WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE 1, A BIBLICAL VIEW

What happens when we die 1 - Rooi Mier

Every person on the earth is touched by death in one way or the other. The thought must have crossed your mind, 'what will happen to me when I die?'

When you ask this question to different people you might get different answers and even more questions. 

Is there life after death?

Is the end just death?

Would I go straight to heaven/hell?

Do I have to wait somewhere?

Am I going to purgatory?

As what or who would I come back in my reincarnated state?

I'm sure we can conjure up more questions.

As Christians we would want to see what the Word of God says about this topic. Now to get a clear picture on this topic we need to look at the entire Bible and not just a verse or a chapter. With the scripture in Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change" in mind, we know that the God of the Old Testament is still the same in the New Testament. We know that the God of Genesis, of 1 Kings, of Proverbs, of Luke, of Hebrews and of Revelations is one and the same. Would He contradict Himself? If He does He loses all His authority.

People in all religions experience death. Sometimes these different believes get mixed and one religious group incorporate some of what others believe with what is truth to them. Here are some of what is widely believed today.

There is this believe that when we die we go straight to heaven/hell. How many times have we heard at a Christians funeral that he/she is now safe in Jesus arms. This imply that this person is in heaven. More and more we start to hear about this departed member "looking down from heaven" on his/her family member, "smiling". Is this the truth?

There is also this "waiting room" idea. You supposedly wait to hear your fate, heaven or hell. Some denominations believe that you can be prayed into heaven from this waiting room, even if you did not accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. 

At this point I would like to quote from a book written by a nun, The Thunder of Justice by The Virgin Mary in an Apparition, page 162, "Pray a great deal and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell for not having someone to pray and make sacrifices for them."

This is also the "stage" of so-called ghosts and the souls called up by the John Edwards of the world.

Then there is purgatory. Here you burn off some of the "unclean" bits of your life before you can move on to heaven or being reincarnated.

One of the thoughts is reincarnation. You die and return in a beter "carma" or state, having learned from your previous life, continuing to "evolve". Whatever life form you return in is supposed to be higher than the previous, even if you return as a snale or rat. You "grow" into becoming a god.

In the next section we are going to answer the questions,

Who is the God of the living?

Who is the God of the dead?