When I became a Christian at 16 I fell in love with the Lord, and wanted all I could get of Him, so I went to many Christian services and events and took it all in.
Unfortunately, as time has gone on and I have studied the Scriptures, I have had to unlearn much of what I picked up in those early years.
We can so easily be deceived and pass on that deception to others without realising it. And nearly always it’s because of a doctrine or practice built on a verse or few verses of the Bible, rather than looking at the whole. Or on verses taken out of context.

One of the areas that has been challenged in my life, is about what happens after death ?
I had been taught basically, if you pray a prayer of commitment, you are then saved and will go to heaven to be with God when you die. Sounds good, but is it true, is it Biblical ?

There are so many different views on what happens after death in society :
Reincarnation.
Ghosts.
Peter at the gate.
Everyone goes to heaven.
Fear of dying and the unknown.

Where do we get our beliefs from – our parents, our experiences, films….or the Bible ?

That something of us lives on after death seems clear, especially in the New Testament. Eternal life is spoken of many times, particularly of those who believe in Jesus.

Read John 3:16.

The Apostles creed says ‘the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting’, the Nicene creed ‘the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come’ – these creeds sum up the key doctrinal beliefs of the early church - no mention of us going to heaven you note.

Life that goes on forever, but not like the existence we have now…..that wouldn’t be very encouraging. Eternity with God. Whether a person thinks that’s good or not, will depend on their view of God.

So what does happen after death ?

Read Hebrews 9:27.

So does that happen right away ?
Does each person come before Jesus individually and then either get let into heaven or sent to hell ? Or is there a final judgement when all will be before Jesus at once ?

There is an apparent contradiction in the Bible, a paradox that needs some exploration.

Jesus said to the thief on the cross, ‘today you will be with me in paradise’. But we know from Scripture that Jesus didn’t return to heaven for some time…for example after He’s risen, He says to Mary Magdalene, ‘Don’t hang on to me, I haven’t yet returned to the Father’. So how can these two things be true ?
The reason is this – when you die, as far as you are concerned, you fall asleep and you wake up with Jesus. You pass out of time and the physical world.
But it could be that hundreds of years have passed.
Why do I say that ?
Paul talks about death on many occasions, as sleep – falling asleep and being asleep.
Not dead one instant and then floating off your bed down a dark tunnel towards the light.
And the Bible says that we are raised from that sleep…when ?

At the last trumpet, when Jesus returns with His holy angels.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49-53.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Otherwise known as the rapture…..we’re going to fly one day…exciting huh ?

The angels will gather us from across the earth – Matthew 24:30,31 & Luke 17.

You, your’ spirit, is going to get a new, eternal, spiritual body.

But this spirit is asleep until that point, in what the Bible calls the grave, not hell, but the place of the dead. The original words used are different. We don’t know ‘where that is’ because it’s spiritual not a physical thing.
It’s because of this belief that Christians and believing Jews have buried their dead rather than cremating them – although it’s more symbolic probably, than literal.

Ghosts generally, I don’t believe are people’s spirits floating around.
Most are hoaxes and people’s imagination, some are the deceptions of demons that want to further enslave people. I should know because as a child, myself and members of my family were heavily into that stuff. It is highly destructive, don’t touch spiritism at all.
This idea of someone’s ghost being cursed to roam the earth and not be at rest, is not Biblical. Punishment follows the judgement, and the Bible’s clear about what that
punishment is.

Read 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10.

At the resurrection we are raised, everyone. There is a judgement, a separation of those who belong to the Lord and have lived His way, and those who don’t and haven’t – wheat and the weeds, sheep and the goats, wise and foolish virgins, etc.
All the pictures God gives suggest that it all happens at once – there is a judgement day or time, when we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.
Those who have received Christ and followed Him, go to be with Him for ever. Those who haven’t go into the lake of fire (what we think of as hell). It is not satan’s ‘home’ as such, it is the place of final judgement.

The old heaven and earth will pass away, destroyed by fire, and there will be ‘a new heaven and earth, the home of the righteous’ according to 2 Peter 3:13.
But this is where it gets potentially complicated, because for what happens at this point we need to turn to Revelation, which is very symbolic and so on.
How does the thousand years rule of Christ on earth fit into this timescale, ….some it seems are raised before hand and the rest afterwards.
And how symbolic or literal is the new Jerusalem, the bride – is there going to be a city, or are we God’s people, that city ?
Either way the city comes from heaven to earth and God dwells in the midst of His people – there is a coming together of heaven and earth, just as there is a coming together of God and believing mankind. A unity for eternity.

Okay, there is one potential spanner in the works - The rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
If you take it as a parable, rather than a statement of doctrine, ….a story teaching a lesson, about Jews and signs, and their lack of belief…then there isn’t an issue.
But if you believe it is a literal true story, then it does seem to be saying something different from all the other verses we have looked at. You could argue that this is pre Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, and so a different context. I don’t know. My own feeling from what Jesus says at the end of it, is that it’s a parable.
Look at these Scriptures for yourself before God.

Don’t get caught up with the place – whether we go to heaven, and whether it happens straight away or not.
What matters is that if you believe in Jesus Christ, and confess Him as your Lord, you will have eternal life with God. Heaven is not special, it’s the God who made heaven and earth who is special. It’s eternity with the God who loves us that we want.
It’s a sure and certain hope, so that death is not something to fear, but to look forwards to.
Paul said, ‘to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil. 1:21).

‘Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints’ – Psalm 116:15.
No matter what form it may take, be assured that God is with you at the point of death, because you are precious to Him, and so is your’ passing on to eternity.

But be warned that if you’re not following Jesus, the alternative is the lake of fire, there’s no middle place – either you’re the Lord’s or you’re not, either you’ll spend eternity with Him, or eternity suffering in hell.

Let’s make sure we’re trusting in Jesus and living His way, and let’s do all that we can in God’s power to bring the Gospel to those we meet.

Jesus is judge….but He is also Saviour.