What Happens After Death Part 2? Finding Bible Truth Within God's Word About What Happens After Death.

Yesterday we explored part 1 of what happens after death according to writings from within God's Word. We continue finding Bible truth today by looking at this question from the scope of John 11 and the story of Lazarus.

Perhaps this is the most telling encounter that correlates sleep and death. You decide.

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John 11:11 (Jesus speaking to His disciples)
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
Jesus is clearly referring to sleep in the above passage. So much so that He confuses His disciples.

John 11:12 (The disciples of Jesus respond)
His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better."
Since everyone knows that rest heals the body, why wouldn't Jesus let Lazarus sleep so He would get better?

John 11:13
Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

If Jesus had been speaking of the death of Lazarus why didn't He clearly indicate this at first? Was He so cruel as to be playing a game on such a crucial issue as life and death? The confusion would have been immediately alleviated had He used the "right" word to start with. Unless He was directly correlating them in-order to show that there was no distinction between the different concepts. Given the next verse it seems clear that this is exactly what Jesus was in the process of doing.

John 11:14
So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead…
Latter in this encounter He could have corrected Mary but saw no reason to do so.

John 11:24
Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

If this were the only evidence within God's Word that explained what happens after death it would be enough. However, finding Bible truth reveals countless evidence that people sleep after death until the second coming of Christ. Thus, biblically we can conclude that people sleep in their graves until Jesus returns and gives them a new life of fulfilled hope and faith, as they become eternal beings.