Death: Is It The End?

Most of us have an instinctive desire to see our loved ones after we breathe our “last breath.” You probably hope there’s more to life than our existence on this planet. What does the Bible say about life after death?

A 20th Century writer articulated this desire in these words, “Every tiny part of us cries out against the idea of dying and hopes to live forever,” (Ugo Betti in Struggle to Dawn, 1949). Three thousand years ago a similar statement was penned by King Solomon, “God has put (a sense of) eternity in the hearts of men,” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). In other words, we all have an intense longing to know what happens after death.

Death is the result of man’s disobedience of God’s commands.

In Genesis 2:17, the Lord told Adam that the penalty for disobedience would be death – “you will surely die.” When Adam disobeyed, he immediately experienced spiritual death (Genesis 3:8) and later on he experienced physical death (Genesis 5:5). “Death” is simply “separation” of the person from God (spiritual death) or separation of the spirit or soul from the body (physical death).

Messiah Yeshua experienced physical death (Matthew 27:50).

But He didn’t die because he had disobeyed God’s commands. He was disfigured, and marred (Isaiah 52:14-15), despised, rejected (Isaiah 53:3), died as our substitute(Isaiah 53:4-6) and rose from the dead (Isaiah 53:10), so that we might live, despite our rebellion.

The Tanakh does speak of the afterlife. In Daniel 12:2 it says, “Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake – some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence” (NET).

Everlasting life or everlasting abhorrence is a choice God gives us. What choice will you make