Try as we might, the question about what happens to humans after we die is not something that can be answered through scientific means. Our experience and our senses tell us that the lifeless body decomposes and turns into dust, as Solomon notes in Ecclesiastes 3:19-21, and there is no return. Science knows nothing of the soul, so what happens to the soul after death can only be answered by God’s revelation.
From Scripture, we learn that death is the separation of the soul from the body (Gen. 35:18, Luke 12:20, Matt. 27:50, Jam. 2:26). This is due to sin, which God warns Adam about when He commands him not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17, see also Rom. 5:12 and 6:23). In the Old Testament, the word “Sheol” is often used to talk about death as the place where the body goes after one dies. This term comes up most often in Old Testament poetry and songs. In the Greek New Testament, this is translated as “Hades.” Despite our modern connotation of Hades as a place of punishment, this is the same place as Sheol. Once the body has gone down to Sheol, it will decompose, returning to the dust from which it was formed.
However, the soul (or the spirit) goes someplace different. The psalmist writes, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol” (16:10), or as Peter quotes this verse in Acts 2, “to Hades” (2:27). For those who believe, angels will take them to paradise to enter God’s rest in the same way as “God rested on the seventh day from all his works” (Heb. 4:4). They will be with Christ, blessed to enjoy God’s presence for eternity, which is better than anything this world could have to offer.
Those souls who do not believe in Christ will find themselves in prison, the place spoken of in 1 Peter 3:19-20. Contrary to what some people believe, Scripture speaks of no second chances once a person has died. There are no opportunities to purify oneself of sin, nor is there any sort of in-between place.
Both Old and New Testaments speak of Christ’s return on the last day. Job, who lived at the same time as Abraham, confesses, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (19:25-26). Ezekiel also spoke clearly of this day when he said, “You shall know that I am the Lord, when I… raise you from your graves, O my people” (37:12-14). On that day, there will be a bodily resurrection for all people, both “the just and the unjust” as St. Paul points out to the governor Felix in Acts 25:15.
This day of judgment will be the day when all people who have ever lived are sentenced to heaven or hell. On that day, the current heavens and earth will be destroyed with fire. Even Death and Hades will be “thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14). A new heaven and a new earth will be formed (Rev. 21:1). Those who do not believe in Christ will be sent to the fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) and those who do have faith will join the Lord and His angels in the glorious kingdom that has been specially prepared for them “from the foundation of the world” (Matthew. 25:34).
Even though this doctrine pertains to the future, it’s important to remember these things in the present time. As long as we are still in this world, we need to be reminded that we are not of the world. We can and should long for the joys of heaven, our eternal home, and by setting our hearts on things above, we can endure the temptations and afflictions of this world. Most of all, the joy and peace that comes from knowing that we will one day be with our Savior for eternity spills over into our lives today, so that we can be always ready to share the reason for the hope that we have.