What Happens to Us When We Die? | Unbiased View

Oct 29

There are a lot of different ideas out there about what happens to us when we die. Some believe that:

We are reincarnated
We become a ghost and haunt people
We cease to exist
We go to sleep until judgment day
We go to Purgatory
We go directly to Heaven or Hell

There is no shortage of opinions out there about what happens to us when we die. And you know what they say about opinions. They’re like armpits: most of them stink.

We want to know what God says about this topic. The only way to do that is to go to the Bible and see what it says.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Jesus was the master teacher. He could take a very complex spiritual truth and boil it down into something that we can easily understand. He did this even with a complex topic like what happens to us when we die with the story of the rich man and Lazarus:

“‘There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 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. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
‘Then he cried and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” But Abraham said, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.”
‘Then he said, “I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.” Abraham said to him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.”’” (Luke 16:19-31 | NKJV)

Check out this chart from World Video Bible school. It really helps explain what happens to us when we die.

First, we have the world where we're all currently living. In the account of the rich man and Lazarus, they are here in the beginning, both alive on earth.
After death, Lazarus is taken to Paradise, where he is with Abraham, and the rich man is taken to torment. This is not heaven, nor is it hell. It's a place called Hades, the place of the dead. Hades is made up of three components: Paradise, a great gulf, and torment.
It appears that everyone who dies goes to one of these two places, and after that comes the judgment.

The Final Judgment

Once again, Jesus boils down the concept of judgment for us in a very easy-to-understand way in Matthew 25:31-41.

“‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”’” (Matthew 25:31–34 | ESV)
“‘Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”’” (Matthew 25:41 | ESV)

Here we see that there is a judgment day, and on that day people will be separated into two groups: those that will inherit the kingdom prepared for them, and those who will enter into eternal fire.

There can be no doubt about what will happen to us after death.

When we die, we will either go to a place of paradise or a place of torment.
At judgment day, our sentence will be pronounced and we will either enter into the kingdom of heaven or the fires of hell for all eternity.

We will not:

Be reincarnated
Be a ghost had haunt people
Just cease to exist
Go sleep until judgment day
Go to a place called purgatory

There are no second chances:

“For it is pointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27 | ESV)

Many other verses in the New Testament can help flesh out this concept, like verses that explain how Jesus will come in judgment, what the resurrection is like, what heaven and hell will be like, etc. But what Jesus said in these two passages is the basics. Put down in the comments other verses that you think help us understand what happens after death.

But, the real question that we all ought to be asking ourselves is, “How can I make sure that I go to Paradise and not torment when I die?”

Jesus explained that too! Jesus said,

“‘Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.’” (Matthew 7:13–14 | ESV)

Our eternal destination depends on the choices we make while we're here on earth and alive today.