What Happens When We Die? | Chase Gardner

We’ve all wondered what will happen when we die, but many of us don’t really know. In this message, Chase Gardner uses scripture to give us a better idea of what to expect. He goes on to reveal that knowing what happens when you die will dramatically change the way you live your life until that time comes.

Message Notes:
Whether we’re new to Christianity or we’ve been Christians for years, there are questions we think about and sometimes argue about with others. Over the next five weeks, we’ll take a look at the top five questions our community has.

What happens when we die?

The answer offers us a hope the world desperately needs to know about.

• God tells us clearly in hundreds of passages what we can expect to experience when we die.
• These truths about eternity should change the way we live until the moment of death.

In order to understand the end, we have to understand where we began and where we are now.

• There are three main periods or acts in the history of the world.
  • Act one: The past (Genesis 1 and 2)
  • Act two: The present (Genesis 3 through Revelation 19)
  • Act three: The future (Revelation 20-22)

Act One

• God creates the entire universe, and it was good.
• Genesis 1:28
• God had a clear purpose for Adam and Eve: fill the whole earth and rule it for God’s glory
• Act one is similar to the present (same goal), but there was no sin or death.

Act Two

• The beginning of act two: Adam and Eve eat the fruit, sin enters the world, and death is the consequence.
• God creates a different place to hold the souls of people who die in act two
  • “Sheol” (Old Testament) / “Hades” (New Testament)
  • Three areas of Sheol
    • Paradise (present heaven)
    • Gehenna (present hell)
    • Tartarus (holding place for future judgment)
  • What we learn from Luke 16:19-31
    • If you die before Jesus comes, your spirit goes to Sheol
    • We will still be us, conscious, and aware of what is going on on earth
    • Present heaven—we’re happy and fulfilled; waiting for act three
    • Present hell—we’re alone, we don’t know what’s going on on earth, we are suffering
  • 1 Peter 3:18-19
  • The Bible emphasizes the importance of faith in Christ.
  • The Bible emphasizes that children have a special place in God’s heart.

Act Three

• Jesus returns to earth
• Souls come back from present heaven and present hell and receive their eternal bodies
• Revelation 20:11-15
• Revelation 21:1-5
• We will still be us, but sinless
• Everything will exist as it was intended at Creation
• We will have the same command: to fill the earth and live for the glory of God
• Jesus is the pinnacle
• Romans 10:13-15

What does this mean for how we live our lives?

• Every person you meet is an eternal being who will spend eternity in one of two places.
• Our purpose is to share the Gospel so that every person we meet has the option to choose to accept salvation or not.
• The truth of heaven means that for almost everything in my life, I can wait so that more can know.
• Make your decision today, because there might not be a tomorrow.

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