What Happens When Someone Dies, According To The Bible
It's a grand unknown, but the Bible describes the afterlife.
pexels Benjamin Franklin once said that only two things in life are guaranteed- taxes and death.
Now I don’t know much about taxes or how they work, but I do understand death. I mean, it’s pretty simple.
You live and then one day, you die. I know that might sound blunt, but objectively, that’s what happens.
This is something that all people understand. However, there’s a bigger question that is far less clear: what happens after you die?
Is it just an endless black void or is there something more? Unfortunately, that’s a question that only the dead can answer but as the saying goes, dead men tell no tales.
There have been plenty of theories as to what happens when you die, especially in religious beliefs.
Both Buddhism and Hinduism believe in forms of reincarnation, but for Buddhism, the cycle stops once a person has achieved nirvana, while with Hinduism the cycle continues but it’s completely karma-based.
Aside from these, there’s also a theory called bio-centrism, but that one certainly can’t be proven either.
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But when it comes to more widespread beliefs, perhaps none is more common than what Christianity teaches- Heaven and Hell.
John 3:16, there’s another verse that tells us about how death isn’t really the end, but through Christ, it's a new beginning in Heaven.
The idea, of course, is if you were faithful to God, you go to Heaven, but if you lived in sin, you go to Hell.
But just because this is something that’s taught doesn’t mean we truly know what that experience will be like.
Sure, we all know that one person that knows someone that had a near-death experience and claims they saw Heaven, but the only ones who know what they saw for sure are them and God.
So, what do we know and what does the Bible tell us about death? There are 3 Bible verses that talk about dying.
1. Death isn't meant to be feared.
Psalms 23:4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Being a believer or not, this a verse most people have heard. It means that when you believe in Christ, you have no fear of death. But where does that come from?
2. It's a process.
Hebrews 2:14-15 says “14 Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself, in the same way, partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
While the phrasing is a little harder to understand, all it’s really saying is Jesus gave his life so we could all be saved and therefore be able to have eternal life.
3. Death is a new beginning.
John 11:25 says “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.”
When you’re a Christian, death is something that you have no reason to fear because it’s just another part of the big picture.
As a Christian, your faith is rewarded with eternal life in Heaven above or if you chose to live in sin you go to Hell. In my opinion, it’s probably the most straightforward idea on death.
At the very least, it sounds better than a dark abyss of nothingness.
Jesse Oakley is a writer who writes about love, relationship, self-care and spirituality/astrology.