All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. (Ecc. 9: 2, 3).
There is no such thing as a dead person. There are only dead bodies. The dead bodies once housed the people that are still alive in either Heaven or Hell.
The body is mortal, and when it dies, returns to dust. But the soul is immortal and will live eternally somewhere.
Death is universal. King David said on his death-bed, “I go the way of all the earth” (1 Kings 2: 2).
Death is not annihilation but an event in which we transition from this temporal earthly life to the eternal afterlife.
Death is another condition of existence. Just as we are conscious of ourselves and aware of our surroundings in this life, we will be conscious of ourselves and aware of our surroundings in the afterlife.
The rich man in Hell could, by exercising his memory, recall his past life. He could think in the present and converse with Abraham. He could imagine what it would be like if his brothers came to Hell. We see in the rich man a moral agent with his personality, with power of will and emotion, and the immortality of the soul showing that all the powers of our being reside in the soul and not in the brain. And death does not change our identity. We bear our same likeness and identity in the afterlife.
Death is the result of sin. Death is separation; spiritual separation from God, and physical separation from loved ones. Because of Adam’s fall, every man is born in sin and by default on his way to Hell. Only through faith in Jesus Christ can we be restored to God, and our default changed for Heaven.
All the living know they’re going to die (Ecc. 9: 5) but all do not agree what death is like. If we have a biblical view of death, we will properly prepare for the event of death. Death was defeated by Christ through His death and resurrection and will be destroyed by Him at the end of His millennial reign (1 Cor. 15: 26).
Our funeral is an event that others attend, but we are not present. Our body is in the casket, but our spiritual man has transitioned into the afterlife, and we are then in another condition of existence; in eternal glory or in eternal pain.
Some Christians will escape death in the event of the Rapture. The lost souls that do not receive salvation will experience the Second Death, which is eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20: 14).
“For thus God hated the world, that he killed his only begotten Son, that the one who does not believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life in hell. Indeed God sent his Son into the world, having already condemned it, only that he might then save his elect from its condemnation. ”—John 3:16-17
“Whoever says to me, ‘Lord and Savior,’ will surely enter the kingdom of heaven, for such is the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord and Savior, did we not preach your gospel, and in your name burn heretics and publish many books?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I commend your works, but that which mattered was only that you called upon my name and were saved!'”—Matthew 7:21-23
“For the wages of sin is eternal life in hell, but the gift of God is eternal happiness.”—Romans 6:23
“The day you eat of the tree, you will surely be damned.”—Genesis 2:17