Is There LIFE After Death?
Text by Paul Kroll
 

Do you have an immortal soul?

Do the dead know what the living are doing? Does suicide  "end it all"? Will you ever see departed loved ones again? Do those who die "pass away" to heaven or hell?

Is there really life after death? If so, what is it like? And how can you know? Death has been called man's Final Enemy. It affects the living as well as those who have died, bringing pain and sorrow.

Many live in turmoil about whether dead loved ones are doomed for all eternity. Most religions are based on assuring the living that the dead, or at least a large number of the dead go to some kind of eternal reward.

Christians, for example, generally believe that those who accepted Jesus Christ have gone to heaven or purgatory. But they fear for loved ones who seemed to have refused salvation.

Some religions teach that individuals are reborn again and again in some physical form. But Christians usually believe humans have immortal souls that live on in another world after death. Have these souls of the "saved dead" wafted into heaven? Are they watching us here on earth? What about the unsaved dead, then? Are they in horrible torment, thrashing about in an ever-burning hellfire as you read these words?

By contrast, numerous educated but nonreligious people believe that all life, including human life, evolved naturally and without purpose. In that case, there is nothing beyond this life. Our consciousness is merely the result of neurological activity within the brain. Once the body quits functioning, the brain dies and we no longer exist.

Most Christians, however, would not accept the idea that death ends it all. Yet they often disagree on the supposed nature of life after death. Ask them to define, for example, the word "resurrection," which means simply "a rising of the dead to life." They would offer varying ideas about what a "resurrection" is. But why do some Christians even believe in a resurrection in the first place, when they also think the "soul" is immortal? Why would an immortal soul need a physical, "resurrected" body after leaving this physical world?

If you were to ask a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Muslim or religious Jew, you would get still different views about what happens after death.

Why all this confusion about what has to be the most important of questions: Is there life after death?

The truth is no human being of himself or herself can know what lies on the other side of death. We are all limited to information coming to our brain through our five physical senses.

Only a supernatural personage such as God could fill in the exact outlines of whatever life after death might exist. Left to our human intellect alone, we could never be sure of what, if anything, lies beyond the grave.

How then can anyone know? In the Western world, the Holy Bible has been the all time best-selling book. In one recent survey in the United States, 46 percent of respondents thought "the Bible is God's Word and all it says is true." Another 46 percent said, "The Bible was written by men inspired by God."

In this Book, one quoted as God makes some astounding claims. He says, "I, even, I, am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior" (Isa. 43:11). This God further challenges the reader, "I am the First and I am the Last; besides me there is no God" (Isa. 44:6). A third time, he insists, "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me" (Isa. 46:9, New King James Version throughout except where noted).

In the Greek New Testament there is a bold claim that Jesus of Nazareth is the cornerstone of salvation. The apostle Peter said Jesus "whom God raised from the dead" holds the key to life after death. "Nor is there salvation in any other," continued Peter, "for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). That is an awesome claim. But what is salvation anyway? Stripped of its theological baggage, salvation merely means a saving out of death. It means being empowered by God with another life after our own physical death.
 

Life After Death Comes from God

We read in Romans 6:23 that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." In the same letter to the Romans, Paul said, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Since every human who has ever lived has sinned, then death has been placed in everyone's wage packet. God must intervene and reverse death through his gift of grace. That gift---the Bible calls it salvation---alone makes life after death possible for us.

So the Bible reveals that human beings have no existence apart from this life. Unless God intervenes in a mysterious and miraculous way after death, a human being will simply cease to exist. Only one human being, Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh, has life inherent. The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus "alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light" (1 Tim. 6:16).

According to the Bible the real meaning of salvation has been shrouded in darkness and confusion. The apostle Paul said of the religious confusion of his day, "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rules of this age knew...but, as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him'" (1 Cor. 2:7-9).

Paul is saying humanity simply has not understood God's purpose. Yet, the life after death "God has prepared" for man is precisely the subject we want to understand. What kind of life, if any, is there after death? The Bible explains this mystery. The story is like a jigsaw puzzle, which must be assembled from scattered references throughout this Book.

The prophet Isaiah asked, "Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? ... Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little" (Isa. 28:9-11). Let's begin to piece together the true understanding about life after death.

The Bible makes clear that the person who dies is, simply, dead. An individual's only hope to live after he or she dies is through a resurrection. The word resurrection means, in biblical terms, "a rising from the dead."
 

Outline of Resurrections

The Bible mentions more than one resurrection. Each fits into God's overall purpose in working with the human family.

The sequence of biblical resurrections is briefly sketched out below. The remainder of the booklet will fill in the details and explain the significance of each of the resurrections.

1. Until Jesus Christ returns all those who lived and died will remain dead in their graves. At Jesus' return to this earth to restore the kingdom of God over all nations, those select few who were called and trained of God through the ages will be resurrected to immortal life. They will rule with Christ over the human family.

For a 1000-year period---the Millennium, God will offer salvation to all humans who live during this time.

2. At the end of this Millennium, all those who lived in past ages and were not called by God will be resurrected to physical life for a short time. They, too, will be given an opportunity for salvation. This is the second resurrection.

These individuals will compare the civilizations in which they lived with the new civilization Jesus Christ will have established for 1,000 years. The vast majority will want to choose God's way! All individuals who have chosen God's way will ultimately be changed from physical, mortal human life into immortal beings. All people who have ever lived will by this time have had an opportunity to choose salvation.

3. Finally, those who rejected their opportunity will be resurrected to physical life in another resurrection and God's judgment will be passed on them. They will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire and cease to exist.

You can see from this brief outline that God's plan differs markedly from what you have assumed or learned from traditional Christianity.
 

Where Are the Dead Saints?

Let's begin, now, our search for clues to this mystery of life after death by finding out what happened to all the characters of the Hebrew Bible so familiar to the Western world. We're referring to such Old Testament personalities as Abel, Job, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Deborah, David, Jeremiah and Daniel.

Until the New Testament Church began in the first century, only a handful of such individuals were called by God through his spirit (1 Peter 1:10-12). These few individuals overcame trials and temptations, receiving a promise during their lifetime of a future life after death. What happened to these people of God?

There was Enoch who pleased God (Heb. 11:5) and Elijah, an example of a righteous man who prayed fervently (Jas. 5:17). There was Abraham, the father of the faithful (Rom. 4:16) and David, a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). There was Daniel, greatly beloved by God (Dan. 10:11) and Job a paragon of good works (Job 1:8) and perseverance (James 5:11).

Have they already gone to their reward? Consider Moses the humblest man of his time (Num. 12:3) with whom God spoke face to face (Deut. 34:10). What about Sarah who is used as an example of a godly woman, wife and mother (1 Pet. 3:6)? Are they conscious and watching us right now?

Then we must consider the judges and prophets such as Deborah, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and Malachi. All these were godly men and women who fearlessly followed the Word of God in the face of persecution and even martyrdom. All these individuals surely went to some kind of eternal reward when they died, didn't they?

The answer is, they did not. Every single one of these great men and women of God is still dead and buried. Their minds are unconscious and their bodies have disintegrated. Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 9:5, "For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing..."

These spiritual giants did not go to heaven. Jesus plainly said, "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven" (John 3:13). When Jesus made that statement, David had been dead for almost 1,000 years. Abraham much longer. Abel had been dead for about 4,000 years.
 

Abraham Still in the Grave

The Jews of Jesus' day understood that those who had died were still dead. The Pharisees challenged Jesus when he said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death" (John 8:51). Jesus was, of course, saying that such a person would not experience the eternal or second death.

The Jews misunderstood and thought he was talking about a person's first physical death. So the Jews replied, "Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' Are You greater than our father Abraham who is dead? And the prophets are dead" (John 8:52-53).

Jesus didn't dispute their statement about Abraham and the prophets. Abraham and all the prophets were dead and buried when Jesus spoke those words. The apostle Paul later confirmed this fact by writing about these Hebrew people of faith, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises" (Heb. 11:13).

Who were all "these" people? Paul mentioned virtually every specially called individual during what Christians call "Old Testament" times: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Samuel and all the prophets. They trusted in God "that they might obtain a better resurrection" (Heb. 11:35).

Jesus had to straighten out the sect of the Sadducees who taught there was no resurrection. He said, "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22:31-32). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are dead and their bodies have disintegrated. Yet, they are as good as alive because the Almighty God is able to resurrect them to eternal life.

The same holds true for David. Peter, in his inspired sermon on the first day of Pentecost after Jesus' resurrection said, "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried." A bit later in the sermon, Peter said, "David did not ascend into the heavens" (Acts 2:29, 34).
 

King David Will Live Again

Did David have any hope to be alive again? Yes, he most certainly did.

The prophet Jeremiah, speaking under inspiration of God, wrote of a yet future time called the "latter days." In those days, God promises the following will happen: "And David their king ... I will raise up for them [the House of Jacob]" (Jer. 30:8-9,24). Many prophecies show that David is to be resurrected an immortal, supernatural king over his people (Ezek. 27:24).

So David will come up out of the grave in the future. And so will every person who has been called and trained by God throughout the ages and later died. But all such persons must remain dead until a certain important event occurs.

That event is the Second Coming of Christ.

Jesus said, "The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth---those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29). Those coming up in the resurrection of life will do so at the return of Jesus Christ. The "resurrection of condemnation," which will be explained, is much later.
 

The Fate of All Humans

Let's now ask what has happened to the masses of humans who have not been called in their natural lifetimes.

We've seen that all humans have sinned (Rom. 3:23) and that the wages, payment or consequence of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). A relative handful throughout history were called, repented or lived according to the principle of Godly love. These individuals await their promised salvation or eternal life.

Some Jews in Jesus' day were tragically close to rejecting salvation. Jesus told some of the Pharisees, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains" (John 9:41).

Everyone else during the centuries and millennia has simply died in a greater or lesser degree of spiritual ignorance. Yes, even most who thought they were Christians. Sin had entered the world through Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit. God told Adam, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). They ate and they died at the end of their days (Gen. 5:5). The first family is still resting in the grave nearly 6,000 years later.

Humanity continued to sin. The state of affairs degenerated from generation to generation. "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). And everyone eventually died.

Paul summarized the spread of sin in these words: "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12). In verse 14, Paul said, "death reigned from Adam to Moses." Death has continued to reign from Moses to this very second.

The apostle Paul said in Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed for men to die once." That is the fate of every human. Every person dies and remains "asleep" (as the Bible calls death) until it is God's purpose to bring that individual back to life.
 

What Is a "Soul"?

Humans do not have "immortal souls" that remain alive and conscious after death. The two words "immortal soul" are a contradiction in terms. A human "soul" is mortal and perishable.

You've heard the term, "Why that poor soul." That's what we are. Humans are mortal souls. We read that the Lord God "formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2:7, Authorized Version). Man is a soul.

The Hebrew word translated "soul" in Genesis 2:7 in the widely used Authorized or King James Version of the Bible is nephesh. It simply means a living, breathing being or creature. This same word is frequently used in the first chapter of Genesis and elsewhere in reference to animals (Gen. 1:24). This same Hebrew word nephesh, usually translated "soul," can even refer to a dead body (Lev. 21:11).

In Ezekiel 18:4, we read, "The soul who sins shall die." The same words are repeated in verse 20. A soul is merely a living and breathing being, human or otherwise, that can die. According to the Bible, death is simply death---the absence of life. And the dead stay dead until God brings them back to life. If God chose not to resurrect those who died, they would remain permanently dead.
 

The Spirit in Man

Now, there is a spirit essence in man that gives him the capacity for thought.

The apostle Paul asked, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?" (1 Cor. 2:11). Where did this "spirit" come from? From God himself. "Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him" (Zech. 12:1).

This spirit essence coupled with human brain allows man to think, reason and be aware of himself. This spirit is in the man; it is not the man himself. This essence must see through human eyes, hear through human ears, think through the human brain. It has no consciousness apart from the body.

When the body and brain die, God---one might say---pulls out this human spirit as though extracting a floppy disk from the computer. A disk is functionless without its hardware, the computer. A human's spirit essence is in the same situation. It has no function (consciousness) apart from its "hardware," the body and brain. By themselves both a computer disk and the spirit in man merely store information.

Solomon wrote of death, saying, "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Eccl. 12:7). God can preserve this spiritual disk containing a memory of all that you are, or erase it. Once God erases memory from a person's spirit essence, that person's memory is utterly wiped out. He or she cannot be resurrected. But God is still preserving the spirit of every individual who has ever lived or died.
 

A Spiritual "Computer Program"

That spirit in each man and woman apparently maintains the identity of each individual who has lived, again using the analogy of a spiritual computer programmed disk. Using this as a kind of spiritual date base, God can construct either a physical or spiritual body, providing the individual with consciousness once again.

There is only one way for dead saints to be "reprogrammed" and live again. That way is through a resurrection. The apostle Paul said, "We also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may conformed to His glorious body" (Phil. 3:20-21). The redemption or change of the body is the only hope for a human to have eternal life after death.
 

The Resurrection Explained

I Corinthians 15 is the resurrection chapter. It explains how the dead are to be made immortal. As well, it tells us when eternal life after death will be given.

Beginning in verse 35, Paul addressed the "body" question. What kind of body would a resurrected saint, one called, trained and chosen of God, have? Paul made it clear that it would be a body no longer subject to death. "It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body ... As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man" (verses 44-49).

He ended this thought by pointing out that flesh and blood cannot enter the spirit realm of the kingdom of God (verse 50). Humans would have to be given immortal, spirit bodies.

Paul summed up his teaching in these words: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [remain dead], but we shall all be changed---in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (verse 51-52).

Notice, first, that a person's only hope for eternal life after death is to be raised from the dead by a resurrection. Human and mortal bodies must be changed for spirit and immortal ones.

Consider, too, the question of when the resurrection to life occurs. Paul said the dead saints are to be raised "at the last trumpet." We will see later that the blowing of the last trumpet occurs at the Second Coming of Christ, when he returns to restore the kingdom of God to this earth. That is a yet future event.
 

God's Master Plan

For the moment, let's back track to put the resurrection at Christ's return into proper historical perspective. For the last 6,000 years God and Jesus Christ have been working out their supreme plan for the human race.

Paul said this plan had been conceived "before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). Part of that plan called for God to choose a select few individuals during the first four thousands years of human existence for specific responsibilities.

These persons had to be empowered by God, through his spirit, for very special callings. Noah had to build an ark by faith. Abraham had to leave his homeland and become the father of the faithful. Joseph had to stand before Pharaoh and bring Israel into Egypt. Moses had to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and give them God's law. Deborah had to judge a nation. David had to become king. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel had to prophesy of future events during periods of national stress.

In the process, these individuals lived and wrote the book, as it were, the Bible. Their words and acts became an important part of the foundation of truth, which all humanity would one day need to understand (Eph. 2:20).

Peter said of these individuals, "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you ... To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you" (I Pet. 1:10-12).

Finally, Jesus came to pay the penalty for mankind's sins as the perfect sacrifice. Now the sins that separated man from God could be wiped clean (Isa. 59:1-2). Salvation, or eternal life after death, could be made available to all people according to God's time and purpose (John 6:44).

Paul says of Jesus, "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Col. 1:20-21).

After his crucifixion, Jesus was resurrected from the dead as the firstborn of those who would, in their proper time, also be resurrected to eternal life (Rom. 8:29). Jesus has been in heaven for more than 19 centuries, seated on the right hand of God the Father (Heb. 1:13). The apostle Paul wrote, "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession" (Heb. 4:14).

What has Jesus been doing during these centuries as high priest? Specifically, he is working out the next part of God's great plan to ultimately bring salvation to every single human who has ever lived or will live.

For the present, Jesus is spiritually purifying God's Church or congregation, composed of individuals from around the world called to salvation in this age. Through this group Jesus is preaching the message of his soon-coming kingdom. Jesus himself prophesied of this end-time effort during his earthly ministry: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness ..." (Matt. 24:14).

These called-out individuals are the "elect" (Matt. 24:24), the saints, who are among those to be resurrected and made immortal at Christ's Second Coming. But this group is far smaller than most people think. Every other human being who has lived and died will remain in the grave awaiting another and later resurrection, one to physical life. Each will then have an opportunity to understand and follow the way that leads to eternal life.
 

Held in Trust

Let's now discover where the saints resurrected to immortal life at Jesus' return shall live.

Jesus said to his disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3). Jesus has prepared and is preparing places or positions of responsibility for every true Christian. Notice, that these positions (the reward) include living at a location identical to where Christ is to be at his coming.

These rewards are not yet dispensed. At the present time, they are reserved and protected by Jesus who is in heaven. That's why Jesus said, "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matt. 5:12).

It's now held in trust by Jesus on behalf of the true saints who are dead and buried. Notice when that reward will be meted out. The answer is found in the closing words recorded in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible: "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with me, to give to everyone according to his work" (Rev. 22:12). The reward is now "in" heaven in trust. Christ will bring the reward of eternal life down from heaven at his Second Coming, a yet future event.

In Matthew 25, Jesus gave several parables about "the kingdom of heaven." Here he eloquently summarized and described the events during which the saints receive the gift of eternal life and the rewards of various responsibilities in the kingdom of God. Notice the time and location carefully.

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him ... Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'" (Matt. 25:31-32, 34).

The time element begins with Christ's Second Coming in glory. Christ is pictured in the parable as bestowing eternal life and an inheritance in the "kingdom of God" or the "kingdom of heaven." This will happen by the process of the resurrection to eternal life and the giving of positions of responsibility.

This kingdom of God is also called the kingdom "of" heaven because that's where it originates. It is to be distinguished from the "kingdoms of man," which this heavenly kingdom will supersede. That's why Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). His kingdom is "of" heaven and will continue to be called such since it originates with God who is still in heaven.

What is inherited by those made immortal? Is it heaven? No, it isn't. Note that the place to which Christ comes is our earth. There are nations gathered before Christ. Where do nations exist? Why, right here on our planet.

This explains what otherwise appears to be a bizarre contradiction in Matthew 5. In the beatitudes, Christ said the meek would inherit the earth but the poor in spirit and those persecuted for righteousness' sake would inherit "the kingdom of heaven." (Compare Matt. 5:3 with verses 5 and 10.)

Does this mean the meek stay on earth and the poor in spirit go to heaven? No. The kingdom of heaven will become the kingdom of earth simply by virtue of the fact that Christ will change the location of his residence to this planet.
 

Why Kingdom "of" God

This kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God belongs to the heavenly Jesus and God. It's owned and controlled by them out of heaven. That's why it's called the kingdom of heaven at this time.

Right now, the inheritance of salvation through the resurrection is "reserved in heaven" for each person called by God, as we read in I Peter 1:4. What does this mean?

Think of the following analogy.

You will buy your friend dinner at a fine restaurant of your choice as a gift. You have reserved a dinner table for the two of you in your name for a certain hour. It's the "table of Mr. Jones," if that's your name. This table, held in your name, is the location where the gift of a free dinner will be dispensed. Your friend cannot receive this gift until the time of the reservation. A specific time element is involved. So is a location. He must wait until you come to the restaurant at which time and place you will meet him. Your table will then also become his table because he is to share in the evening's meal.

That's how it is as far as the reward "reserved in heaven" for the saved. It is currently reserved for the saints and will be dispensed by Christ at a certain future time at a designated location. The time happens to be the Second Coming. The location where the reward is given happens to be planet earth.
 

A Christian's "Citizenship Papers"

Paul made this clear when he said, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body" (Phil. 3:20-21).

The citizenship of one awaiting full membership in the kingdom of God is held in trust even while that member may now be dead and buried. Those who are called to salvation and are alive in the generation that exists when Christ returns also have their citizenship held in trust. Neither group will receive that citizenship until Christ returns and resurrects the dead and changes the physical bodies of the living saints into spiritual bodies.

That's why Paul said "we eagerly wait" for the Savior Christ to return to this earth. Dead or alive, the saved must wait for the appointed time of the Second Coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. That occurrence will be the single most dramatic event in human history.

Daniel described Jesus' return to earth in the following words:

"At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life..." (Dan. 12:1-2).

All the dead in Christ from Abel the son of Adam down to the last person who died just before Christ returns will be resurrected to eternal life. They will then receive the gift of salvation and their rewards of responsibility in the kingdom of God.

The book of Revelation chronicles in much detail the final events on earth as Christ is returning. The apostle John wrote in Revelation 11:15: "Then the seventh angel sounded [this is that last trumpet]: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'"

A few verses later John tells us, "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty ... Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead [nations, in the official Greek Byzantine text], that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints" (verses 17-18).

The time and place is clear. It is Christ's Second Coming. The kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord. The kingdom of heaven literally comes to earth. It's also the time for rewarding the prophets and saints.

That is the time to which the apostle Paul looked with great expectation and yearning. He realized his death was imminent or, as he put it, "the time of my departure is at hand." Paul had hope in a future resurrection. He said, "There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing" (II Tim. 4:6-8).

Paul had previously told the Colossian church, "When Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). Many years later John wrote, "We know that when He [the Christ] is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).
 

Events of Resurrection Day

Let's now take a closer look at the specific event of the resurrection of the dead. (Remember, it occurs on the very day of Christ's coming.) By doing so, we get a clear picture as to exactly how the resurrection fits into the events of the yet future "last days."

The final conversation between Jesus and the disciples is recorded in the first chapter of Acts. The disciples asked Jesus when he would "restore the kingdom of Israel" (verse 6). They were really asking: "When are you returning the second time?"

Jesus refused to give them a specific answer, saying, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority" (Acts 1:7). Now, over 1,950 years later, that singular event is yet in the future.

As Jesus departed out of their sight, the disciples were told something very specific about his return. They were standing on the Mount of Olives, very near to Jerusalem (verse 12), and watched Jesus rise up into a cloud and disappear (verse 9).

As they were looking up into the heaven or sky, they heard these words: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

The apostle Paul was later inspired by God to fill in some additional details about the resurrection of the dead in relationship to Christ's Second Coming. He was encouraging one of the congregations not to suffer undue remorse about those in the Church who had died. "I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope" (I Thess. 4:13).

He pointed the brethren to the hope of the resurrection. And then he explained point-by-point exactly how that resurrection would take place:

"We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4:15-17).

The following is clear. Whichever saints (those called and trained by God) are alive at whatever future time Christ returns will be changed to spirit "in the twinkling of an eye" as Paul told the Corinthians. Immediately before this change in the living saints, all the dead in Christ will be resurrected with spiritual bodies to life immortal.
 

No Higher Than a Cloud

Both groups will ascend together as high as the clouds while Christ descends from his present heavenly location. From this moment all the resurrected saints are to be wherever Christ is to be. Where is that location? Will everyone go to heaven with Christ?

We've already seen that this is the moment of the Second Coming of Christ. The kingdoms of this world become Christ's. He is coming to rule this world and he will rule this world and he will do it with the saints. As Jude wrote, quoting a prophecy of Enoch, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all" (Jude 14-15).

Christ is not going back to heaven with the resurrected saints. Everyone stays here on earth. The prophet Zechariah filled in other important details of this event. His words show exactly what is to happen in the hours and days after the resurrected saints meet Christ in the clouds over the Mount of Olives. The 14th chapter is the key.

Zechariah calls this series of events, as do the other prophets, "The day of the Lord" (verse 1). "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two..." (verses 2-4). Zechariah then gives other details in the following verses, summarizing it all in verse 9, "And the Lord shall be King over all the earth."

Christ will descend from the clouds with the saints and everyone will alight on the Mount of Olives. Immediately, Christ will begin the job of instituting his government over all the nations. His first act will be to obliterate the opposing armies of the heathen. The now-immortal saints will remain with Christ on earth and assist him in the formation of a new government bringing 1,000 years of peace and happiness to humanity.
 

The Coming Utopia

There are so many prophecies of this wonderful time to come which we call the Millennium. We'll look at just a few below.

Isaiah wrote, "Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end" (Isa. 9:6-7).

The prophet Micah wrote, "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house [the kingdom of heaven] shall be established on the top of the mountains [the kingdoms or nations of earth]...

"Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ... He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Mic. 4:1-2).

In the book of Isaiah we read that "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" during this 1,000-year period (Isa. 11:9).

During this millennial time every person will have an opportunity to develop righteous character. For the first time in history, God will draw all humanity to him through his Spirit. Jeremiah tells us about these times: "After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jer. 31:33).

Yes, during this 1,000-year period God will save the billions of humans who will be born into it. He will do it by spiritually begetting the humans then alive, upon their repentance.

Salvation will be open to all. People will then have an opportunity to exercise God's Spirit and grow in grace and character. They will qualify for responsibilities in the kingdom of God when they are made immortal spirit beings at the end of their life.

The resurrected and immortal saints, meanwhile, are to be part of this 1,000-year government. They will have offices of governmental and ecclesiastical service to perform. As the prophet said, "Your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it'" (Isa. 30:20-21).

In the Apocalypse or book of Revelation, the apostle John records a vision of this same future time. He saw resurrected saints singing a hymn of gratitude to Christ: "You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth" (Rev 5:9-10).

The resurrected saints will sit down with Christ on his throne after he returns to earth, even as Christ presently sits with the Father in his throne (Rev. 3:21). At the resurrection, the saints will receive a crown of life (Rev 2:10) and Christ will give them "power over the nations" (Rev. 2:26).
 

The Rest of the Dead

So far we have seen that God's purpose has been to call only a small number of people during the 6,000 years of human civilization. Only these few people have had an opportunity for salvation, their minds being opened through God's spirit to his ways and thoughts. Only these individuals are resurrected to immortal life at Jesus' Second Coming.

But during the 1,000 years of God's kingdom on earth, all humans will have an opportunity for salvation. Those who repent, seek to do God's will and overcome their nature will also be changed "at the twinkling of an eye" into immortal spirit when they have completed their training.

Meanwhile, Satan who had deceived the human race (Rev. 12:9) will be restrained by God. At the beginning of the Millennium we read that a great angel, under Christ's direction, "Laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years ... so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished" (Rev. 20:2-3).

At the end of the 1,000-year period God will allow Satan to be released for a short time. He will immediately go out and deceive great multitudes of mortal people then living who will have taken for granted what they have been taught by the saints in the kingdom of God.

The Bible says they allowed themselves to be spiritually seduced. "They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city [Jerusalem]" (Rev. 20:9). God punishes this rebellion. Satan is then permanently removed from ever again deceiving humans from that point on. The epistle of Jude implies that Satan and the fallen angels become "wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever" (Jude 13).

Now the next part of God's plan begins. It explains the two remaining questions. What about the multitudes who lived through the ages, but were not called by God to be among the previously selected group of saints? What about the very few who may have knowingly rejected salvation?
 

A Rising to Judgment

God has not been trying to save the world for the last 6,000 years. If he had planned to, he would have done so. But mankind has needed to learn that the whole human family is completely dependent upon God by suffering through the rough crucible of human experience.

Paul tells us that, "The creation [mankind] was subjected to futility, not willingly but because of Him who subjected it in hope" (Rom. 8:20). Humanity's suffering is necessary but it is not without purpose. God will "make life fair" for everyone by offering all people eternal life. Paul explained, "The creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption [death] into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (verse 21).

God has allowed a rebellious spirit being, Satan, to sway this world for 6,000 years. Satan has been the god of this world from the time Adam and Eve listened to his lies in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-6). He is called the "god of this age" who has blinded or deceived mankind (II Cor. 4:4). We read in Revelation 12:9 that Satan "deceives the whole world." Satan is also called "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2).

Once Satan-inspired human civilizations are ended and Christ has shown the glory and splendor of God's government for 1,000 years, he can go back and "tie up loose ends" so to speak. He can now fulfill his ultimate goal quoted earlier, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2:4). God will now after the 1,000 years "save" the world of people who lived and died from Adam to the beginning of his 1,000-year rule.

This period of judgment is not a time of outright condemnation. Rather, it is a period of trial, of judging during which human beings are growing into the stature and fullness of Christ. The overwhelming bulk of humanity has yet to come into this time of judgment and salvation.

Only the few who are truly God's people are in judgment now. As the apostle Peter said, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God" (I Peter 4:17). The house of God is the Church of God. But judgment has not yet begun for anyone else.

Paul in his defense before the Roman governor said, "I have hope in God, which they themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust" (Acts 24:15).

There are and will be two classes of the dead unjust. One group consists of the very few who have willfully rejected God's way after having the Spirit of God. The other group comprises the multitudes who simply lived out their lives in greater or lesser ignorance of God's purpose and who were not called to salvation.

These unsaved dead of all ages, who never were called, will be raised to mortal life in a great resurrection after the 1,000-year period. During his ministry, Jesus referred to some in this great second resurrection. "The men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it ... The queen of the South [Sheba] will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it" (Matt. 12:41-42). These were the people living during Solomon's day as well as those later generations who lived in the time of Jonah the prophet.

Earlier Jesus told the people of his day, "It will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon [Phoenician cities] in the day of judgment than for you" and "it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom [inhabited by homosexuals] in the day of judgment than for you" (Matt. 11:22, 24). The people of Sodom lived 1,000 years before Solomon. Tyre and Sidon still exist as small cities in Lebanon.

These scriptural passages show that people of all ages will rise up or be resurrected from their graves to live physical lives once again for a designated period of time. They will have their first opportunity for salvation.
 

The Bones of the Dead

In the prophecies of Ezekiel, the scene of how this resurrection will occur is given in great detail. In this case, God used the multiple hundreds of millions of Israelites who have lived down through the centuries as the example.

In a vision, Ezekiel was set down in a valley full of bones. He tramped through this vast open space over mounds of very dry bones. The Eternal asked Ezekiel, "Can these bones live?" (Ezek. 37:3). In other words, can dead people be resurrected to physical life, Ezekiel was asked.

The answer was yes. There is nothing too hard for God the Creator. The Eternal said, "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord" (verses 5-6).

Ezekiel heard a great rattling of bones coming together. Internal organs appeared, muscles and tendons covered the bones. Then the bodies were covered with skin (see verses 7-8). But they were lying there, not breathing. Ezekiel heard the voice of God thunder out, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live" (verse 9). Suddenly, this vast horde of resurrected humans stood up, "an exceedingly great army" (verse 10).

Here we have the picture of a resurrection to physical life. Once these people of past ages live again, they will really understand who God is. Those who had heard of God and the gospel of the kingdom of God but didn't understand, will say as Job did, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You, therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:5-6). Those who had never been exposed to a knowledge of Jesus will perhaps be even more dumbfounded as they are instructed in the ways of God.

Yes, there is coming a time when every single dead person, Christian or otherwise, who hadn't been called by God will be resurrected to physical life. Each mind will be opened to understand spiritual truth.

The Eternal will say, "I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves ... then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live" (Ezek. 37:14).
 

The Key to the Resurrections

Revelation 20 gives us a precise chronological order of these important events. This chapter is a complete synopsis of what happens during the next 1,000 years and more after Christ returns.

John saw in vision individuals beheaded for their witness to Jesus. They symbolized all who served God in these ages of man's inhumanity to man. Now, they sat on thrones with authority to judge. These individuals, John wrote, "lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4).

John referred to all these---the saints---who are resurrected to immortal life at Christ's coming: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (verse 6).

Verse 5 interjects what happens to all those who died up to this time without having been called to salvation: "But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished." It is a resurrection, as we have explained before, to physical life and judgment, which Ezekiel pictured in such graphic detail.

John gives us additional details of that "Great White Throne Judgment" in Revelation 20, verses 11-13. In a vision, he saw "the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books."

The works by which they will be judged are not just past works. Rather, the judgment on these people will be based on works they exhibit after their resurrection to mortal life. This coming brief period of judgment is one lifetime, in which all will be taught how to grow spiritually. All these dead humans resurrected back to physical life will learn to trust and obey God. After which, if they continue in obedience, they will be changed into immortal spirit.
 

Resurrection to Damnation

There remains the question of what happens to those who are the incorrigibly wicked.

Their fate is sealed at the close of this additional period of judgment that has followed the 1,000 years. "Death and Hades [the grave] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14-15). This is the second of eternal death from which there is no resurrection to life.

Such people will simply cease to exist, completely burned up. Malachi tells us, "You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet" (Mal. 4:3). These are those individuals "who sleep in the dust of the earth" and who awake or are resurrected "to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2). They will already have rejected their opportunity for salvation.

Earlier, we quoted Jesus' prophecy in John 5:28-29 that "all who are in the graves will hear His voice." Some would come up to the resurrection of life. We saw these are those who are made immortal at Christ's return.

There is also a resurrection "hour" or time for those "who have done evil," to come up in a "resurrection to condemnation." The Authorized Version used the word "damnation." The Greek word is krisis. It can mean the simple passing of a sentence. But it can also have the meaning of a judgment period as in Luke 11:32, "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment [krisis] with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah."

The reference is ambiguous, with good reason. There are two groups of humans who have done evil, who are yet in the grave. Remember, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). The vast majority of these sinners did so in ignorance. They will be resurrected to physical life after the Millennium, in a time of judging during which they will receive their first and only opportunity for salvation. They come up in a second resurrection as previously explained.

A tiny group of unrepentant dead will rise later in a third resurrection to a sentence of condemnation or damnation. Jesus referred to both of these resurrections. They are both different still from the resurrection to immortal life at the return of the Messiah, which we have explained earlier.

Those resurrected to a sentence of condemnation will not "burn forever" in some eternal hell fire. They will be quickly burned up---dead forever. The apostle Peter spoke of that time. "The heavens and the earth which now exist are ...reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men ... The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (II Peter 3:7-13).

People suffering the second death in this earth-wide inferno are the incorrigible wicked who refused to yield to God and overcome their sinful nature. God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (II Pet. 3:9). However, he will not force the individual person to trust, love and obey him.

The few who remain antagonistic in the spirit of Satan cannot exist among the community of God's family where love and harmony are a way of life. God in his great wisdom decrees that their life and consciousness must be ended.

Those who overcome Satan, themselves and the world are added to Christ's spiritual kingdom on earth at the beginning of and during the Millennium and as a result of the Great White Throne Judgment period.

During all this time those now called of God and chosen will be ruling and administering justice and assistance to humans on earth. All those made immortal will exist forever as members of God's family. "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life," Christ says in Revelation 3:5.
 

The End Is the Beginning

But what happens when the work of salvation is finished at the end of the Great White Throne Judgment period? Will Christ then return to heaven with the saints? No, he will not. While the work of offering and preparing all humanity for salvation will be complete, it will be only the beginning of God's plan. The job of recreating humans in God's spiritual image and composition is merely the preparatory stage for the real work that must be done in a renewed and purified earth. Salvation merely produces the tools, or God-family members, to do the work to come.
 

A Program for Eternity

God has a great program about which he tells us little in his Word except that it does exist. He wants humans to concentrate on the task at hand.

To kick off his new plan, God will bring something very special to what is called a "new earth" (Rev. 21:1). In his vision, John saw that "the first earth had passed away." Peter also referred to this change: "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (II Pet. 3:13).

Christ and the saints will be on earth at that prophesied time, ready to launch into the next phase of God's plan. Notice, the next event as recorded in Revelation 21 and 22. John saw in vision, "The holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Then John heard a loud voice saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God" (Rev. 21:1-4).

Did you catch the enormous implication of these verses? Christ is not going to heaven. The immortal saints are not going to heaven. God is coming to earth---to a new earth made pure and spiritually clean. He is bringing his own spiritual city, called New Jerusalem, to this new earth. The entire 21st and 22nd chapters of Revelation describe it in detail.

God will now be dwelling on earth and he will then say, "Behold I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5). Yes, there will be new works, exciting projects, indescribable vistas of which we now know nothing of.

The making of thousands of millions of immortal beings---in the image of the one Creator God is not the end. It is merely the beginning. God will then start the real project. The headquarters of this project will be New Jerusalem, New Earth.

No one will be going to "heaven." The heaven of God's throne is actually coming to earth. Earth is destined to become the center of all activity in every spiritual and physical dimension of the universe. That's why there isn't a single scripture in the entirety of the Bible that says Christians go to heaven when they die---or at any time.
 

God's Wonderful Plan for Mankind

Is there life after death? Yes, there most certainly is. While everyone who has died is now in his or her grave, those few who were specially called through the ages will be resurrected at Christ's return to rule with him on this earth. The multitudes born during the next 1,000 years will all be given an opportunity for salvation in their lifetimes.

After the Millennium, other multitudes who never had an opportunity for salvation will be resurrected to physical life. They will be given God's Holy Spirit to enable them to obey God in spirit and in truth. Those, too, will have the opportunity to become members of the God family and obtain salvation.

Finally, when God has completed his family of thousands of millions of spirit beings, the now-secret work God has in mind can begin. That is the exciting story behind God's great plan to make available to every human being eternal life after death.