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Previous Study | Index | Next Study  Are The Dead Alive? Download PDF of this page. A small lad, making his way through a graveyard, stopped to read an inscription on the headstone marking a grave. He was intrigued by the following epitaph: “Stop, my friend, as you go by. As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, you soon shall be. So prepare yourself to follow me.” The boy stood there for some time thinking. Then, taking a piece of crayon from his pocket, he wrote this message: “To follow you I’m not content, until I know which way you went.” The message he wrote may not be good poetry, but the thought expressed is a profound one. Every person should be interested in what will happen to him at death. He should know just where he will go when the last breath leaves his body, for everyone faces death, sooner or later. The Bible pictures death as an enemy of mankind. God tells us that the last of our enemies to be destroyed is death. Death came into the world because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve. In Romans 5:12 Paul writes, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” God had provided that man should eat of the tree of life and live forever. When man disobeyed God, he was deprived of this privilege. Genesis 3:22, 23. Ever since death entered this world, Satan has worked long and hard to confuse the mind of man and to keep him from understanding God’s plan for giving us eternal life. The Bible teaches in a simple way what God wants us to know about death and its remedy. When we understand the Bible teaching regarding death and the resurrection, the sting of death is less painful. Let us lay aside all preconceived ideas and let God guide us now as we study from His Book what He has to say about death. 1. What two elements were used by God to make man a living soul? Genesis 2:7 The Bible Says: “And the Lord God formed man of____________________ ______________and breathed into his nostrils the_____________________ ____________________________________and man became a living soul.” Note: God did not put a living soul into man, but the combination of life and body made man a living soul. 2. What happens to the body of man at death? Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 12:7 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 3. What happens to the “breath of life,” or the “spirit,” at death? Ecclesiastes 12:7 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Note: This spark of life is called the spirit or breath of life. These terms are used interchangeably and denote only the element of life, not consciousness or intelligence. See the following texts: Job 27:3; Genesis 2:7. 4. Where do all the dead go at the time of death? Job 30:23; Job 17:13 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 5. At death, what happens to man’s ability to think? Psalm 146:3, 4 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 6. How much does man know during the time that he is dead? Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 7. How much of man’s knowledge remains when he is in the grave? Ecclesiastes 9:10 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 8. What does the Bible say about the possibility of the dead praising the Lord? Psalm 115:17; Psalm 6:5 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 9. What did Jesus call death? John 11:11-14 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 10. If there were no resurrection, what would happen to all of the dead? I Corinthians 15:16-18 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 11. Because Christ rose from the dead, when can we look forward to the resurrection of our loved ones? I Corinthians 15:22, 23 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 12. How many will be resurrected, according the Bible? John 5:28, 29 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 13. What does Paul say will happen to the righteous dead at Christ’s second coming? I Thessalonians 4:16, 17 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 14. How will all of the righteous be changed at the coming of Christ? I Corinthians 15:51-54 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 15. How will the bodies of the redeemed be changed? Philippians 3:20, 21 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 16. Who alone will enjoy eternal life? John 3:16 The Bible Says: ________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Note: Man is mortal. Job 4:17. Only divinity has immortality. I Timothy 6:15,16. Eternal life is the gift of God only to those who believe in Christ. Only through Christ do we have the hope of a future life. If God had not been willing to give His Son to die in our stead, death would have been the end of man’s existence. Since Christ came, lived a perfect life of obedience, died in our place, and was resurrected, we now have the hope of a future life —a glorious life in which sin, sickness, sorrow, and death will be forever banished. God’s plan for those who die before the coming of the Lord is well illustrated in the experience of Lazarus. Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus was asleep and then proceeded to show that He was speaking of the death of His friend as a sleep. When Christ told Martha that Lazarus would live again, Martha said, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” John 11:24. She had listened to Christ’s teachings. She looked forward to the final resurrection. Christ then demonstrated what will happen when He returns the second time. Standing at the open door of the tomb, He called, “Lazarus, come forth,” The Bible says that Lazarus obeyed the voice of the Lifegiver and came forth, still bound in his grave clothes. Later Christ proved that He had gained the victory over death by His own resurrection. This was the sign that His sacrifice had been accepted by His Father, and that He had gained the right to abolish death and the devil, for the Bible tells us, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14. Thank God the victory has been gained and it can be ours by accepting the Victor as our Saviour. His death paid the price for our sins. Won’t you accept Him today and be assured of eternal life at the soon coming of our Lord?  This subject is now clear to me. I would like additional information. I understand what God teaches in the Bible about death and want to be among those who will receive immortality at the second coming of Christ.Previous Study | Index | Next Study |
