Job, speaking from his despair, asked, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” ( Job 14:14 ). We have all been challenged by this question. Is there li after death? What happens to us after we die? Do we simply cease to exist? Is death a revolving door back and forth to earth? Does everyone go to the same place after death, or do we go to different places? Are there really heaven and hell?
The Bible tells us that yes, there is life after death. This world is not all there is, and humanity was made for something more. At death, the body stops functioning and the process of returning to the earth begins, but the spiritual part of man lives on: “The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” ( Ecclesiastes 12:7 ; cf. Psalm 146:4 ).
To those who are redeemed and forgiven of sin, God gives eternal life, an existence so glorious that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him” ( 1 Corinthians 2:9 ). This eternal life is intimately tied to the Person of Jesus Christ: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” ( John 17:3 ). In Jesus’ prayer in this passage, He compares “eternal life” to the knowledge of God and the Son. “He who has the Son has life” ( 1 John 5:12 ).
Jesus Christ, God incarnate, came to earth to pay for our sins and give us the gift of eternal life: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” ( Isaiah 53:5 ). Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus demonstrated His victory over death by rising from the grave: He is life personified ( John 11:25 ) and the ultimate proof that there is life after death.
Christ’s resurrection is a well-documented event. The apostle Paul urged people to question the more than 500 eyewitnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection ( 1 Corinthians 15:6 ). They were all able to testify that Jesus is alive and that there is indeed life after death.
Christ’s resurrection, which gives us the sure hope of life after death, is the cornerstone of the Christian faith ( 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ). Since Christ rose from the dead, we have faith that we too will rise again. As Jesus told His disciples, “Because I live,you too will live” ( John 14:19). Christ was only the firstfruits of a great harvest of those who will be resurrected ( 1 Corinthians 15:23 ). Just as God resurrected Jesus’ body, our bodies will be resurrected when Jesus returns ( 1 Corinthians 6:14 ).
However, the fact that there is life after death does not mean that everyone will go to heaven. People will continue to exist after they die, and there will one day be a resurrection, but God makes a distinction between the resurrection of the righteous (those in Christ) and the unrighteous (those who die in their sin): “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” ( Daniel 12:2 ). Paul puts it this way: “There must be a resurrection of the dead, both of the righteous and the unrighteous” ( Acts 24:15 ).
Each person must make a choice in this life, a choice that will determine his or her eternal destiny. It is appointed that we die once, and after that comes judgment ( Hebrews 9:27 ). Those who have been made righteous through faith in Christ will go to eternal life in heaven, but those who have rejected Christ as Savior will be sent to eternal punishment in hell ( Matthew 25:46 ). Hell, like heaven, is a literal place. It is the place where the unrighteous will experience God’s eternal, unending wrath. Hell is described as a lake of fire where the inhabitants will be tormented day and night forever and ever ( Revelation 20:10 ). In hell there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, indicating intense pain and anger ( Matthew 13:42 ).
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but desires for them to turn from their wicked ways so that they may live ( Ezekiel 33:11 ). However, He will not force us into submission—He will not forgive us. If we choose to reject Christ, the only Savior, we reject the heaven He has prepared, and we will live eternally separated from Him. Life on earth is a preparation for what is to come. Faith in Christ prepares us for life after death: “He who believes in Him [the Son of God] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” ( John 3:18 ).
In some way, everyone will experience life after death. For believers in Christ, life after death is eternal life in heaven with God. For nonbelievers, life after death is eternity in the lake of fire. How can we receive eternal life and avoid hell? There is only one way: through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die” ( John 11:25–26 ).
The free gift of eternal life is available to everyone. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” ( John 3:36 ). We will not have the opportunity to accept God’s gift of salvation after death. Our eternal destiny is determined in our earthly life by receiving or rejecting Jesus Christ. “Behold, now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation” ( 2 Corinthians 6:2 ). If we trust in the death of Jesus Christ as the full payment for our sin, and believe in His resurrection from the dead, we are guaranteed eternal life after death in glory ( 1 Peter 1:3-5 ).