143. What Happens When We Die? Heaven, Hell, and the Spiritual Realm

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Death isn't the end—it's the beginning of eternity. But what exactly happens when our earthly journey concludes? Do we immediately ascend to heaven or descend to hell? Do our souls sleep until Christ's return? These profound questions have echoed through human hearts across generations.

Diving deep into scripture, we unravel the complex biblical picture of the afterlife that challenges many common assumptions. The Bible presents fascinating evidence for both an immediate presence with Christ and a "sleeping" state until resurrection. Jesus told the dying thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise," while Paul describes the dead as those who "sleep in Christ." Could both perspectives somehow be true?

We carefully distinguish between often-confused terms—Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, and Heaven—and explore the concept of an "intermediate state" between death and resurrection. Scripture reveals that the final judgment comes with Christ's return, when we receive resurrected bodies and enter our eternal destinations. The biblical heaven isn't about clouds and harps but a renewed earth where God dwells with his people forever. And while hell represents the sobering reality of separation from God's presence, we're reminded that salvation through Christ is available to everyone who chooses it.

Understanding what awaits us transforms how we live today. Whether we experience conscious rest with Christ or soul sleep until resurrection, death marks our transition into eternity. As Romans beautifully puts it, "Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." Join us for this thought-provoking exploration that brings clarity, hope, and biblical truth to life's most profound mystery.

Share this episode with someone wrestling with questions about eternity. And if you're new to our Coffee Talk series, check out previous episodes where we tackle other big spiritual questions with the same biblical depth and clarity.

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Episode Transcript

Rebecca Twomey (00:32):
Hello and welcome to the Radiant Mission
podcast.
My name is Rebecca Twomey andwelcome back to Coffee Talk if
you have been joining us forthis series.
If you haven't, please go backand listen to some of the other
episodes.
These have been some greatquestions, great reflection.
It's just been a really goodseries overall, I feel

(00:54):
personally, and I've gotten somegood feedback.
So if you've been listening, Iwould love to hear from you.
If you haven't already reachedout to me, please do.
But if you're new, this seriesis about tackling big spiritual
questions and seeking truth fromthe word of God.
So today we are going to beexploring a question that every

(01:19):
human eventually wonders at somepoint, or maybe even many times
throughout their lives, andthat is what happens when we die
.
Do we go straight to heaven orhell?
Are we asleep until Jesusreturns?
What is the spiritual realm andhow does it all fit together?

(01:39):
This episode, just to be clear,is not about speculation or
fear.
It's about clarity, hope andtruth.
So let's open the Bibletogether and walk through what
it really says.
First things first, the bigquestion do we go to heaven or

(02:02):
sleep when we die?
Heaven or sleep when we die?
Many Christians assume thatwhen we die we instantly go to
heaven or hell.
But scripture offers a muchmore nuanced picture and some
verses point to a kind ofspiritual sleep until the

(02:23):
resurrection.
First Thessalonians 4, verses13 through 14, tells us brothers
and sisters, we do not want youto be uninformed about those
who sleep in death.
We believe that Jesus died androse again, and so we believe
that God will bring with Jesus,believe that God will bring with

(02:49):
Jesus those who have fallenasleep in him.
The word sleep often appears inthe Bible as a metaphor for
death.
In the book of Revelation thereis a picture of future
resurrection, not somethingthat's already happened.
Revelation 20, verses 12through 13.
And I saw the dead, great andsmall, standing before the
throne.
The sea gave up the dead thatwere in it and the death and

(03:14):
hades gave up the dead that werein them.
This implies that the dead arestill somewhere, not yet fully
resurrected or judged.
So what does that mean?
Well, biblical clues.
They give us this idea aboutthe intermediate state you might

(03:37):
call it.
Some verses suggest that weremain conscious after death,
others suggest we sleep.
So could both be true indifferent ways.
Luke 23, 43, jesus tells thethief on the cross.
Today you will be with me inparadise.
Philippians 1, 23,.

(03:59):
Paul says he desires to departto be with Christ, which he
calls better by far.
I agree with him totally.
But yet at the same time, theresurrection of the dead is
something that clearly happensin the future, not immediately,
in John 5, 28 through 29,.
A time is coming when all whoare in their graves will hear

(04:22):
his voice and come out, when allwho are in their graves will
hear his voice and come out.
So this has led to a theorythat is called soul sleep, and
it's the idea that when we die,our spirit is at rest,
unconscious or in a paused stateuntil the return of Christ.
Some believe that today you'llbe with me refers to Jesus's

(04:43):
timing, not the thief'simmediate experience.
Interesting right,no-transcript.

(05:03):
We've got to untangle some ofthese terms that get used
interchangeably, but they meandifferent things and there's
also different linguisticdifferences here.
So Sheol is Hebrew and it isthe place of the dead in the Old
Testament, a holding place forall souls.

(05:25):
Hades in Greek, the NewTestament equivalent of Sheol,
it's not hell, but a temporaryrealm of the dead.
Gehenna is a term that Jesusused to refer to the final place
of judgment.
What we're now calling hell andthen heaven is God's presence,

(05:49):
but not yet the final new heavenand new earth.
So there are references inscripture to the righteous and
the unrighteous being separatedafter death but not yet assigned
to their eternal home Luke 16,22 through 23,.
To their eternal home Luke 16,22 through 23, which is about
the rich man and Lazarus.

(06:10):
They are aware, separated andconscious.
But even this appears to happenbefore final judgment.
So let's talk about theresurrection and when the dead
are raised.
According to scripture, therewill be a bodily resurrection at
the return of Christ.
First, corinthians 15, 52 saysthe dead will be raised,

(06:34):
imperishable, and we will bechanged.
And Daniel 12, 2,.
Multitudes who sleep in thedust of the earth will awake,
some to everlasting life, othersto shame and everlasting
contempt.
This moment, not death itself,is when people are judged and

(06:55):
assigned to their eternaldestination.
So this means that the finalheaven and the final hell are
still to come.
Now, you might be wondering,are still to come Now you might
be wondering what will the finalheaven be like?
And the Bible gives us somestunning glimpses of what's to
come Revelation 21, 3-4,.

(07:16):
God's dwelling place is nowamong the people.
He will wipe away every tearfrom their eyes.
There will be no more death ormourning, or crying or pain.
The final heaven will be arestored, redeemed earth where
God dwells with his peopleforever.
We won't be floating on theclouds sorry if that bursts your

(07:39):
bubble but we will haveresurrected bodies, meaningful
purpose and eternal joy in thepresence of our creator.
So what about hell?
This one isn't easy to talkabout, especially after talking
about heaven.
But in scripture Jesus talkedabout it often Matthew 25, 46,.

(08:01):
Then they will go away toeternal punishment.
Then they will go away toeternal punishment, but the
righteous to eternal life.
Hell is described as a place ofconscious separation from God,
often with the imagery of fire,outer darkness and weeping.
But we must remember Goddoesn't want anyone to go there

(08:23):
2 Peter 3.9, to go there 2 Peter3.9,.
He is not willing that anyshould perish.
The gift of salvation throughJesus is for everyone, but we
must choose to receive it.
Now let's talk a little bitabout the spiritual realm,
because it is very real.

(08:43):
As we wait for Christ's return,we live in a spiritually active
world.
There are angels, there aredemons, light and darkness, and
there is an unseen war overevery soul.
I actually once heard it saidthat this is a battle of souls

(09:07):
and it really put first it waskind of a crazy thing to think
about, but then the more Ireally ruminated on that idea of
this battle of souls, the moreserious it really is, guys, at
the end of the day, ephesians6.12 tells us, for our struggle
is not against flesh and blood,but against the powers of this

(09:30):
dark world and the spiritualforces of evil in the heavenly
realms.
Knowing what comes after deathshould impact how we live now,
with urgency, compassion andhope.
Compassion and hope.

(09:53):
So what happens when we die?
We either enter rest withChrist or we wait for judgment.
There may be a pause, a sleep,until the resurrection, but
what's clear is this death isn'tthe end, it's the beginning of
eternity.
Romans 14, 8,.
If we live, we live for theLord, and if we die, we die for

(10:16):
the Lord.
So whether we live or die, webelong to the Lord.
I have a few reflectionquestions for us today, so be
thinking about these as you'regoing through your week.
Have I been avoiding thinkingabout eternity out of fear or
discomfort?
Do I live with the urgency ofwhat scripture says about life

(10:40):
after death?
Am I confident in where I'll goand am I pointing others toward
truth?
If this episode gave youclarity or peace or was just
interesting, please share thiswith a friend.
That is how others are going tofind this.

(11:01):
And if you're just joining theCoffee Talk series, be sure to
go back.
Series, be sure to go back.
Episodes 41 and 42 have somemore interesting info in them.
And thank you so much for beingon this journey.
If you would like to followalong outside the podcast, you
can do so on Instagram at theRadiant Mission.
You can join on Facebook at theRadiant Mission Podcast.

(11:22):
Or if you would like to checkthis out in video format, please
join the mission on YouTube.
You can do that by searchingfor my name, rebecca Toomey, and
my last name is spelledT-W-O-M-E-Y.
Today, I am going to close with2 Corinthians 5.1.

(11:43):
For we know that if the earthlytent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God, aneternal house in heaven, not
built by human hands.
Wishing you a radiant week andI'll see you next time.
Bye everyone.