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.

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What Happens After Death Part 1? Finding Bible Truth Within God's Word About What Happens After Death.

Death.

Like it or not it's a word we all must face sooner or later.

The question is, what happens after death? Finding Bible truth from within God's Word related to this question will be the scope of this article.

Some believe that you sleep until the resurrection of Jesus.

Others will tell you that you go to Heaven immediately upon death.

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Still others talk about a place of "nothingness" or purgatory.

What is the answer according to God's Word?

Psalm 13:3
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

Psalm 90:5
You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning-

According to the book of Psalm there is a correlation between death and sleep. However, it could be the case that this is metaphorical language and as such is not proof positive to our answer.

Mark 5:39
He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep."

Here we have Jesus talking to the crowd about a little girl who had died. She was clearly dead, so they mocked Him. The death Jesus was referring to here was the second death, rather than the more temporary first death.

Mark 5:39
He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.

As this story unfolds we find Jesus bringing this little girl back to life, not be saying "return to your body" but rather the simple words of "get up." Had this little girl been in Heaven would it have been a blessing for her to return to her decaying mortal body?

Tomorrow, we will continue the process of finding bible truth by understanding what happens after death from within God's Word.

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