The bible makes it clear what happens after we die....
Hebrews 9:27 states, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (KJV)
"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (NIV"
Man mistakenly believes that Hell and the Lake of Fire is one of the same location. That is far from the truth.
You see, God's Justice system isn't really all that different from the justice system that we face here on earth. If you commit a crime and get busted, you're going to jail, until you have your day in court.
In Hell, it's the same as a prison, a prison for the spirits who today died without Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If you die w/o Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you're busted and going to jail (Hell) until you have your day in court.
Take this for example....(Putting out both versions so you can make comparisons and get a better idea what it's saying...)
In 1st Peter 3:18-
18- "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (KJV)
18- "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit" (NIV)
Note on verse 18, He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. The dead knows nothing huh? Now note what happens after Christ died on the Cross, where did His Spirit go? Ever wondered about that? Not many come across thing and realized this or at least not many that have read this passage and fully understood it (too much selective reading if you asked me).
19-"By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison" (KJV)
19-"through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison"(NIV)
Spirits in prison??? Now where is that? Remember what I mentioned above a little ago? Right, it's Hell. But what is Jesus doing there? Let's read v19 again, it said, "preached unto the spirits in prison" Ah, now it makes sense.
See, Jesus at the time when he was alive, preached to the present day people, right? And His message would carry into the future, right? But what about the people in the past that never had the opportunity to hear the message of Christ? We're talking about a "life saving" message, a message that brings people into the Grace of God. What of them? That wouldn't be fair if they missed out on, now would it? No it wouldn't, so Jesus DID so something about it, thusly what it's said on verse 19 and let's continue on a bit to verse 20 & 21....
20- "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (KJV)
20- "who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water" (NIV)
21- "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:" (KJV)
21 -"and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ," (NIV)
So Jesus was preaching to the spirits dating as far back to the days of Noah (possibily longer, it's still debatable, but we should know all the answers when the time is right). He was giving them the opportunity to hear the message, the same messages Jesus had preached when he was alive on this world. After that, He returned, raised from the dead, stayed with us for 40 more days and ascended to heaven.
Now what happened to the spirits after they heard Jesus preached to them, it's not revealed in Scripture, but we'll know when the day comes, whether any of us is saved or not, we're gonna know, somehow.
So, now, after Christ returns and ruled over earth for 1 thousand more years, then comes Judgement day, those locked up in Hell will have their day in court. Now, keep in mind, God is not limited. He has abilities far surpasses any of us, let me just say He is the greastest multi-tasker in the universe, he'll judge each one as according to what each has done individually, but at the same time, judges as all at one shot. Yeah, He can do that, awesome multitasking. (Imagine God engaging a million conversation with a million people with a million different topics all at the same time.)
If our name is found in the Lamb's Book of Life, we pass into God's Glory, however, if one person's name is not found in the Lamb's Book of Life, let me just say, he/she is so screwed.
So here what happens when you have your day in court, the bible says that after the 1,000 year reign of Christ (post Tribulation) those that became saved during the Tribulation will rise first and be with God. Those in the 2nd resurrection will rise to be judged by God.....
Revelation 20:11"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them."
v12- "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
v13-"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."
v14 -(Now make note what this verse says, very important!) "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."
See? Hell was casted into the lake of Fire. So Hell and Lake Of Fire isn't the same place, now isn't it? Nope, they're two different locations. Hell (Jail) Lake of Fire (Punishment). Note even death was cast into the lake of fire, now this is the good news, death becomes NO MORE.
v15 -"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
OUCH! I do not wish this to anyone. Bad thing is, when you have a spirit, it's indestructable. You cannot die. Now imagine yourself in the lake of fire, unable to die!! The body dies yes, but not the spirit. If you don't wanna go there, Jesus is your only way out...
"I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, no one can come to the Father except by Me!" John 3:16 He's your way out and the way to do it is to come to the realization that you are indeed a sinner in need of a Savior and come confess to Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. You won't regret it and He can change your life in more ways than one.
Nobody can make you do anything, not even God. It's entirely up to us, God has entended His hand, the rest is up to us how we should respond. This is where "free will" comes in. We write our chapters and we choose how we write the last chapter of our life. The choice is up to us. God can't make us do anything, He can't interfer with Free Will, but He can show us what will happen to us based on how we lived our lives. Good or evil.
Same thing we do to any human being here on earth, we have cops, judges, jails and punishment. God justice system isn't so different from our justice system here on earth. If you kill someone, you will answer for it before the earthly court and stand before a human judge and go to prison and in some case, await in prison for our death penalty.
That's what I believe and my interpretation based on Scripture and a little help from the Holy Spirit (John 14:26)
Yiz
