NOTE: All Links are in red.
Bible verses have a link which allows you to go to the actual verse and see it and most of the translations,
and also you will be able to click through and read the whole chapter so you can see the context of the verse.
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DO WE GO TO HEAVEN RIGHT AWAY?
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Let's look to the Bible (my favorite place) to see what happens at our death.
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CRIMINAL GOING TO HEAVEN THAT SAME DAY.
Luke 23:39; One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus is talking to the criminal being crucified beside Him. He lets him know that "TODAY" he will be in paradise. If you look at the diagram, you will see where a person goes when they die.
It doesn’t say anything about any time lag or I'll see you in several thousand years, as some believe. (soul sleep)
Hebrews 9:27; And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Jesus, as God's Son, knew He would be spiritually present in the Father's "hands" at the very moment of His death, not asleep in the grave (soul sleep).
STEPHEN ASKED JESUS TO RECEIVE HIS SPIRIT
Acts 7:59; They went on stoning Stephen
as he called on the Lord and said,
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
Here Stephen is asking Jesus to "receive his spirit" (lower case = human spirit,). In other words, Stephen knows he has a human spirit which is separate from his dying body and that Jesus will receive it.
Note: It is evident that Stephen is expecting his spirit to be received right away,
not in the thousands of years which is believed by some (soul sleep).
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OTHER VERSES WORTH LOOKING AT
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The transfiguration
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Rachel's soul departing when she died (Genesis 35:18)
Two more passages bear further discussion. First, John 11:23–27:
Revelation 6:9-10; When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, e were killed just as they had been.
Photo credit: Faith Direction & isaiahsixtyoneseven.blogspot.com
These are beings who are very much alive and communicating. (They are not in 'soul sleep'). It says that "each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been."
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If they were given a white robe, then they are most likely in human form. (Not in a flesh form as we are today, but in a human form, but still recognizable)
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Here is some more information on what happens after death from Got Questions. (The video is a little fast for some, but you can read what the video says below the video)
As we can tell from Philippians 3:20-21 (above) that our bodies when we die "will be like His glorious body.
We can tell this from these 2 verses, when Jesus is showing his transformed body to His disciples, that it is recognizable to them.
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John 20:27; Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving but believing".
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Luke 24:39; "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”.
As we can tell from Matthew 17:1-3 that our bodies "will be like His glorious body. This verse also talks about Moses and Elijah appearing. They must have been in the form of human bodies because they were recognizable to Matthew who wrote this verse. Please note they are not sleeping in 'soul sleep'.
Photo credit: Faith Direction & St Anthony's weekly bulletin
WHAT ABOUT OUR SOUL?
Matthew 16:24-27; Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Jesus is talking about our "soul" as different from the human world which would include the body/brain/flesh. Then it goes on to say how the "soul" will be rewarded "according to what they have done". Which means the soul must live on after body death.
It says we "shall not perish, but have eternal life". If we do not perish, what does? The body/brain/flesh perishes. The human spirit/soul does not. It can pretend it perished, by thinking it is a body/brain and hang around the grave for thousands of years. However, it is not possible for a spirit to perish/die.
John 11:25; Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
It is very specific “though they die” (body + brain death) the one who believes in me “will live”. What else could live on, when the body and its brain are dead? There is only the human spirit and the soul.
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See also 'JUDGEMENT DAY'
SUMMARY 1: DEATH AND WHAT HAPPENS: The human spirit/soul live on after the death of the body + brain.
All spirits have one thing in common, they cannot die. That is God and Jesus, the angels, the Holy Spirit, our human spirit, and Satan/demons.
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Here is a good video and article by Gotquestions.
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​JUDGEMENT - Hebrews 9:27: Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
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Revelation 19:19-21; Then I saw the beast and the kings and political leaders of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against Him who is mounted on the [white] horse and against His army.
20 And the beast (Antichrist) was seized and overpowered
and with him the false prophet who, in his presence, had performed [amazing] signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image;
these two were hurled alive into the lake of fire which blazes with brimstone.
21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse,
and all the birds fed ravenously and gorged themselves with their flesh.
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Revelation 20:11-15“And I saw a great white throne, and Him sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.
And a place was not found for them.
And I saw the dead, the small and the great, stand before God.
And books were opened,
and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead in it.
And death and hell delivered up the dead in them.
And each one of them was judged according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire.
This is the second death.
And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.”
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SUMMARY 2: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?:
The body + brain goes into the ground and the human spirit/soul goes directly to heaven where (I believe) it is occupied in some endeavor, until Judgement Day. And Satan and his demons have to find someone else to bother. LOL
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TIMELINE:
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DEATH - The spirits of people will go to: Heaven/Paradise - Death - Hell - until Judgement Day.
The flesh body decays in the ground.
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THE BEAST (ANTICHRIST) and false prophet
And people who got the Mark of the Beast either on their forehead or wrist - lake of fire.
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THE 2ND COMING OF CHRIST:
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SATAN IS BOUND IN CHAINS FOR 1000 YEARS.
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CHRIST AND SAINTS REIGN DURING THIS 1000 YEARS - called 'the Millenium'. also known as the first resurrection where all those in Christ who have served him faithfully will be.
These people do not have to go through the 2nd resurrection - also known as the second Judgement.
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SATAN RELEASED
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SATAN GETS ARMY TOGETHER TO DEFEAT JESUS
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SATAN AND ARMY DEFEATED does not say how long this battle was. THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE
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GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT people can be saved or thrown into the Lake of Fire
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NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
JESUS GOING TO HEAVEN RIGHT AWAY
Luke 23:46; Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Jesus, as God's Son, knew He would be spiritually present in the Father's "hands" at the very moment of His death, not asleep in the grave (soul sleep).
BEGAR LAZARUS WENT TO HEAVEN RIGHT AWAY
Luke 16:19-24; The Rich Man and Lazarus
19“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire.’
This is Jesus teaching people a lesson. Notice that when the beggar (Lazarus) died the angels carried him to heaven right away. It doesn't mention anything about 'soul sleep' (hanging around the dead decaying body for thousands of years).
JESUS TELLS HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT HIS NEW BODY
John 6:47-56; “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.
What does it mean "will never die". What remains after death, after the body has gone into the ground? It must be the human spirit.
We know that all spirits are eternal and can never die, that is one of the reasons there is the eternal lake of fire for the evil, and an eternal life in paradise for the good.