Life After Death
The typical funeral sermon announces that the deceased is now “in a better place”– meaning in heaven – and smiling down at the gathered loved ones. Although such a statement may comfort the grieving, do the Scriptures themselves support it?
Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that after death, one’s spirit leaves one’s body and inhabits another. Although some would insist that Jesus taught reincarnation, a sensible study of scripture indicates otherwise. They claim that Elijah’s spirit inhabited John the Baptist’s body (Luke 1:17). What the Bible teaches, however, is that the anointing of the Spirit on John’s life was the same as Elijah’s. Besides Elijah never died, how could he be reincarnated?
It was a common Jewish belief that after death, all disembodied spirits went to Sheol/Hades in the center of the earth. They believed that Hades was a 2-compartment abode consisting of a torture chamber for the unrighteous, and a place of bliss, paradise, for the righteous. Jesus seemed to have identified with that belief when He gave the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man went to Hades, and Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom – which any Jew would have interpreted as paradise – and both were separated by an insurmountable gulf.
There are some who interpret the scriptures differently and conclude that the righteous souls went straight to heaven. But my question is, “On what Basis?” Yahshua the Messiah said plainly and clearly in John 3:13, "No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man." Of all the millions of people who had died up to that point in history not one went to heaven. That fact is on the direct authority of our Savior Himself. Certainly there had been good people deserving of salvation who never went to a heavenly reward. Take King David, for instance. He will rule directly under Yahshua in the Millennial Kingdom, Ezekiel 37:24-25. But where is David now – in heaven?
John 5.28 says "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice." If your body is buried in the ground and your soul is in heaven, why will the soulless bodies need to hear Jesus?
Acts 2:29 explains about this man that Yahweh loved: “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.” For nearly a thousand years up to the time Yahshua walked this earth David lay in the grave, and he is still dead in the grave, having gone nowhere but to his rest for the past 3,000 years.
Paul explained that we get everlasting life only at the resurrection when our Savior returns to earth. In 1Corinthians 15:22-23 Paul wrote: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Messiah the first-fruits; then they that are Messiah’s, at his coming.”
Immediately after Jesus died, His body was placed in a tomb and left there for 3 days, but His Soul went to Hades (Acts 2:27,31) in the center of the earth (Matthew 12:40). On the cross Jesus revealed that He was going to the paradise section of Hades (Luke 23:43) and not the torment section as some think. In Matthew 12:40 Jesus predicted that He was going to be in the heart of the earth for 3 days. This could not have referred to His body because ancient tombs were not 6 feet under as they are today. He could have only been speaking of His Soul.
There is evidence that Jesus did not ascend to heaven during those 3 days but instead remained in paradise all the while. On Resurrection Sunday He did not permit Mary to touch Him because He had not as yet ascended to the Father but was on His way there (John 20:17). Afterwards He allowed the disciples to touch Him (John 20:27). It is clear that He only ascended to heaven after the resurrection and not before.
After searching the Scriptures for 40 years we have not found one verse that says, “When we get to heaven,” or “I’ll see you in heaven,” or “Rejoice for you will one day be in heaven,” or anything similar. The notion of a heavenly reward stems from teachings of Greek philosophers and Gnostic traditions, ultimately embraced by the church.
What we do find in the Scriptures are many passages that speak of the earth as our reward, such as Psalm 37:11: “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”