The question whether there is life after death occupies the attention of many people.  This is witnessed by the avid sales of the book, “Endless Consciousness” by Prof. Pim van Lommel (already released in its eighth edition!).  It is the near-death-experiences that cause Van Lommel to conjecture (and many with him) that our consciousness could possibly continue to exist after this life.

This provides a good opening to pause at the question of what the Bible actually does say about life after this life.  To clarify, I will limit myself to a discussion of our continuance right after this life, that which we, as Christians, also refer to as an “in between” stage.

Life After Our Death: Two Possibilities⤒🔗

That, according to the Bible, life does not stop after our death, cannot be argued.  We can even say that the Bible reveals that every person has a life that will never end.  The Bible teaches us that immediately after our deaths, there are two possibilities: either we are carried away by the angels to heaven or we will open our eyes in the realm of death.

Heaven

But what kind of place is heaven?  What can we expect there?

The first thing we need to say when we speak about heaven is that heaven is the place where God lives, together with the Lamb, Jesus Christ.  Heaven is God’s palace; his throne is there.  But God’s angels, together with the believers who have already died, are also there.  The Bible speaks about thousands of angels and as we think about all those believers who have already died from the time of the beginning of the world until now, who are there, then it cannot be otherwise than that heaven is truly a vast world.

But what does the believer who has died do there; with what are they occupied in heaven?  For the believer who has died heaven is, in the first place, a place of rest.  In Revelation 14:13, a voice from heaven says: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.  ’Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labour, for their deeds follow them!’”  Resting does not imply that people are lazy there and just sleep, but rest does mean that believers no longer have to struggle against sin and all manner of difficulties there.  They may enjoy the glorious life in heaven, undisturbed and unencumbered.  This enjoyment consists of serving God, and the Bible even speaks about reigning together with Christ.

The Realm of Death←⤒🔗

Not everyone will enter the reality of heaven after death.  Many will open their eyes in the place known as the realm of death.  What kind of place is this realm of death?  Well, as heaven is the place where God dwells, so the realm of death is the place where God does not dwell; it is the place where God is absent, also where all his blessings are absent.  All that is good is missing there.  There is no love and no joy.  It is a place of misery and pain, a prison.  People there have no future and no hope of anything better, for the dead in the realm of death know that their lot is established.

Is There Contact Between Heaven and the Realm of Death?←⤒🔗

When we read the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus, then we see that there is contact between heaven and the realm of death; the rich man in the realm of death sees Abraham and Lazarus and he speaks with Abraham.  Clearly men can see and hear each other.

The question that urges itself upon us is whether this is possible.  It is very difficult to imagine that people in heaven can enjoy the heavenly rest while they, meanwhile, can look into the realm of death and can hear the complaints.  Therefore, it can truly not be like this.  What does seem possible to me is that certain prominent believers who have died (such as Abraham) receive the possibility from God to make contact with the dead in the realm of death.  We do see, in the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus that there is contact between the rich man and Abraham, but not between the rich man and Lazarus.

On the other hand, it is believable that those in the realm of death can hear and see the splendour and glory of heaven.  Besides that which is said in the parable, we can also think about Luke 13:28, “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.”  Being able to see the joy of heaven makes the suffering greater for them.

Living as Spirit←⤒🔗

The Bible tells us that when we die, our soul is separated from our body and takes residence in heaven or in the realm of death.  Our spirit (or soul) is our internal consciousness, our personal “self”.  Although the way in which we exist changes, we keep our own personality (except without sin).

Our life in heaven is a conscious life; in heaven our spirit can think, see and speak.  That is naturally a marvel, for how is that possible?  How can you speak without a mouth, see without eyes?

Some think that the soul receives a sort of intermediate body.  The problem with this idea is that nowhere in the Bible does it say that God creates a kind of temporary body. We have one body which we must leave behind in the earthly grave until the last day.  But what Jesus says to us in Matthew 22, that the believers in the resurrection will be as the angels, does shed light for us here.  The angels are spirits who do not have bodies.  Still, they can allow themselves to be seen and they can speak and hear.  This does show that a comparable continuation after this life is also possible for souls who have died.

Remembrance and Recognition←⤒🔗

A huge recurring question for us is: will we recognize each other in heaven?  Will there be a reunion with each other?

It is the question of recognition, but also of remembrance, for without remembrance there can be no recognition.  When we read the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus, there is obviously mention of a remembrance of the life on earth:  the rich man remembers his brothers who are still on earth. A text such as Luke 16:9 also points in this direction.  There Jesus says that the friends you procure here on earth with the help of the unrighteous mammon, will receive you in heaven with joy. From these words, it appears that those friends will recognize you when you come into heaven, and will remember what you have done for them during life on earth.  This points to remembrance and recognition.

But that quickly poses this question for us: if there is remembrance and recognition in heaven, is there then not an awareness of missing people?  Picture a mother in heaven who remembers her son on earth and waits patiently until she recognizes him among those who enter, but what if her son does not come, what then?  Is there then not sorrow for this woman?

That question must be answered negatively; in heaven there is no more sorrow.  Clearly this is the case that there is no sorrow, even though it can be that you miss someone.  How is that possible?  First it is because, in heaven, the bonds have become different; earthly bonds are not fundamental any more for the souls in heaven.  Fellowship with Jesus Christ, and in him, with each other, fills them.  They will also know others differently and better.  Prof. K. Schilder writes about this:

Communion there will be so completely sure, so acute and direct, so immediate, in all regularity, that every person will be a legible letter from Christ for every other.  Each song of praise that lives in the soul of one person, immediately connects with another person, is heard and answered…  One gives a hand to another, when he meets him at a far “distance”, for the division has been abolished, every division.

Moreover, Schilder does warn us about posing the question regarding seeing earthly loved ones and friends in heaven again.  For us, it should not be about “our own romance of life” but for us, it must be about the great work of God for all who are his; about that we will be allowed to know and see much in heaven.

Waiting For the Great Finale←⤒🔗

Heaven and the realm of death are not yet the final destination.  The realm of death is the entrance hall of hell “the lake of fire”.  When Jesus has completed the final judgment, the realm of death and its inhabitants will be thrown into this lake of fire, together with the devil and his fallen angels.

Heaven is also not yet a final destination; it is a waiting room.  Although the joy is great there, it is still toned down.  The height of joy will only be reached after judgment day; when all evil is definitely done away with and God has created the new heaven and earth.  Believers will be allowed to live in them for eternity, their souls reunited with their renewed bodies.  Then will be fulfilled what Isaiah prophesied:

For behold; I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.  But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness Is. 65:17, 18