Expert: Thurman C. Petty, Jr. - 3/10/2009

Question
Hi Thurman!

I was wondering if you could perhaps clarify this for me so I can settle a debate with my friend.

Could you please explain to me the Christian faith's stance on resurrection (that of "average" people, as opposed to Christ), and its stance on reincarnation?

In other words, what does the Christian church believe happens to a person when they die?

Many thanks in advance

Chris

Answer
Dear Chris,

Thank you for your question on what happens when we die.

Most Christians believe that when a person dies his/her soul  immediately ascends to heaven, or (God forbid) descends to hell. So, even as the loved ones are holding the funeral, they feel, the soul of the deceased is looking down (up?) on them.

Rather than classify this as what “I think” or what “you think” or “what a church teaches,” let’s see what the Bible says.

In several scriptures the Bible spells out exactly what happens to a person when he/she dies. Here are some examples:

Eccl 9:5, 6 (NIV)  For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

Solomon makes it quite clear that those who have died don’t know anything. They cannot be aware of God, or Christ, or of whatever is happening in Heaven or Earth—not even the proceedings of their own funeral. They are dead in the absolute sense of the term.

Psa 146:3, 4 (KJV) Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

David agreed with his son, that the dead stop breathing, turn back to dust—out of which they were made—and stop thinking.

Gen. 2:7 (KJV): “And 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.”

The soul is a result of the combination of both body and breath and not an entity by itself. The soul is not merely IN the person, the soul IS the person. So when body and breath are separated, the soul ceases to exist.

John 11:11-14 (NIV)  After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,”

Both Jesus and the apostles referred to death as a sleep (for example: 1 Cor. 15.51). When a person dies it’s like he’s gone into a dreamless sleep.

There are several more scriptures that make these things plain as well. [Examples: Psa 13:3; Job 14:12]

Of course this is not the end. The sleeping dead will arise at the resurrection. And since a sleeping person has no knowledge of the passing of time, so the dead also do not realize that time has passed, because they are dead—“asleep.” So when the resurrection takes place and the sleeping dead arise, it will be, as Paul describes it, “in the twinkling of an eye,” (1 Cor. 15:52 KJV) But they will know nothing until the resurrection. (So they will not be looking down on their funeral or upon their loved ones.)

John 5:28, 29  "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out  those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

1 Cor 15:53-57 (NIV) For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" . . . But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Th 4:16, 17 (NIV) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Another indication, that the dead stay in their graves until the resurrection, is the words of Jesus as to the time the righteous receive their reward.

Mat 16:27 (NIV)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 he has done.
Rev 22:12 (NIV) "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. (These are Jesus' words as spoken to John when he wrote the Revelation.)

If a person goes directly to heaven or hell upon death, then he/she receives their reward at that point in time. But Jesus Himself said that He wouldn't give His reward until He comes.

So the Bible teaches that when a person dies he/she 1) doesn’t know anything; 2) he/she stops breathing and thinking; 3) he/she returns to dust; 4) he/she no longer has anything to do with people or things on Earth. (Don’t forget this last point when you hear about ghosts or communication with the dead.) 5) But death is not the end. Those who accept Jesus as their Savior can look forward to receiving their reward at the resurrection of the righteous at the Second Coming of Jesus.

In Rev. 20:11-15, according to the context (verses 1-9), John is describing what takes place after the 1000 years during which the devil is chained. This event is often referred to as the “Great White Throne Judgment.” This judgment is for the purpose of revealing to those who are lost a number of things: 1) it points out to them that they could have been saved by the blood of Christ; 2) why they are lost (because of their own choices); and 3) what their sentence will be.

I picture God as showing the history of Earth from the beginning in a great panorama across the sky, around the world, showing each person where they lived, the opportunities they had to choose Christ as their Savior—those who had no opportunity to know of Christ will be judged by the way they allowed the Holy Spirit to lead them to obey Him—and the way they spurned Him over and over again.

I suggest that you read the book When the Devil Goes to Jail. You can find the complete text at www.PettyPress.com/books. This will give you an overall picture of the second coming of Christ, the millennium, and the Great White Throne Judgment.

Always be ready for Jesus to come,

Thurman C. Petty, Jr.
pettypress@gmail.com