Last time, we looked at the main themes of death, the afterlife, and why death is necessary. This article examines how God’s plan for death and the afterlife unfolds across Scripture, offering us hope today.
The Bible clearly states that death entered God’s world and is the end of all creation because of sin (Gen. 2:16-17)–a penalty, an unnatural one at that. However, we must remember that death will not get the final word. Instead, God proves that redemption is His solution throughout Scripture, beginning with the death of an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21).
How is death and the afterlife understood in the Old Testament?
- Sheol is often referred to as where those who die go in the afterlife.
- Genesis 37:35; Job 3:11–19; Psalm 88:3
- However, resurrection from the dead is mysteriously introduced in places like Daniel 12:2: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”
How is death and the afterlife understood in the New Testament?
The New Testament provides more clarity on death and the afterlife:
- Hades: This is a temporary place where the souls of unbelievers go until Christ returns.
- In Luke 16:22-23, the rich man is in torment in Hades, separated from Christ.
- Gehenna / Hell / Lake of Fire: This is the final place for unbelievers to exist in conscious torment apart from the fellowship of God.
- Jesus references hell as the place where unending torment is the reality of those within its domain (Matt. 5:22, 25:41; Mark 9:43).
- In Revelation 20:14-15, John describes the unbeliever’s final destination: “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
- Paradise: This is a temporary place where the souls of believers go to be with Christ until He returns.
- In Luke 23:43, Christ tells the thief on the cross that he will be with Him in paradise.
- The apostle Paul tells us believers are in Christ’s presence when they die (2 Cor. 5:1-8).
- New Heavens and New Earth: This is where believers will live, reunited with their glorified physical bodies with God forever.
- John reveals this environment in Revelation 21:1-4.
In Conclusion…
- Death is not merely the stopping of bodily functions. It is the moment when the soul is ripped from the body—a divine judgment and the natural outworking of sin and disobedience against God.
- Every person will face death, stand before God’s judgment, and ultimately experience the reunification of body and soul to exist forever.
- Believers will dwell with God eternally in the New Heavens and New Earth. Unbelievers will be eternally separated from God’s presence, consigned to everlasting torment in Hell—the Lake of Fire.
Thus, only the Christian may say with the apostle Paul, “‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:55-58).
God help us… unto the end! Amen.
— May 29, 2025