The Dead are Dead

I think that if I was to make the statement that when a person dies that he does not go to heaven immediately that I would probably get a certain amount of criticism. I am certain that a statement like that would cut across the prevalent Christian thinking of our times and most assuredly across the teachings of Hollywood. I cannot enumerate the number of times when someone has died that I have heard statements like the following, “Oh, they’re not dead, they’re up there in heaven watching over you…”. As socially acceptable and as comforting as that might sound to some, it is, if you’ll pardon the pun, dead wrong.

The Word of God is very clear on this topic, so much so that I’m shocked to see men of the cloth stand up and make statements that intimate that the dead are living today in some cloudy state of existence. The Bible teaches that when a person dies, he or she is dead. There is no consciousness or remembrance in the grave.

So what exactly does happen when a person dies? The Bible declares that that person returns to dust. So then where does eternal life fit in? The scriptures declare that when a man or woman confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and believes that God raised him from the dead, that person receives eternal life. If one is indeed dead and has no consciousness, then where is this eternal life?

The answer to this is really quite simple. The scriptures record that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back some day and it is at that time that all those who have believed on him will be raised from the dead. It Is Written that at that time we will receive a spiritual body like unto his glorious body. If you were to quickly read through the Gospels and the Book of Acts you will see just what kind of body the Lord Jesus Christ was given when God raised him from the dead.

The return of Jesus Christ is the great hope of Christianity. Until the time of the return, all those who have died – Christian or not – will remain dead. The only person who has ever been raised from the dead and is still alive today is the Lord Jesus Christ. All others are dead and have absolutely no contact with the living whatsoever. They are not even in some intermediate state waiting to be transported to some higher level. Yes I am well aware of the practice of attempting to contact the dead via seances, mediums and other such techniques. All of this is inspired by the devil to mislead innocent people and to lure them away from the truth of the Word of God. Were the dead living today, there would absolutely be no need for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The dead are dead and will remain so until the return of Jesus Christ. Any other teaching – whether the source is Rome or Hollywood contradicts the very simple teaching of the Word of God. The scriptures clearly state that when Jesus Christ returns, all those who have believed on him will be raised from the dead. If we are still alive at that time (for certainly it could happen at any second) we will meet him in the air. What a great comfort this is to the heart of man.