Return to Body, Soul, Spirit
Richard Anthony
There is a saying that goes:
"Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die."This is a rather humorous quote. If everybody wants to go to heaven, but the only way to go there is to physically die, and nobody wants to die, then that means nobody can have what they want (heaven) unless they are dead! Something just does not sound right about that. I do not believe God would dangle a carrot in front of us, and tell us we won't get it unless we die.
Many people believe that heaven is a place that people go to (either physically or spiritually) after death; and that death and the grave are necessary factors in spiritual growth. We see in the world a very active effort to exalt death and to delude men into believing that death is the way to eternal life in heaven. But scripture teaches something quite different. Scripture teaches that the life we live today is the way to eternal life in heaven, not physical death.
Have you ever wondered why the Old Testament books never speak of an "after-life," and why the New Testament books are silent as to any details of what an "after-life" is like? Believe it or not, there is no mention of what an "after-life" is like in the entire scriptures. This article will explain that heaven is not something you go up to...heaven is something that comes to you! There is no passage in scripture which says that heaven is where we go to after physically death. In fact, scripture specifically says that nobody ascends up to heaven!
What Happens after Death? You might ask, "Is there any place in scripture that says what happens after people physically die?" Yes, there is.
Ecclesiastes 12:7, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."Ecclesiastes 12:7 talks of our physical body (dust) returning to the earth, it does not say our physical body will go to heaven or will be physically alive again after death. Our physical bodies cannot be resurrected in heaven because scripture says that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 15:50).
As for our spirit, Ecclesiastes 12:7 says our spirit will return to "God," but notice it does not say it will go to "heaven." God is not only in heaven, but in heaven and earth (Joshua 2:11, 1 Kings 8:23). God is everywhere, even though heaven is His throne (Psalms 11:4, Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 5:34; 23:22, Acts 7:49, Revelation 4:2; 16:17).
Ecclesiastes 3:20-21, "All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward..."All men, both sinners and saints, go to the same place after death (Ecclesiastes 3:20-21). Their physical bodies return to dust (Genesis 3:19, Psalms 104:29), and their spirit returns to God who gave it (Psalms 31:5, Acts 7:59).
Only God can 'Ascend to' or 'Descend from' Heaven The writer of the following verse, taken from the Old Testament Scripture, is asking rhetorical questions, of which the answers to all these questions are the same, "God."
Proverbs 30:4, "Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? [only God] who hath gathered the wind in his fists? [obviously, God] who hath bound the waters in a garment? [the Creator] who hath established all the ends of the earth? [Isaiah 40:28, "...the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth"] what is his name?..."This coincides with what Jesus said in John 3:13, that the only man who has ascended and descended from Heaven was the "Son of man," meaning Christ Jesus. "...God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16), and this "God" was Christ Jesus.
In other words, only God, and the things of God, can ascend and descend from Heaven, whether it's God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, angels, or saints (Zechariah 14:5, Jude 1:14) . Mere man cannot.
However, even though we may not go to a place called "heaven," our spirit does return to God who gave it! Another verse which suggests that our spirit returns to God soon after we die is when Stephen, the first apostle to die, was being stoned to death:
Acts 7:58-60, "And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."Steven prayed that God would receive his spirit, just as he was dying. His spirit returned to God when he died. And the following two verses is further evidence that the spirit returns to God soon after we die:
1 Thessalonians 4:14, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."The above passage refers to, what is commonly called "the Second Coming of Christ," or "the rapture". The word "sleep" above refers to those who have physically died. Notice this passage says that God will bring them with Him, and will accompany Him down, when the Saviour comes. This certainly does not refer to the physical bodies of his saints, but he will bring with him the spirit which returned to God when these men physically died (Ecclesiastes 12:7). This passage shows us that the spirit does not return to God sometime in the distant future, but soon after we die. Also, it shows that they will be with God in general, and not in some specific place called "heaven."
1 Thessalonians 4:17, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."Similar to the above verse, it says we shall be with the "Lord" when we die. It does not say we will be in heaven. We go to a "Who" after we die, and not a "Where." We go to "God", not to a "place."
Jesus taught that Nobody goes up to Heaven This might go contrary to what you have been taught, but scripture says nobody ascended to heaven. David was dead and buried (1 Kings 2:10), and he did not go to heaven. Some might claim that David did not go to Heaven during Old Testament times because he had to remain in the grave until the New Testament age came, until Christ died. And then after Christ died is when all the Old Testament saints went to heaven. However, this claim is proven false by the fact that after Christ died and the New Testament was ratified, even after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, the apostles taught that David had not ascended into Heaven!
Acts 2:34, "For David is not ascended into the heavens..."Since the apostles taught this truth after Christ died, this means that David did not go to Heaven even after the current New Testament age came into being. But does this mean that nobody has ascended to Heaven? Well, even Christ himself taught about heavenly things (John 3:12), and He said that nobody ascends up to heaven:
John 3:13, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."In other words, you don't go up to heaven, heaven comes to you! Read the above verse again, and notice what Jesus said about heaven. While he was alive in the flesh, he stated that he "is in heaven!" (Not "was" in heaven, but "is" in heaven). He spoke of heaven as something that he was experiencing in the present while in his physical body; he did not say heaven was something that was yet future. Even when the writers of the New Testament wrote about "heaven" it was something they were experiencing at the moment, while in their physical bodies, and not something that was yet future to them. Before we go into these verses, let us learn more about what Christ taught about Heaven.
Before he died, Jesus told Jews that they could not follow him to heaven:
John 7:33-34, "Then said Jesus unto them [Jews, Pharisees, Chief Priests, Officers], Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him [God] that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am [Heaven], thither ye cannot come."He even told the religious leaders (Pharisees) directly that even they could not go to heaven:
John 8:21, "Then said Jesus again unto them [the Pharisees], I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go [Heaven], ye cannot come."Now, some may claim that the Jews could not ascend to Heaven because they did not accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but Christ taught the apostles the same thing as well!
John 13:33, "Little children [eleven apostles], yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go [Heaven], ye cannot come; so now I say to you [the apostles]."As you can see, Christ taught his apostles that they cannot come to heaven. In other words, heaven is not something that we come to, heaven is something that comes to us! But what about these verses that seem to teach we will go to Heaven?
Verses that seem to teach we Ascend into Heaven
As you will see in this article, after they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the apostles spoke of Heaven as something they were experiencing while in their bodies. So, the apostles did follow Jesus afterwards, because Heaven came to them! Once they received the spirit, they did "...follow his steps" (1 Peter 2:21).
Compare John 14:2-3 with John 14:22-23. The word "mansions" in verse 2 is translated from the same Greek word as "abode" in verse 23! As a matter of fact, these are the only two places in scripture where this Greek word #3438, mone, appears!
John 14:22-23, "Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."Jesus was saying that those in whom He would come to dwell in were the mansions in his Father's house. Believers are "God's building" (1 Corinthians 3:9), and "as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5). This "spiritual house" is the "mansion, " it is the "place," that Jesus prepared for us in John 14:2-3. (See also Ephesians 2:19-22).
And how will Jesus and the Father come unto us and make their abode with us?
John 14:16, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;"And who is the Comforter? Jesus tells us:
John 14:26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,"The Comforter is the Holy Spirit! It is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us!
You will also see in this article how the apostles wrote that they were "together with Christ in the heavenlies" while in their physical bodies, thus fulfilling this verse as well. Christ did come again, and received them, and Christ was in them, and by Christ being in them, heaven was in them, because that is where Christ is!
In verse 1, the "earthly house of this tabernacle" refers to the physical body, in which the spirit is represented as dwelling or sojourning for a time, and from which it is to be liberated at death. When our bodies are dissolved, our spirit will return to "a house not made with hands." This house is not a literal house, but spiritual. In other words, we have a "spirit," and it will be housed with God, who is "eternal in the heavens." This coincides with Ecclesiastes 12:7, "the spirit shall return unto God."
In verse 2, it says we desire to be clothed with this house "which is from heaven." Notice this verse does not says this house is in heaven, but from heaven. God's throne is in heaven. Our "spiritual body" will be clothed by God from heaven, not in Heaven.
What does it Mean to Ascend into Heaven? When people say that they will "ascend into heaven," they usually mean that some part of them, after death, will literally rise into outer space into God's throne. However, this is not the scriptural definition of this phrase. Paul tells us the meaning of this phrase in the following verse:
Romans 10:6, "...Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)"As you can see, Paul, an apostle of Christ, re-words the phrase "ascend into heaven." He tells us that, in other words, that to "ascend into heaven" means to "bring Christ down from above." You see, it has nothing to do with us going up to a place called heaven, but has something to do with Christ coming down from heaven! Christ "came down from heaven" (John 6:38).
What does Paul mean when he speaks of Christ coming down? Well, as we will see in this article, it means to have the Spirit of Christ come down from heaven, and dwell inside of us, in our present bodies! That's why Paul declared "Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20)! And this is what he meant when he told the Ephesians, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts" (Ephesians 3:17).
The Heavenlies Let us now discover where Christ went to after his crucifiction and forty day ressurection.
Ephesians 1:20, "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenlies."As we can see, after Christ rose from the dead, he went to the right hand of the Father in the heavenlies. In other words, Christ was in heaven! At the time the apostles wrote the following verses, Christ had entered "into heaven itself," (Hebrews 9:24); Christ was "caught up to the third heaven." (2 Corinthians 12:2). Remember that.
Now, look at what Paul wrote about this same heaven that Christ is in. Paul said that God "hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies with Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Paul said he was blessed in heaven with Christ! Paul felt heaven was a present reality while they believed in Christ. Now, compare the following two verses very, very carefully.
Christ is in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 1:20).
"We are together with Christ in the heavenlies" (Ephesians 2:6).Notice while Paul was alive in his physical body, he said he was together with Christ in the heavenlies! Dear reader, can you picture Christ in heaven? Well, Paul wrote that he and other believers in Christ were also in this same exact heaven as Christ was, while they were still alive! How can anyone explain this? Well, if you understand that heaven is something that comes to us, through the Holy Spirit, then it is easily explained.
Colossians 1:12-13, "Giving thanks unto the Father...Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."Notice that the apostles wrote that the Father "hath" (passed tense) translated them into the Kingdom! The "Kingdom of the Son," and the "Kingdom of God," and the "Kingdom of Heaven," are all used synonymously throughout scripture. Therefore, the apostles wrote that they were already translated into heaven while they were physically alive!
1 Thessalonians 5:10, "Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him."In the above verse, Paul wrote that we live together with Christ (who is in heaven) while we are physically alive ("wake or sleep")! The words show that everywhere, and in all circumstances, genuine believers, who walk after God, have life and communion with God, in heaven.
So, just what is "heaven"? Well, it is synonymous with "eternal life."
Eternal Life In scripture, eternal life is defined as knowing Christ Jesus while in this physical body! Look at this definition of "life eternal":
John 17:3, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."You see, eternal life does not mean we become immortal (to live for ever and ever), it means to know God, and to know His Truth! In fact, the word "immortal" only appears once in the entire King James Bible! (1 Timothy 1:17). Only once!! Incredible, considering we hear the "immortal soul" preached all the time. The term "immortal soul" does not appear anywhere in scripture. The word "immortality" appears three times in scripture, and it is not in reference to any "soul," it is in reference to God, because only God has immortality, not us (1 Timothy 6:15-16).
1 John 5:11-12, "And this is the record, that God hath [passed tense] given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath [present tense] life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have [present tense] eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. "1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed [passed tense] from death unto [eternal] life, because we love the brethren..."
Listen to what Christ himself said:
John 5:24-25, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath [present tense] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed [passed tense] from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is [present tense], when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."Now, You might ask, "But, doesn't the bible say the body must die in order to receive eternal life?" Well, yes, the body must die first. But, not our physical body!
Romans 8:10, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."Dear reader, is Christ in you? Well, this verse says if Christ is in you, then your "body" is dead. What "body" is this verse talking about? Obviously not your physical body. By "body" is meant the "body of sin," the sinful part of our nature. In other words, our "old man," which is corrupt because of sinful deeds. And once we are "born again" and put on the "new man," then this is when we receive eternal life and when heaven comes to us. Here are a few passages which might make the death of the "old man" a little easier to understand.
Old Man vs. New Man
Romans 6:6-8, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:"Ephesians 4:22-24, "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Colossians 3:9-10, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:"
In other words, when scripture speaks of the dead, it is speaking of those who are dead in trespass and sins:
Ephesians 2:1, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;"Colossians 2:13, "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;"
You see, people can be dead while they live (1 Timothy 5:6), but faith in Christ can change us so we "are alive from the dead" (Romans 6:13). The whole point of these passages is to explain that, "the body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). So, today, we are alive from the dead, because death is swallowed up when we receive the Holy Spirit.
Heaven is a Present Reality Now, let's look at Romans 8:10 again in this light:
Romans 8:10, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead [the body of sin, the old man] because of sin; but the Spirit is life [the spiritual body, the new man] because of righteousness."This verse says if we have Christ in us, then we have the Spirit in us, and if we have the Spirit in us, then we have eternal life in us! This is what Paul meant in Romans 10:6 when he explained that the meaning of the phrase "ascend into heaven" means to "bring Christ down from above." If we have Christ in us, we are in heaven! Therefore, heaven is a present reality now, and not a future hope. Heaven is within us!
Heaven is a present reality now. Notice these words of Jesus. When speaking of the Kingdom of God in this passage, he explained both where it is and when it is. Notice he spoke of the Kingdom of God in the present tense, and not the future tense.
Luke 17:21, "...for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."Matthew 12:28, "...the kingdom of God is come unto you."
Even the apostle John wrote that he was "in the kingdom...of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 1:9) while writing the book of Revelation. Notice he spoke of the kingdom in the present tense, as if it was inside of him.
The reason the Kingdom of God is within us is because God dwells within us! (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Revelation 21:3).
The New Jerusalem There are only two Jerusalem's mentioned in scripture, the physical Jerusalem and the Heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4:25-26). Most people believe that the New Jerusalem is still future, but the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote that heaven, the "city" of the living God, the "heavenly Jerusalem" (also called the "new Jerusalem" in Revelation 3:12; 21:2), was a present reality at the time he wrote these words:
Hebrews 12:22-24, "But ye are come (present tense) unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant..."The writer of Hebrews did not write that they "will come" to the heavenly Jerusalem sometime in the future. He wrote that they had already come to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the city of the Living God, to Mount Sion, to angels, to God, and to Jesus, while they were still in their physical bodies! We are now living in the Heavenly Jerusalem!
Further Study on Immortality In most bibles, including the King James, the word "immortal" is translated incorrectly, which gives us the wrong impression as to what "immortal" really means.
Word #862 Greek word #862 is used 7 times in the New Testament. In the King James Bible, it is translated as "immortal" only one time, but all other times it is translated as "incorruptible."
1 Timothy 1:17, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal (#862), invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen."In the six other verses (Romans 1:23, 1 Corinthians 9:25; 15:52, 1 Peter 1:4,23; 3:4), it is correctly interpreted as "incorruptible." This is confirmed in the George Ricker Berry Greek/English Interlinear, which is a word for word literal translation of the Greek New Testament into English. In all seven verses above, the Greek/English Interlinear translates word #862 consistantly as "incorruptible," and never as "immortal." Therefore, Greek word #862 does not mean to live forever and ever, it means to be incorruptible (i.e. uncorrupted, not liable to corruption or decay).
Word #861 Greek word #861 is used 8 times in the New Testament. In the King James Bible, it is translated as "immortal" only two times, but is this its meaning?
This Greek word means "purity, sincerity, incorrupt", and is consistantly translated as "incorruptible" in all eight verses in the Greek/English Interlinear (Romans 2:7, 1 Corinthians 15:42,50,53,54, 2 Timothy 1:10, Ephesians 6:24, Titus 2:7). However, the King James only translates it as "incorruptible" in six verses. It also traslates it as "sincerity" in Ephesians 6:24 and Titus 2:7. Now, how is it that this same word is translated as "immortality" in Romans 2:7 and 2 Timothy 1:10? This word describes a character trait, and not a condition of life after death.
Romans 2:7, "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:"The above passage, in the King James, gives the impression that we are to seek to live for ever and ever for the future. However, we are to seek for sincerity and uncorruptness in the present. To show the fallacy of interpreting Greek word #861 as "immortality," let us interpet this same word as "immortality" in the following two passages, in which the King James correctly translated it as "sincerity." Notice how out of place it is.
Ephesians 6:24, "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ insincerityimmortality. Amen."Titus 2:7-8, "In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity,
sincerityimmortality, Sound speech..."You see, this word refers to a pattern of "good works", such as uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, etc. It does not refer to a period in the future when we live for ever and ever. Therefore, again, Greek word #861 does not mean to live forever and ever, it means to be incorruptible (i.e. "purity, sincerity, incorrupt").
Word #110 Now we come to a word which does mean to live for ever and ever. Greek word #110 is used only three times in the New Testament books, and each and every time, it is correctly translated as "immortality."
1 Timothy 6:15-16, "Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen."Did you read that? Who does this passage say has immortality? Only One! And that is the One True God. This is the first important truth we should understand. Only God is immortal. Man is not immortal. The other two times this word is used is in 1 Corinthians 15:53-54, in which "immortality" is something we must "put on," and this is speaking about becoming spiritually alive, because only the Spirit is immortal, we are not. And it is that spirit which returns to God who gave it.
Ponder this Most of us have been taught that if a man takes a blow to the head hard enough to knock him out, then he knows nothing. However, if he is hit hard enough to kill him, then he knows everything! Strange. Does a dead man really know more than a living one? Not according to David; "In that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalms 146:4).
Samuel died. Notice in the story of Saul trying to contact the late Samuel (1 Samuel 28:6-17), it always refers to Samuel as being brought up. If Samuel was up in Heaven, wouldn't it say, Samuel came down?
In John 11:43, notice that Christ said to Lazarus, "come forth", not "come down" or "come up." Since Lazarus had been dead four days then, if popular understanding is correct, he had been experiencing the glorious and rapturous joy of heaven for that length of time. The meanest thing Jesus could possibly have done for his good friend would be to rip him away from the throne of God, and bring him back into this wretched old world! And perhaps more importantly, if Lazarus had really spent four wonderful days in heaven he wouldn't have been able to keep quiet! He would have been preaching about the glory of that place from every street corner. Instead, Lazarus had not one word to say about his experience during the four days. Why? Because he had been dead, and the dead know nothing (Psalm 6:5; 78:39; 88:10:12; 103:14-16; 115:17; 146:4, Job 7:9-10; 10:18; 14:12,21, Ecclesiastes 3:22; 9:5-10, Isaiah 26:14; 38:18).
If the disciples were going to go to heaven after they died, would Christ need to come back so they could be with Him (John 14:3)?
Matthew 27:51-53 is further evidence that nobody goes to heaven at death, because these saints were sleeping in their graves all this time before their bodies arose from their "sleep".
Even Jesus did not go to heaven immediately after he died (John 20:17).
Final Thoughts We are all taught certain beliefs by men, but sometimes what we have been taught contradicts what scripture says. Men are fallible, but scripture is not.
And here is something to think about. Many Christians "believe" in Christ just so they can live forever. They do just enough to "get by." Their heart really isn't into doing His Will, and they obey only those parts of scripture which aren't too inconvenient for them. And after they die, they think, "Well, if there is a God, I'll have eternity. And if not, at least I lived my life according to the way I wanted to live it." In other words, they believe in God for purely selfish reasons (to be immortal).
Matthew 15:8-9, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."If the truth comes out that heaven is not someplace that people go to after death, this would separate all the true believers from the false ones. Those whose hearts are far from God and honour Him with their lips will no longer do so. However, true believers, who obey Him because He is Truth, with no selfish motives, will stay with Him.
We must keep in mind that everything we do, we must do for the glory of God, and not for ourselves. If the reason we keep God's Commandments is for us, so that we will get something in return, or so that we can become immortal and live forever and ever, that exposes the fact that we are really keeping the commandments for ourself. In other words, "If I don't get something for doing this, then I won't do it." That attitude would not conform to the spirit of God. We are to keep His commandments because we love Him, not because we'll get something out of it. Our hope is not to be focused on what will happen to us in the future, but upon how we live our lives today for God's glory.
“As an instance of the work of antichrist, we see in the world a very active effort to exalt death and to delude men into believing that death is the way to eternal life in heaven. Such a thought is opposed to Christ, because Jesus came to deliver the human race from death and to fulfil in man God's perfect will: abundant life. Those who are guided by the Spirit of Truth understand the life teaching, and are not led astray by any philosophy that makes death and the grave necessary factors in spiritual growth." Metephysical Bible Dictionary (1955), page 54.The scripture is a blueprint and guidebook on how to live this life according to God's Will. What might or might not happen after this life should not concern us, because it is this life that God is concerned about. If the afterlife was important to God, then he would have told us about it in His Word. But since he doesn't tell us what the afterlife is like, He must not think it is important. And if it's not important for Him, we shouldn't make it important to us. All we are told is that our "spirit" will return to God who gave it. This is comforting enough for me. I pray it is for you, too.
God's kingdom is here now, and there is no death once you're in the kingdom. Physical death, yes; but not spiritual death. Our spirit returns to God who gave it. We need not physically die to be with Christ, because He is with us always. Wherever two or three are gathered, He will be with us, and when we pray in private he will be with us, He is always with us. We are with him in spirit now, and our spirit will be with him when we pass on.
Conclusion It should be comforting to us, knowing that nobody will have a consciousness after death. The thought of my loved ones looking down on me, and seeing the things I do wrong while they are totally helpless to do anything about it, to assist me, or to even give advice to me, is a comforting thought. To have a loving mother in heaven be conscious of her loving son on earth, while her son she loved so much is going through pain and suffering, is not a comforting thought. To me, that would be a living hell for her.
Also, if there was a consciousness after death, not only those we loved, but also those we did not love would be in heaven. For example, can you imaging Adolph Hitler being in Heaven? What if he repented, and accepted Christ as his Lord, just before He died? To see him, and other murdering Nazi's, besides our loved ones, in heaven, would make me feel uncomfortable. Especially if we had to spend eternity with them.
The truth in this article far surpasses the insipid view of an afterlife spent sitting on a cloud strumming a harp. God has established a Kingdom here on earth, ruling all nations, with positions of king-priesthood to be filled my men and women transformed into spirit-born members of God's family.
Why not be a part of God's family now, instead of making it a far away dream in the distant future?
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