Life, Death and then…?
1 Corinthians 15:17-20
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I am taking a week off of our Series “From Ordinary to Extraordinary.”
We will get back to that next week,
but after Simon preached about the essential nature of Christ’s resurrection and the power it offers for life now and eternal life,
and with the death this week of our dear sister in the Lord, Pat Wells,
I thought it a good to talk about
what Scripture has to say about death and about what comes after death.
What happens after you die?
There are many views out there about what happens when you die.
Some believe in annihilation, that you just cease to exist.
Some believe in reincarnation, that you come back in another form or as another person until you get it right.
There are some who believe in only a heaven, that everyone who dies goes there.
Christians believe that there is a heaven and a hell and that the only way to heaven is for a person to receive Jesus as Savior. Everyone else is separated from God eternally in hell.
Now with all of these different views, who is to say which one is right?
Why do I believe the Christian view of things versus any one of these other options?
A Risen Savior
It is because Christianity has something that no other religion has and that is a Savior who died and was resurrected to new and eternal life.
It is because nobody but Jesus Christ has ever actually defeated death.
Not Muhammad
Not Joseph Smith
Not Buddha
Not Confucius
There is no person that ever defeated death and came back in their same body to never die again, except Jesus Christ.
We believe His teachings of heaven and hell through the Bible because He is supremely qualified, having defeated death, to tell us what comes after and how we can overcome this world and inherit eternal life.
It is by the fact of His resurrection that showed He is the True God and that He has the power to overcome death and keep His promises to us.
This is why the verses in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, that Simon preached from last week, are so essential and why Paul spends so much time offering proof of the resurrection of Jesus in the eyewitness testimony of more than 500 people.
Because as Paul goes on in the following verses we see that without Jesus’ resurrection, there is no hope.
Look with me at
1 Corinthians 15:17-20 (up on screen)
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17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Without the hope of resurrection, we have no hope of eternal life.
Without Jesus’ resurrection, we would live and we would die and then we would have no hope for anything else.
Listen to what Paul says if there is no resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:32
“If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’"
Understanding Death
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I think it is important for us to understand death and what the Bible says about death, if we are going to truly understand our hope of resurrection and eternal life.
Death in the Bible always speaks of separation.
There are 2 different types of separation with the second type having different parameters.
For instance, we see that sometimes the Bible speaks of
Physical death
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Job 14:10 - 10 But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
This is talking about physical death and when a person dies physically, they are separated physically from others.
This physical separation is what we mourn as Christians.
Our sister Pat has died physically and we mourn her physical absence.
For a Christian this is like leaving those you love for extended periods.
Laura is out in AZ this week.
When she leaves, my mother in law is probably going to cry because they are going to be separated physically for most likely the next year.
So this is one of the ways that the Bible speaks of death, in terms of our physical death.
Sometimes when death is used, it refers to
Spiritual Death
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Spiritual death brings spiritual separation from God.
This is the primary type of death spoken about in
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they did not die physically, although they put into motion physical death because of sin. But they did at that point die spiritually. They were separated from God because of their sin.
Isaiah 59:2 - your iniquities have separated you from your God;
Sin has brought about spiritual death, you are separated from God
This death can be overcome today because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
When we trust in Him as our Savior, we go from spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
Ephesians 2:4-5
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.
So spiritual death is another way that the Bible speaks of death.
The Bible also speaks about spiritual death with a different parameter as
Eternal death
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Sometimes called the second death.
We see this in
Revelation 20:12-14
12 And I saw the dead (the physically dead), great and small, standing before the throne... 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
Being thrown into the lake of fire is hell and is eternal separation from God.
This type of eternal death is also what is spoken of as eternal punishment in
Matthew 25:46
46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
If we do not receive Christ as our Savior before our physical death, in other words if we are still spiritually dead when we physically die, we will face eternal death.
If we are spiritually alive when we physically die, we will not face eternal death.
So those are the 2 types of death with the 2 aspects to spiritual death that are spoken of in the Bible.
(Above background info gleaned from Kerry Bauman – What happens when you die? From Sermon Central - http://sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=90645&Sermon%20What%20Happens%20When%20We%20Die?%20by%20Kerry%20Bauman )
All of those deaths are the result of sin.
We are sinners so, unless something could be done or Someone could intervene, we would be in serious trouble.
But God did intervene.
Christ did die on the cross and He tasted death so we might not have to.
Hebrews 2:9
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
On that cross, Jesus not only suffered a physical death, but for the first time ever, Jesus, the Son of God, suffered separation from the Father and tasted spiritual death for us.
Yes the physical pain that He suffered was awful, but the spiritual death he suffered was far worse.
Matthew 27:45-46
45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"-which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
It was in those hours that Jesus tasted spiritual death when in the words of Paul in
2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us”
The Father placed our sin upon His Son and then turned his back on Him because He cannot look upon sin, so that we might have a way to be with Him.
Don’t tell me that God does not love you!
Without that payment, without suffering that death, we would have
no hope of eternal life,
no hope of salvation,
no hope for resurrection,
no hope period.
Jesus death paid the price for our sins.
Jesus’ resurrection proves that his payment for our sins was accepted by the Father.
Jesus’ Resurrection is Essential to Our Resurrection
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1 Corinthians 15:17-20
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Now we have hope.
Now we can know there is a way to eternal life, because the One who died and rose again says there is.
John 3:16
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 6:40
40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Jesus has promised that if we trust Him for our salvation, we will have eternal life and will no longer have to be spiritually dead or face eternal death.
When we believe in him we are made alive in Christ.
Praise the Lord.
There is still Physical Death
But we still face physical death.
Before Christ’s resurrection and since, people still die physically.
In fact everyone dies physically, believers and unbelievers.
Well, Paul tells us in
1 Corinthians 15:26 - The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Physical death is the last thing Christ will destroy before He makes all things new, including a new heaven and a new earth.
Well, if that is the case, if there is going to be a new heaven and a new earth, what happens to people when they die if this new heaven and new earth are not made yet?
That is what I want to talk about now.
But I first want to start out and talk about what happened to people
Before Jesus Resurrection…
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There was a place called Hades or Sheol, where all of those who died went.
Now, there were two parts to Hades.
Turn with me to Luke 16:22-26
Here we find Jesus tell a story of a Rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus and what happened immediately upon their death. Now remember, this is before his resurrection.
Luke 16:22-26
22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell,(Hades) where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ’Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 "But Abraham replied, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
Before Jesus’ Resurrection…
…The Unfaithful Dead went to a place of Torment in Hades
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Luke 16:23 - In hell (Hades), where he was in torment
Those who did not have faith in the Lord of the universe and the salvation He would bring, went to the place of torment in Hades.
This is a place of conscious existence where there is still feeling.
Notice that the rich man wanted to cool his tongue.
This is not the place you want to be and it is a place that no one has to go.
We will talk more about that in a moment.
We Also find in this story, that
Before Jesus’ Resurrection…
…the Faithful Dead went to a place of Comfort in Hades
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Luke 16:25
25 "But Abraham replied, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
This was a good place, a place where the righteous dead of the Old Testament, before the time of the resurrection, would go and be comforted.
Why do these Old Testament, pre resurrection saints not go to heaven?
Why were they not with the Lord?
Because their sin had not been atoned for, it had only been passed over.
Romans 3:21-26
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-
God through the sacrificial system did not forgive the sins of those of faith before the time of Christ, but He merely passed over them as He looked ahead to the salvation He would provide, but in the meantime, they could still not be in His presence because of their sin, so they were in paradise, or Abraham’s bosom, or a place of comfort in Hades.
Well ,that was before the resurrection.
What has changed now that Jesus has tasted death for us all and has paid for our sins and resurrected from the dead?
Well, now
After Jesus’ Resurrection…
…the Unfaithful Dead go to a place of Torment in Hades
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Nothing has changed for unrighteous, unbelievers from before Christ’s resurrection. They still go to a place of conscious torment awaiting the final judgment at the end of Christ’s millennial reign when these unbelievers will be reunited with their bodies and thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:13-15
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
That sad part of this is that it doesn’t have to be this way.
1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
The Father’s desire is that people would receive Him and come into relationship with Him.
Why do you think He sacrificed so much, why He was willing to place the sin of the whole world upon the shoulders of His Son and turn His back on Him to bear it all, if He did not love you?
The God of the universe is crying out to you this morning. If you have never received the gift of eternal life that was so costly, won’t you do that this morning?
Please think about that as I talk about the eternal life that is available now.
You see,
After Jesus’ Resurrection…
…the Faithful Dead go to be with the Lord in Heaven
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Paul tells us in
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 that
“ we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, the proof that our sins are now paid for, The place of comfort in Hades and has been emptied and now the Pre resurrection saints as well as those who die now are with the Lord.
Jesus went to the Paradise portion of Hades, the place of comfort, between his death and resurrection. He went there
to take those faithful Old Testament saints to be with Him in Heaven and
to proclaim victory to those who rejected faith in God (remember that “great chasm” that you could talk between but was fixed between the faithful and unfaithful - Luke 16:26).(See also 1 Peter 3:18-19)
1 Peter 3:18-19
18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison
Now, when a believer in Jesus Christ dies, they are immediately with the Lord in Heaven.
They are there in a conscious state of not only comfort, but of being in the Lord’s presence.
There is no longer any pain and suffering for these saints.
Paul, who was once caught up to heaven, says being in heaven with Christ is far better than being on earth.
Philippians 1:21-23
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
But that is not it.
Even though these saints are now with the Lord in heaven, there is even more to look forward to.
You see while His resurrection has made it possible for us to be with the Lord, and for us to be in his presence, as of yet, that resurrection is not complete and our home will get even better.
Those that are in heaven now have not yet received their glorified bodies and the end of the age, God will make a new heaven and a new earth where we will live in the way God has originally designed us to be.
Revelation 21:1-5
21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Right now, those who are in heaven, while they do not yet have their resurrected bodies, I do believe still have some physical properties, though I will not be dogmatic on that.
I say that because people are still recognizable in heaven.
The rich man recognized Lazarus.
People appear to be dressed indicating physicalness.
Elders were dressed in white and had crowns on their head (Revelation 4:4)
So right now there appears to be some physicalness to those saints who have died, but oh,
when we get our glorified bodies,
when we are reunited with this body that is decaying and dying, God changes it just like He changed the body of Jesus. Then we will know and have a body like Jesus has now.
Bodies now are only seeds
But these bodies, first have to be changed and it seems that they, at this point first must die.
Listen to what Paul says later in
1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-56
35 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed…
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body…49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed…54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When will those who have died in Christ receive their new, glorified bodies that are like Jesus’ body?
At Jesus’ Rapture of the Church…
…The faithful dead will receive their Glorified Bodies
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Paul explains that in the previous verses I just read, but he also spells that out more clearly in
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Encourage one another knowing that Jesus loves you and has so much good to shower you with.
You will be able to be in His presence always
You will be free of pain and suffering
You will be full of joy
Some of those benefits only come upon our physical death, but others can start right now.
You no longer have to walk around in this life spiritually dead. You can be alive in Christ.
And in fact, if you wish to avoid the second death, eternal death, you must recognize your need for a Savior and receive Jesus as that Savior, believing He is God in the flesh and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead, before you die physically, or it will be too late.
God does not want you to face eternal death. He created the lake of fire for the devil and his demons, not for you.
But you must choose.
Won’t you trust in Him?
Maybe you are thinking
you have all kinds of time.
you don’t need to make this decision today.
You are too young to have to worry about this now, you have got time.
I want to tell you that you never know when the end will come.
I am sure last week, Bernie Mac was not thinking he would be dead this week.
And furthermore, the rapture of the church could happen at any moment.
Look around and see the signs, recognize the season.
Now I will tell you this about the time of the rapture. We are closer today than we were yesterday.
It could happen at any moment.
Don’t be left behind.
Now, If you have been sitting here thinking this morning that you are not really sure that you have received Jesus as your Savior, realize that
He is the only way,
He is the only truth, and
He is the only One who has life to offer you, and
He proved it by his resurrection.
Won’t you receive Him today?
Recognize your need and confess Him as Lord.
Romans 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Do that with me as we pray.
And for those of you who are Christians, who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior, rejoice and encourage one another that we have a home awaiting us when we die physically and we will be able to enjoy the Lord’s presence eternally.
It is far better to be a day with the Lord than a thousand any where else.
Let’s pray and then we will praise Him.
“Better is One Day”
