Introduction: Next to the question of “Where did we come from?” is the
question, “Where do we go after we die?” The older you get, the more
interest you would logically have in the second question. There is
much confusion today about the Biblical answer, so let’s dive in to
see what the Bible has to say about it!
- Satan’s First Lie
- Read Genesis 3:1-3. Why did the serpent (Satan) misquote God
in verse 1? (He wanted to start a discussion about fruit
eating.) - What if Eve answered, “I’m not sure. You know how it
is when you’re first created. There are so many forms
to sign! And instructional booklets; there are
booklets on everything! It’s all so new! We got so
many directions at one time I’m a little hazy on the
subject.” (Satan’s second purpose in asking the
question was to “make the record clear” that Eve
clearly understood what God had said on the subject.
No one would be able to say that the sin of mankind
was an accident.) - Read Genesis 3:4-6. Was Satan’s statement that Eve would
not “surely die” a lie? (Eve had affirmed that God said that
eating the fruit would cause death. Therefore, Satan
directly contradicted God.) - What do you think motivated Eve to eat the fruit? Did
she want to test whether she would die? (No. Who wants
to test that? It was the lie about being like God that
attracted her.) - Was the “being like God” line a lie?
- Don’t we sing in church about becoming “more like
Jesus every day?” Isn’t our goal to become more
like God? (The “like God” aspect that Satan was
marketing to Eve was “knowing good and evil.”
They already knew about good. The lie had two
parts: they could know evil and not die.) - What was wrong with Satan’s suggested path to “be
like God?” (It involved disobeying God and taking
Eve’s own path to knowing more about evil. The
quest to “be like God” is what caused Satan to
fall in the first place. See, Isaiah 14:13-14.) - Do you know people who want to be “gods”
without obeying the Heavenly Father? - If you had been Eve, would you have fallen to this
temptation? (Everyone who reads this lesson has
sinned. 1 Timothy 2:14 tells us that Eve sinned
because she was deceived. It also says Adam was not
deceived when he sinned. The logical conclusion from
that statement is that Adam deliberately sinned. Paul
seems to suggest that gives Adam some credit over Eve.
Is it better to be a ninny or a rebel? The rest of us
can probably admit to being both ninnies and rebels at
some point in our life.) - Since we believe God and not Satan, at this point in our
lesson we are all dead. Is there a way out? Let’s explore
that next. - The Way Out
- Read 1 John 5:1. Why is it important to be “born of God?”
(We just learned in Genesis that we are dead because of sin.
If it were possible, a dead person would need to be born
again, right?) - Read 1 John 5:2-3. How do we know that we are born again?
(Verse 1 tells us believing Jesus is the Christ is the basis
for the new birth. However, verse two tells us that from
that new birth springs love “for the children of God.” This
love has two parts: loving God and obeying His
commandments.) - Why does obedience to God’s commandments demonstrate
“love to the children of God?” (This gives some hard
edges, some definition to the concept of love. It is
not some abstract, mushy feeling. True love can be
measured by performance towards our fellow humans and
towards God’s requirements. However, as verse 3 says,
these commands “are not burdensome.”) - Read 1 John 5:4-5, 11-13. What does it mean to “overcome the
world?” (Putting these texts together shows that overcoming
the world is the gift of eternal life.) - How do we get this eternal life according to verses
11-13? (Again, belief in Jesus gives us confidence
(“you may know”) that we have eternal life.) - After reading these texts, what is your conclusion about
whether the wicked will die? (This is a clear and
fundamental truth of the Bible. If you sin and turn away
from God you die. If you accept Jesus, you have eternal
life.) - The Future
- So far we have learned that we have two options: death or
life. Satan’s first lie was that sin did not bring death. We
know about that lie now, so we should not fall into that
same “hole” of thinking that we can sin and live. - Let’s explore how this life and death choice works.
When do we get this eternal life? - Do the righteous get one death (because they sinned in
the past) and then get eternal life? - What is eternal death for the wicked?
- Since the Bible has a great deal to say about these kinds of
questions, much of which seems confusing, we are going to
basically stick to the “hard evidence” texts. - Can we, who have sinned, go to heaven without first
dying? (Yes. There is precedent for this in the
“translation before death” of both Elijah (2Kings
2:11-12; Matthew 17:1-3)and Enoch ( Genesis 5:24;
Hebrews 11:5). In addition, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17
describes a group that are taken directly to heaven.) - Can we go to heaven soon after death? (Yes. The death and
burial of Moses is described in Deuteronomy 34:4-7. A
cryptic reference to God bringing Moses to life is found in
Jude 1:9, and clear evidence of this is found in Matthew
17:1-3. Of course, this also happened to Jesus. Matthew
28:1-6.) - Can we be resurrected and go to heaven long after death?
(Yes. In 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 Paul argues the general
resurrection of the righteous. Later in that same chapter (1
Corinthians 15:51-54) he explains the nature of the general
resurrection of the righteous at the Second Coming of Jesus
(v.52 “last trumpet”). Perhaps the best description of this
is in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, which discusses the timing of
both the resurrection of the righteous dead and the
translation of the righteous living at Jesus’ Second
Coming.) - Most funerals that I attend speak of the departed loved one
as being in heaven at that time. Is that possible? (The
example of Moses and Jesus show the possibility going to
heaven shortly after death. However, there is the problem
that neither Moses ( Jude 1:9) nor Jesus left a body behind
to view. My belief is the Bible teaches that immediate
transportation to heaven is rare. Paul’s discussion of the
future of the righteous in 1 Thessalonians 4 teaches that
the bulk of the righteous dead remain in the grave until the
Second Coming of Jesus.) - What about the future of the wicked? Do they burn forever in
hell? - If the wicked burned forever in hell would they have
eternal life? (Yes. The texts on hell seem to be all
over the place when you first read them. The Biblical
evidence that convinces me that hell is not forever is
Satan’s first lie — that sin would not cause death.) - If you teach that the wicked do not burn forever in
hell, will that cause some people to sin who would
otherwise be too scared to sin? (Does anyone think
that Jesus ever used terror as a conversion tool?
Since the Bible is plain that the wicked burn
( Revelation 20:7-10), just how much burning is
necessary to deter sinners?) - Friend, God gives us two options. Eternal life with Him or
eternal death by fire. Since He loved us so much that He
died in our place, can we reasonably choose anything other
than life? - Next Week: Light and Shadows: The Earthly Sanctuary.
