One of the first questions people ask when you meet them is, “What do you do for work?” The answer to that question, for me, has always led to interesting conversations. In a society where fewer people identify with faith and increasingly identify as being non-religious,1 it is surprising to me how many people I have interacted with who still think their deceased loved ones are looking down on them from heaven. If you don’t believe in God, where is the comfort in believing your loved ones are with God in heaven?
I talk about and contemplate death a lot—probably more than most. It’s not that I have a weird fascination with death and dying; it’s that my work leans heavily into this. You see, I draft wills for a living. It’s a unique role within my church and it’s a humbling one as I interact with people daily and guide them through the realities of life—and especially, the end of life. Prior to this role I was working as a local church pastor at a church connected with an aged care home. Death was a constant there too. In four years of ministry at that church I participated in more than 25 funeral services.
The older we get the more we experience the sense of loss that death brings and the more we contemplate our own eventual demise. It’s in this context we begin to ask ourselves the question, “And then what?” We ask this question more out of intrigue than fear because while death comes to us all,2 the question of “then what?” isn’t even agreed upon by Christians.
what the Bible really says
The Bible has many passages about death and what happens when we die that directly contradict the popular belief that when we die, we immediately go to heaven (Daniel 12:2; Ecclesiastes 9:5,6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13,14). In these passages, death is described simply as a sleep. I don’t know about you, but my experience with sleep is that I know nothing between the moment I nod off to the moment I wake up. While time goes on for seven-to-nine hours when I’m sleeping, I am not cognisant to the passage of time. When I wake, I’m aware time has passed but I’m not aware of the things that have occurred during my slumber.
Death, as described in the Bible, is very similar to this. When we die, our consciousness knows nothing. We rest until the return of Jesus, the “second coming” or “second advent” as Christians refer to it. The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians that “the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.”
unpicking resurrection logic
Have you ever wondered why the dead “in Christ” rise if they are already in heaven? Taking that a step further, where is the logic in the resurrection of Jesus or the resurrection of Lazarus?3 Why would you be resurrected to life on this earth if death sees you immediately in heaven? It doesn’t quite make sense. And it doesn’t make sense because, as the Bible presents to us, we are resting in sleep until the second coming of Jesus. This is quite a revelation to most people who come across it, as most media and even most Christians teach that when you die you immediately go to heaven or hell (though the teaching on hell is also something worth investigating further).
You see, because “the dead know nothing” and death is like sleep, we don’t need to fear what these dearly departed loved ones might be thinking. We can be comforted that they don’t sit on their “heavenly porch” looking down on us in judgement of our smallest of indiscretions. We can also be comforted by the fact that they aren’t sitting in eternal torment in the Hollywood version of hell we’ve become accustomed to imagining, either. This isn’t to say that these loved ones may not find themselves one day resurrected with Jesus. It’s simply to say that we, thankfully, don’t have to make that judgement call nor do we need to think about living under their judgement, either.
In 2003, the first of my grandparents passed away (technically the second, but the first died before my parents even met). By 2011, I had no grandparents left. In that period, I graduated high school and university. I was baptised as an expression of my commitment to Jesus and I led countless church activities. I also battled an addiction to pornography and found myself participating in activities that were far from favourable or accepted as “good Christian behaviour”. I don’t know about you, but the thought of my grandparents watching me from heaven isn’t an encouraging thought—if anything, it’s creepy.
The benefit of the biblical view of what happens when we die, that is, that death is a sleep-like state, brought me comfort when I realised I could live my life without needing to “perform” for dearly departed loved ones—either as a result of trying to “make them proud” or “live up to their standard”. Instead, I realised that I could live my life to the best of my ability, not to please my grandparents or other loved ones, but simply as a response to having accepted Jesus’ gift of eternal life.4 This benefit then extends to the fact that neither do I have to live in shame—shame of the actions I’m not proud of, the moments of personal defeat or humiliation.
While I, like all others, experience the grief that comes when losing a loved one, I am encouraged that they aren’t watching over me from heaven (in either joy or horror). Those who suffered in life are no longer suffering. Those who were tormented mentally are at peace. Those who had difficulty in life are now at rest. The converse is also true. I’m encouraged that my loved ones who weren’t committed followers of Jesus in life are not suffering eternal torment—that they too are sleeping the sleep of death. I’m encouraged because the Bible provides clear instruction that their knowledge and consciousness cease to exist.
I’m also encouraged that people rest until the time of Jesus’ return—and that upon His return, they are granted new bodies free from disease and decay (Philippians 3:20,21;
2 Corinthians 5:4,5). I look forward to the second coming of Jesus as when “the dead in Christ rise first”.5 On that resurrection day my loved ones will wake up, as though from a good night’s sleep, and the first thing they see will be the face of Jesus.
To discover more biblical truth, visit biblestudy.com.au.
1. www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia
2. Aside from a few individuals (Genesis 5:24, 2 Kings 2:1-11).
3. A friend of Jesus whose story of death and resurrection occurs in John 11.
4. John 3:16–21 offers a great explanation of what this looks like for each of us.
5. 1 Thessalonian 4:16.
