Are the Dead Alive?

All of us have attended the funeral of a departed loved one, and heard someone announce that the deceased is now in a better place. Of course their words are meant to comfort, but really, what sense do they make? I mean, if the one who has just died is indeed in a better place, why do we all feel so sad for them? And if death is so heavenly, what stops the rest of us from joining them? Why don't we all pack our bags, split our wrists and float up into the clouds with them? Well, unfortunately, some do try. Thinking they are not able to handle the pressures of life, many decide death can't be any worse and choose its way. Others even strap themselves to bombs, thinking they are Paradise bound. But, as none of us really know what is on the other side, before we do anything rash, let's consider what the Scriptures say about our final resting place.

Church Tradition is clear on the subject. We don't really die, we just pass from this shore to that one. Of course, the Roman Catholics have a respectable time in purgatory, but the Protestants put us on the fast tract right to the Pearly Gates and teach that the instant one dies, he is on his way to Heaven. If what they teach is true, than there really is no death. If we go directly to purgatory or heaven (or hell) when we die, then we must all be immortal. As this doctrine creates a caldron of complications, the Church has inserted all kinds of stipulations to somehow regulate our entrance. Like, if one commits suicide, he can't get in. That dissuades us from slitting our wrists and leaving all the pews empty. Others teach that before you die you must have your last rites. Still others, that first you must be Baptized. Having dabbled in Church Traditions, lets now consider the Truth.

First, if a believer goes directly to Heaven when he dies, what was Lazarus doing still dead after four days (JOHN 11:17)? How about the widow's dead son that Jesus raised as they carried him to his burial (LUKE 7:15)? Why was not he already in Heaven? And how about the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, whom Jesus also raised from the dead (MARK 5:35)? What about Tabitha, who died, but Peter raised from the dead (ACTS 9:40)? How about the son of the mistress whom Elijah raised from the dead (1st KINGS 17:22)?  How about our Lord Himself? If anyone should go directly to Heaven after he died, it should have been Jesus. Yet, three days later, He was still dead. There is not a single record in the Scriptures, where anyone is said to have gone to Heaven, or in any way been alive right after death.

Resurrection is a reality! We are not implying that there is no life after death. We are only searching Scripture to see when that resurrection occurs. Our Lord testified, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (JOHN 11:25). When shall we live again?, that is our question. Surely not immediately, as we have learned from the passages above. Paul gives us an answer in his epistle to the Thessalonians.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Paul writes here that when the Lord descends from heaven, then shall the dead rise. If the dead are already alive and in Heaven smoking big fat cigars, who then are these "dead in Christ" Paul is referring to? How can there be any resurrection if we are all in Heaven already? These seem like reasonable questions, but Church Tradition fails to give us reasonable answers. They try to wrest scripture out of its context hoping to make it say what was not intended.

After promising Lazarus' sister that those that believe in Him shall live, Jesus said, "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die..." (JOHN 11:26). The Church teaches us that this means whenever a believer dies he goes straight to Heaven. Yet Martha's brother Lazarus was plainly dead! Jesus wasn't telling her that Lazarus was already in heaven, but that he would be raised in the resurrection. Because of the resurrection, all who believe in Jesus as the Christ shall not remain dead eternally. That is why for the believer, death is often called "sleep". When we die, it is as if we are sleeping, waiting to be awakened at the resurrection.  

Let us consider another detail about those few who the Bible says have arisen from among the dead. What became of their bodies? In every single case where someone was raised from the dead, their bodies went with them. Yet today, when we see the deceased lying there in the casket, the Minister tries to tell us that they have departed into heaven and left their "earthen vessel" behind. I think this is an immense problem they have created for themselves, not knowing the scriptures and instead trusting in their traditions.

MATTHEW 27:50-53 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

This verse has often been quoted to me as proof that the dead are alive. The "traditionalist" just fail to notice that in this case, like all the others in the Bible, those who arose from the dead, took their bodies with them. Even when the disciples entered the tomb where Jesus had been buried, they found no body. He had taken it with Him!

One final observation we should consider. Jesus told the Jews as well as His disciples, that He was going to a place "ye cannot come" (JOHN 13:33). I can't imagine where that place was if it wasn't Heaven. Peter was determined that he would follow Jesus anywhere, but Jesus assured him that "thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards" (JOHN 13:36). If we all go immediately into Heaven when we die, than why couldn't Peter just die with Jesus and follow Him into Heaven? The answer is because they couldn't go to Heaven, until the resurrection at Christ's return. He explicitly laid this out for them that evening, saying,