What happens when we die (1) - a podcast by The Oxford Bible Church

God's eternal Judgment will determine each person's eternal destiny. This Judgment, which happens when we cross over the threshold from this life to the next, will be solely a judgment of that individual, and the decisions he has made in his life (Ezekiel 18:20).

The Bible teaches that mankind generally goes through 3 Phases of Existence: (1) This Life. (2) The Intermediate State - after our spirit lays aside our body at death, we continue to exist, but as a disembodied spirit - this is just a temporary state between our death and resurrection. (3) The Eternal State, which starts at our physical resurrection, when our spirit puts on an immortal resurrection body.After death the invisible part of man (his spirit-soul), lives on independently from his body (the Immortality of the Soul). Although the body is mortal (subject to death), man's spirit is immortal, because its origin is the breath of God (Gen 2:7, Matt 10:28, 2Cor 4:16, Jn 6:47, 11:26, Rom 8:38-39). Our present body is a tent, a temporary dwelling place, that we'll lay aside one day, and then later in the resurrection we'll receive a permanent everlasting house from God.

God will ultimately divide all mankind into 2 groups with 2 very different eternal destinies, decided at death, when a permanent separation takes place between the righteous and unrighteous. The condition of each soul at death will determine its destiny for eternity (Ecc 11:3, Rev 22:11). He either dies'in their sins'(John 8:24) or'in the Lord'(Rev 14:13).

As with our court-system, Eternal Judgment takes place in 2 Stages:*(1) Stage 1 determines a man’s guilt or innocence. This happens immediately after death (Heb 9:27, Ecc 12:7). If he dies ‘in the Lord’ (in a state of righteousness), he goes UP to be with the Lord in Heaven. If he dies ‘in his sins’ (in a state of unrighteousness), then he goes DOWN into Hades, to a place of punishment.
*(2) Stage 2 happens at his resurrection, when he will appear before the Judge for sentencing. Believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged according to their works to determine their eternal rewards. Unbelievers will stand before the Great White Throne for their final sentencing. They are judged according to their works to determine the degree of their eternal punishment. They are then dismissed to their final place of punishment, the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11-15).From the true story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26), we see what took place at death, for those who died before Christ's Resurrection. They remained conscious and went down to Hades into one of 2 different compartments. The righteous went into Paradise and the unrighteous into Torments, and these 2 groups were forever separated from each other by a great Gulf, so that it was impossible to go from one compartment to another. Thus their eternal destiny was fixed at death. Then we reveal how Christ made the New Birth possible through His death and resurrection, so that now, in Christ, our born again spirits are perfect. So now, when believers die, they go straight up into Heaven. However, unbelievers (who reject Christ and His Salvation) still go down to Torments in Hades when they die, just as they did before Christ's Resurrection.

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