Five Minutes After You Die: Present in Paradise

by David Chadwick

Five minutes after you die, there are two very different realities that will take place depending on whether or not you are a believer in Jesus or an unbeliever. For believers, you will find yourself immediately present in paradise.

As mentioned previously, just like for unbelievers, there will be immediate awareness and consciousness. Said another way, we will be fully aware! Our souls live forever, either in heaven or hell. For believers, death holds no power.

This is clearly taught in 2 Corinthians 5:8, which says, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Said differently, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. As sons and daughters of God, this world is not our home. It’s a temporary stop on our journey home. These bodies of ours are simple tents in which we reside while serving as ambassadors of a different kingdom.

In Luke 23:43, Jesus looked at the thief on the cross and said to him, “TODAY you will be with me in paradise.” The moment the thief died, Jesus promised that he’d be with him forever simply because he believed in Jesus. I can’t wait to reach heaven one day and talk with this unnamed thief to hear his entire story!

But unlike unbelievers, our souls will never face the judgment seat of Jesus! Why? Because the moment we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were judged by the Father as “not guilty” because we received the gift of eternal salvation from Jesus.

Today’s reality should allow every follower of Jesus to walk in perfect peace. Soon and very soon will come a day when we die. And we will be clothed in righteousness and perfect in paradise! Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love demonstrated to us through Jesus (Romans 8:38-39). Our souls are secure. And no matter what may happen to us, we can confidently say, “It is well with my soul!”

Five Minutes After You Die: How Then Should You Live?

by David Chadwick

If hell exists, and if Jesus’s teachings about hell are true, then unbelievers who live apart from Jesus will spend eternity there. If this is true, how then should these truths impact how we live as followers of Jesus today? This is the most important question that every single believer should ask.

The reality of hell should make evangelism to the lost the urgent and primary task of the church. Is it for you? How should you be ready to share the gospel? Does the thought of people spending an eternity away from the Father grip your heart?

Today, I want to exhort you to consider the importance of evangelism. What should your life look like toward a lost and hurting world? How then should you live in light of the Gospel message?

First, pray regularly for your lost friends and for this lost world. Ask God to bring people into your life who don’t know Jesus.

Secondly, learn how to share the gospel. Know the Ten Commandments as they show our sin and brokenness before a pure, perfect, and holy God. Share the gospel in light of this reality. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). The consequence for sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because of God’s love, Jesus absorbed all of our sin on the cross as perfect God and man and offered us eternal life (John 3:16). As a man, he lived a perfect and sinless life, and he took our place on the cross. As God, he forgave us, because only God can forgive our sins.

Third, be willing to JUST GO. Wherever God may send you, say “yes.” Be willing to live on mission to serve a dying world. Be ready to give your life away practically and spiritually. Be willing to forgive others just as Christ has forgiven you. Be excited to give your resources to places around the world that are reaching other people for Jesus, especially in what is called the 10/40 window. These are the specific places around the globe that are most resistant to the Christian faith.

If you do this, you will hear Christ’s, “Well done!” one day when you die. If you’re a follower of Jesus, the judgment seat is not a place to fear; it’s a place of victory where you will meet your Savior face-to-face and finally spend an eternity with him.

Five Minutes After You Die: Most Often Asked Questions

by David Chadwick

What happens five minutes after you die? What are some of the most often asked questions about heaven and hell? Today, let’s try to answer some of them.

What happens to miscarried babies? Babies who die? Children who die before they reach the age where they could make a decision to follow Jesus? Jesus clearly said, “Let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:14). He loves the little children. When they die, I believe they are rushed straight into the presence of Jesus.

What about the topic of annihilationism? Some do not believe in eternal torment, but rather they believe that a soul that is eternally separated from God will eventually cease to exist and permanently perish. Some people find this belief comforting, as they believe eternal punishment is too gruesome for a loving God. The problem here is that Jesus taught that hell was “eternal,” just like heaven is. If Jesus is God, and he says one thing, then I believe we can go no farther than he goes with our conclusions.

What about universalism? This is the belief that all people are one day saved. People in this category believe that God is love and that he would never be able to let anyone be separated from him. This conclusion would mean that Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, and every wicked leader will all be in heaven. All because God is love? That doesn’t make sense. True love must exist in the presence of truth. Universalists believe hell is an eternal purgatory that will eventually burn off everyone’s sin. The problem? Again, this is not what Jesus himself taught. Jesus taught a literal, eternal hell. Is Jesus God? If so, we can go no farther than he goes.

Will we have conscious memories of loved ones who are in hell? The Bible says that in heaven, believers will not cry. No more sadness, no more shed tears. Scholars and others have speculated that perhaps our memories of those we love who are not there will be in our minds. That could be, but we have no biblical evidence for that. It could also be that we all love Jesus so much and are so fully aware of his perfect and pure judgments that we embrace all of his decisions without question.

As believers, we must live knowing that hell exists eternally. Join us tomorrow to learn more specifically what this reality means.