Our Bible study group got into the discussion of what will Heaven be like and we have ended up discussing for several classes what happens to us after death. Some say we are sent to a waiting place divided by a great gulf in which the Christian is in paradise and the sinner in Hades the question arose as to if we are already separated are we already judged and some say we are asleep after death and will sleep until the coming of Christ. I would really like to hear your thoughts on this subject. Sharon Smith
Christians generally concur that the dead this side of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ are in a realm in the Bible called Hades (Matthew 16:18; Luke 16:23, “hell” from the Greek haides). An article by brother Hugo McCord aptly addresses this (https://www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2003/jan/page12.htm). Though the righteous dead and the unrighteous dead are separated from each other in “Paradise” (Luke 23:43) or “Abraham’s Bosom” (Luke 16:22-23) and “Tartaros” (2 Peter 2:4, “hell” from the Greek tartaros) respectively in Hades, the official Final Judgment has not occurred and will not take place until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. There will be a General Resurrection (John 5:28-29) at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:31-46), though some passages are only interested in their respective contexts of addressing the resurrection of the righteous dead (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:52-57), at which time Final Judgment will occur (2 Corinthians 5:10). The best illustration I have heard distinguishing the separate compartments for the righteous dead and the unrighteous dead in Hades preceding Final Judgment is the difference between being convicted of a crime and the subsequent sentencing. One’s eternal disposition is sealed at death, but the assignment to one’s eternal disposition does not occur until Final Judgment. Consequently, “Paradise” is a foretaste of heaven, and “Tartaros” is a foretaste of hell, but neither is “Paradise” heaven nor is “Tartaros” hell.
The dead are conscious and not literally sleeping, as is evident from the account of the rich man and the beggar of Luke 16:19-31. “Sleep” is used figuratively and as an accommodation sometimes in Scripture to represent death (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:14).
These events follow consecutively: life, death, hadean “Paradise” or “Tartaros,” Second Coming of Jesus Christ and Judgment, followed by eternal reward or eternal punishment. Souls are aware in each of these circumstances.
