let’s take a closer look at this seeming contradiction:
Luke 23:42-43 “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
The punctuation in the Bible was supplied by the translators, for there was NO punctuation in the original Greek manuscripts. The comma is to go AFTER the word today: “Assuredly I say unto you today, you will be with me in paradise.”
The thief couldn’t have gone straight to heaven with Jesus for Jesus Himself did NOT go to heaven that day. Notice what Jesus said after He was resurrected…
John 20:17 “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.”
The thief on the cross DID NOT go directly to heaven when he died but rests in the grave until the resurrection of the righteous!
13.) What is one of the first lies recorded in the bible?
The doctrine of the immortality of the soul was the devil’s first recorded lie spoken in the garden of Eden to Eve. Genesis 3:3-4 “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.”
Who do you think told the truth? Satan or God? Today, Satan is still perpetuating his original lie, and he is doing so through religion and by misapplying and twisting scripture, as he did with Jesus in Matthew 4:5-6. Knowing and understanding God’s word is our only protection against this wily foe and his deceitful practices.
14.) What does God say about consulting the dead?
God says that consulting spiritualists and the supposed spirits of the dead is an abomination. Leviticus 19:31 “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”
Leviticus 20:27 “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”
Revelation 22:14,15 “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
God Warns that in the last days some “will give heed to deceiving spirits” (1 Timothy 4:1). These spirits deceive us by coming to us in “familiar” form, such as the form of some departed loved one. That is the reason they are called “familiar” spirits. Do not believe them… they are demon angels, not departed loved ones.
15.) What bible promise is to give us comfort when death occurs?
Paul tells us to “comfort one another” with this promise when death occurs.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Isn’t God’s way really the best? Instead of floating around somewhere after death, a person sleeps until he is bodily resurrected as Jesus was. And, because a person is unconscious when dead, the resurrection is the next instant to them! Instead of a dying baby going to a strange place alone, the next thing they know is their mother’s smiling kiss! The parents will take up the raising of their departed child right where they left off! Beloved, will you accept Jesus’ assurance that we will go to heaven together, at the same time, after the resurrection of the righteous?