When people take their last breath on Earth, they are immediately conscious and present in one of two locations: Heaven or Hell.
Everyone who has been born-again by trusting Jesus Christ by faith for their salvation immediately enters Heaven after their death. However, their physical bodies return to “the dust of the Earth” to await the resurrection when they receive a glorified body fit for their future, eternal home in the New Heaven and Earth.
Paul wrote to believers in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” He also penned in Philippians 1:21-24, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.”
In Heaven, believers are in Jesus’ presence, surrounded by the fullness of His love, joy, peace, perfection, and righteousness. Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Never again will they experience pain, sadness, sickness, disease, suffering, sin, or death as they did on Earth. Instead, they have been made perfect in every way possible despite not yet receiving their glorified bodies. Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
On the contrary, everyone who has rejected Jesus Christ’s gift of salvation immediately enters Hell upon their death to await final judgment. Their physical bodies return to “the dust of the Earth” to await the resurrection when they are equipped for their future home in the Lake of Fire.
Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2:4, 9-10, and 17-19, “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment... (vs 9-10) then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority... (vs. 17-19) These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
In Hell, unbelievers experience unrelenting torment for their sins and unbelief. Jude 1:5-7 states, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”
Unfortunately, those in Hell cannot escape their demise because death sealed them in their unredeemed state. For this reason, Hebrews 3:12-15 urges those who are still alive, “Today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Likewise, 2 Corinthians 6:2 proclaims, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Believers who have died and gone to heaven will remain there with Jesus until His second coming. At that time, they will return to the earth to rule and reign with Him for 1,000 years. Revelation 19:11-14 says, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.”
It also states in Zechariah 14:1-5, “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem...then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You.”
At the end of the 1,000 years, Jesus will render final judgment and destroy the present heaven and earth by fire. Immediately afterward, He will create a new heaven and earth where all believers will dwell with Him for eternity. Isaiah 65:17-25 says, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.”
It also states in Isaiah 66:22, “‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘So shall your descendants and your name remain.’” Additionally, John said in Revelation 21:27, “And no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it [New Heaven and Earth], but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” [emphasis mine].
On the contrary, unbelievers who have died and gone to hell will remain there until the 1,000-year reign of Christ on the earth ends. Immediately afterward, they will be resurrected to stand before Jesus at the Great White Throne Judgment. After being judged for their sins and unbelief, they will be cast into the Lake of Fire to carry out their eternal sentence.
Revelation 20:11-15 states, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
It also says in Revelation 21:8, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
I hope this information helps you understand death’s eternal nature, what happens to people afterward, and where they will eventually reside.
