Transcript: What Happens When I Die?


What Happens When I Die?

AStudy Guide

“It is hard to have patience with people who say ‘There is no death’ or ‘Death doesn’t matter.’ There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible.” - C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

One of the ultimate questions of life is, “what happens to one when they die?”

Various Views on Death:

(A) There are some world religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism that affirm a doctrine called reincarnation. They believe we go around and around sometimes thousands or maybe even millions of times.

(B) Everyone goes to Heaven. That’s called universailism.

(C) People get annihilated and cease to exist. That’s what most atheists believe.

(D) Materialists believe that we are really nothing more than a machine. When the machine shuts down . . . we simply go into non existance and we’re no more.

Central Question: So, how can we know the truth? How can we actually know what happens when some- body dies?

The Answer: The way we can get at this question is two-fold:
(1) We need an authority to give us insight into what

happens when we die.
(2) We need someone who has been on the other side who could actually come back

and tell us what exactly is the case when death faces all of us.

(i) The Authority:
(a) The Bible makes it very clear that, yes, we die and

stand before God in judgement.
(b) We come to a fork in the road.
(c) One fork leads in one direction, the other fork leads in the other.

(ii) The Testimony of Someone Who Came Back: 

(a) Hell

Jesus talked about Hell more than anyone else in the Bible. Jesus said there is a place called Hell.

Answering Life’s Hard Questions | Encouraging Evangelism | Bringing People to Church

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What Happens When I Die? Study Guide

Recap:

Jesus said there is a place of unending torment that will last forever for
those who do not have a right relationship with God----that right relationship made possible only through Jesus.

(b) The Way out of Hell
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father [in Heaven] but by me.” (John 14:6)

Without Jesus you may live a lie that leads you to a place called Hell.

You don’t have to die and go to Hell, where God’s presence is unknown.

(c) Heaven
For those who go to Heaven there is: No more death.
No more sorrow.
No more crying.
No more pain. (cf. Rev 21: 4)

If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ you can be certain of
this: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord [in Heaven].”

What happens when I die?

All of us are going to face death, unless Jesus comes before we die.
There is not one way following death. There are 2 ways.
One leads to destruction and eternal separation from God, but the other leads to life e verlasting, in the presence of God . . .

Bottom Line:

What are YOU going to do with this question?
He [Jesus] is the only person who has ever lived, died, and come back from the dead.

If you want an authority who can tell you what does indeed happen when you die, all you have to do is listen to the words of Jesus.

Answering Life’s Hard Questions | Encouraging Evangelism | Bringing People to Church

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What Happens When I Die? Study Guide Key Scriptures:

Hebrews 9:27; John 14:6; Revelation 21:4; 2 Corinthians 5:8

Recommended Further Reading:

Life After Death: The Evidence, Dinesh D’Souza
Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality, Gary R. Habermas
Immortality: The Other Side of Death, Gary R. Habermas; J.P. Moreland
Fifty-Five Answers to Questions about Life after Death, Mark Hitchock
Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy,
C. S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley,
Peter Kreeft
Is Hell for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven?, Timothy Keller, R. Albert Mohler Jr., J.I. Packer 

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