What Does The Bible Say About The Afterlife?

What does the Bible say about Heaven or Hell? What does it say about the afterlife? This is a question many people ask, but not many people ask in public or necessarily to their friends. More often, it's just asked Google anonymously. And that's why we're addressing it in this topic.

You might wonder why I'm qualified to talk about the afterlife 'cause clearly I've never actually died myself. I've got no personal experience of it firsthand, but I do know a man who has died, I believe, and I do know what the Bible says about it. So I'm gonna do my best to share what I've learned from the Bible.

One out of one people die

We need to start by facing the facts. One out of one people die. It's the most well-documented statistic in the history of humanity. So as all human existence will come to an end, we probably need to give it some thought before we actually are confronted by it, personally.

Before answering, what does the Bible say about the afterlife? I'm going to go back a stage and answer a different question first, because it's not so much what happens next after we die, which we need to get our heads around. First, we need to ask:

Why do we die?

Why does this thing happen? And once we get an answer to that question, it helps us to get a better answer to what happens after we die.

The good news is that when you look at what the Bible says, the answer to those two questions is not hard to find. They're located almost symmetrically at the start, and at the end of the Bible, in Genesis, and in Revelation, the two books which bookend the Bible.

So the answer to the first question, why we all die, is found in Genesis. And the answer to the second question, what happens next is mainly featured in the last book of the Bible.

The main thing to note in Genesis is that life was God's idea. He created the world, and everything in it, including us, mankind. Death, on the other hand, was not really his idea, it was more of a consequence of something we did.

The Two Trees

So, God placed our original forefathers in this garden paradise, full of all kinds of beautiful fruit-bearing trees, and he gave them a simple job of just taking care of it. One of the perks of that job was they had permission to eat whatever fruit they wanted from any of the luscious trees that they could find.

However, in the middle of the garden, there was also these two very special kinds of trees. These were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now God warned the man not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but he didn't say much if anything in the text about the tree of life. The reason he said more by way of warning about the tree of knowledge of good and evil, is this:

“God said to the man, when you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

-- Genesis 2:17

A more precise translation of the original Hebrew words will actually be dying, you shall die. And an even more precise, but quite clunky translation would be dying, you shall die, die. It's doesn't come across very well when you say it like that, but that's literally what God was saying. So it's kind of easy to get the message. God is warning the man to avoid that tree. If you eat its fruit, you will become personally acquainted with death, which was not the plan.

It doesn't even sound like dying was a thing up to that point. It's almost as if God is saying, "look, dying is not a thing, so don't make it one. Just swerve it. Avoid the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and go to the tree of life because that's what I'm about. I'm a God of creation. I don't want you to die so please don't be the person who decides to introduce that."

However, sadly, to cut a long story short, Adam did not swerve the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In fact, he did exactly the opposite. He went ahead, and he ate its fruit, which was a bad decision, and that was the beginning of man's demise on Earth, according to the Bible.

But that's not what the question of today's talk was.

Why Is This Important?

So why is it important to know the origins of death in regards to what happens in the afterlife?

One way to understand all the good things that are on offer to us in the afterlife is that they are basically a reversal of the bad stuff, which was set in motion in the Garden of Eden. Except, they're not just a reversal, they're even better. They're like a supercharged upgrade to that reversal, a renewal.

Before we continue, here's three things we need to know from the Genesis story:

1. They Got What They Wanted
   They got what they wanted, which was knowledge of good and evil. They wanted more wisdom. They wanted to feel less reliant on God for that wisdom. They wanted to feel more like the creator, and less like the created. And they did get that, but they also got much more than they bargained for.

2. They Got More Than They Wanted
   To get what they wanted, our primal ancestors also opted for that which they had been warned would bring about their end. Remember that clunky phrase, dying you shall die, die? You would think that was hard to forget, wouldn't you? But this means that essentially, they chose to die. It's as if they were saying, we want what we want at all costs, even if that includes death, we'll pay the price. Now, I think that's weird. But they don't know what it means to die; they've never experienced it. And I think if they had, and they understood more about what that really entailed, they might have thought a bit more carefully about it.

3. We All Do Exactly The Same Thing
   With the benefit of hindsight, we might assume that this is what we would have done too. But I doubt we would have because we all do the exact same thing today. We all want to be more godlike, more clever, more in charge. So, we go after what we want, we overlook the cost of that and we dismiss what might bring us peace in order to get what might give us power. We haven't got the patience to think about eternal life. So we choose what we can see will give us a competitive advantage, even if that's only in the short term. But it has consequences.

So it's not like we can look back at Adam and Eve and say, oh, aren't they silly? If only they'd made a different decision. It's like, well, the evidence is that we're all doing that on a regular basis ourselves. So we can't do too much blame shifting, which is what we all like to do.

The Tree of Life

Now, going back to the Genesis account, there was another tree in the garden, which we've already mentioned, called the Tree of Life. In theory, they could have kept walking past the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life instead.

What would the world be like without the Fall?

Now, what might have happened if they'd done that? How might human history have been different? We might not have had any decay and disease to deal with. This talk would probably be completely superfluous. Imagine that, if kicking the bucket wasn't a thing, and we weren't having to talk about the afterlife. There would be nothing to set in motion which needed to be reversed and renewed.

Sadly, that's not what happened. That's not the choice our ancestors made and that's not the choice that we make. We should want what God offers us in the afterlife because that's how it was supposed to be from the beginning. That was the original design, and God holds the blueprints.

The River of the Water of Life

It's hard to even imagine what it would be like to reverse the Fall. To see what the Bible says on what this great reversal will look like though, it's best to fast forward to the book of Revelation, chapter 22.

It describes the restoration of the Garden of Eden. And it's been so restored that it's been supercharged, and it's now been made into a garden city. Running right down the middle of this city is something wonderful, called "the river of the water of life". And guess what's also there? A familiar, natural object, the tree of life.

Just listen to what Revelation 22 says,

“On each side of the river, stood the Tree of Life, bearing 12 cups of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God, and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve Him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There’ll be no more night, they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.”

-- Rev 22

What Will The Afterlife Be Like?

There's so much in these verses, which draws on so much in the previous books of the Bible, found between Genesis and Revelation. To understand all that takes a lifetime of studying and reflection. For the purposes of today, however, we can offer some headlines on what the afterlife will actually be like for many of us. So here are the key points:

• Everything that is broken, in every place and people group will be healed.

• There'll be no more curse, which means no more sickness and no more death.

• God will be visibly accessible to all of us who are there.

• There'll be no more confusion or wickedness. That's what's symbolised by the word "night" in the passage. There won't be any of that. There'll be clarity and righteousness.

• The faithful servants of God will be given everlasting leadership responsibilities. The good people will be in charge of stuff. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?

What We Know So Far

In summary, in the afterlife, there will be this great reversal of the fall of man. Humanity will be restored body and soul, and the natural world will also be renewed. This second Garden City is going to be truly great. It will be a new Heaven and new Earth that will be truly amazing and exciting and worth waiting for.

But there is a catch. Or maybe it's a kind of a caveat, which is: not everyone will be allowed into the garden city. Just as Adam and Eve when they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil were expelled from the original Garden of Eden, so will some people be refused access to the second Garden City.

Now that sounds a little bit more like the kind of traditional heaven and hell kind of talk. And you may be thinking, oh, is that where this is going? Is that what you mean? And my answer to that is kind of yes and no.

What is Heaven?

Heaven, according to the Bible, is not what a lot of people think it is. It's more like a temporary place where the spirits of those who were faithful to Jesus in this life have gone, and go to, and indeed remain in until the resurrection of the dead, when their spirits will return to Earth along with Jesus. Their spirits will join their resurrected bodies and they will rule with God forever and ever.

Therefore, because Heaven is temporary, it's probably best understood as a bit like a wonderful hotel. Great for those who get to go to, but never intended to be a final resting place or home.

This is because the Bible says Jesus will one day return to the Earth and Heaven will come down with Him. They will be joined together, and Earth will once again be Christ's dwelling place. That's why there's this talk about a new Heaven and new Earth, sometimes referred to as the New Jerusalem.

It will all be renewed. There'll be no more talk of this place called Heaven that's somewhere up there, where the righteous dead are waiting for the resurrection of their bodies. They will come to Earth in spirit form, be reunited with their resurrected bodies, and a whole new life will begin. It's going to be great.

What Is Hell?

However, as I said earlier, not everyone who has died goes to heaven or gets into the New Jerusalem. For those who ignore Jesus on Earth, it seems that they go to a place which the Bible calls Hades. This can be appropriately translated as 'the land of the dead'. So there's Heaven and there's Hades.

Judgement Day

Now, Hades is where people who have died and weren't interested in Jesus remain until what is known as Judgement Day, when after the resurrection, everyone who has ever lived, will give an account of their lives on earth to Jesus.

Let me read to you the words of Jesus in Revelation as he describes this awesome and terrifying event to us. He says this, Revelation 22:12-15,

“Look, I’m coming soon, my reward is with me. And I will give to each person according to what they have done. I’m the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and they go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

-- Revelation 22:12-15

Now this passage is binary, it's divisive. If you've washed your robes (been cleansed by Jesus Christ and accepted Him as your Lord and Saviour), you have the right to the tree of life, and you may go through the gates into the city, but if you have not washed your robes, you don't have that right.

Between Genesis and Revelation, you can read how that cleansing by Jesus has been set in motion by God and how he has redeemed the curse. For now, all I can say is those who refuse to allow themselves to be cleansed by Jesus in this life are acting like Adam and Eve in the garden when they chose the fruit of the tree of knowledge and not the fruit of the tree of life.

The same thing happens to those who make this choice, choosing to live outside of God, to ignore Jesus, to do life their way, as happened in the first garden. They will in some way be sent outside of the Garden City, never to enjoy its healing, never to experience its peace, and never to enjoy the delights of this magnificent new heaven and earth.

This in part is what I think is being referred to when people talk about the traditional ideas of Hell. It happens at the very end of time. And it basically means you're in exile.

To be fair, it is sometimes described more graphically and scarily in other biblical texts than Revelation. But however it's described, what we know is that it's clearly not a place or situation that you'd wish for anyone to end up in, particularly not yourself.

So there we go. In terms of the afterlife, there's an introduction for you. That's what the Bible says about it from my understanding and 30 years of thinking about it so far. There's more I could have said, but for now, I think that will probably do.

What Does This Mean For Me?

I'll finish with a practical point that we can all take away from it no matter where we are at:

Choose The Tree of Life

We all need to learn from the story of the first garden. We all need to make a better decision than our original ancestors did. We all need to ignore the tree of knowledge of good and evil and everything that symbolises. We must run from the desire to be equal with God and to live without reference to Him. We need to stop competing with God for a position in the universe, which he will never surrender.

Instead, we need to go after the tree of life. We need to go after what's of eternal value, what's life-giving, wholesome, and righteous.

Let's start being thankful to God for the life that we have, and learn to live it on His terms. If we do this, then after this life we will have nothing to fear because we'll have found His redemption, we'll have found his forgiveness, and we'll have aligned ourselves with Him. We will know a thing called holiness because we'll be set apart for the Lord.

However, for those who have accepted Jesus as their lord, He welcomes and includes and prepares great things for you. Therefore, you've got much to look forward to, much to be thankful for. If you don't, then you're right to be afraid of the afterlife.

Our mistakes on earth will catch up with us. And it'll be too late to do anything about it. So the main thing is, do what you need to do today. Today. Make the changes in your thinking and in your relating to the Creator that you still can do now for your own good.

Be encouraged

Maybe you're already on the right path, and you're finding it a little bit harder than you thought it would be. Maybe no one told you it would be such a slog, or you're more frustrated and even disappointed than you were expecting to be.

All I would say is, keep the end in mind. Remember what the future is going to be like. Think about how everything that is bad now will be reversed and renewed later. It'll all be worth it in the end. So keep going.

I'll end with this little verse of encouragement, from 1 Peter 1:13,

“Therefore, as a result of everything that we’ve said already, prepare your minds for action. Be sober minded, and alert. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

-- 1 Peter 1:13 ---