some explain me what happens at death please?
what happens to our consciousness/memories/characteristics/personality/ ect? does it cease to exist after death or does your spirit take them with it when it returns back to god?
From what i gather , our bodies rest in the grave until christ comes back for the resurrection where are bodies are transform into spirit bodies and then we have the white throne judgment.
but i try to understand what happen to our spirit our intellect our consciousness our memories of earth life & relationships ect when we die and our bodies rest in the grave?
Do our spirit be conscious in some other spirit realm, or do we just become dormant in spirit sleep awaiting christs return for our resurrection?
this question be on my mind constantly ever since i lose my best freind a few months ago to cancer at young age in mid 20's... I miss him soo much..

Hey Enoch9000 and Joe Richardson! In addition to what Joe said,check out 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 for it talks about when our Earthly tent is destroyed, we will enter a heavenly house for eternally.

Peace and blessings

Good explanation, Joe.
Here is verses that explains where our souls go:

2 Cor. 5:6-8
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

So when our soul is away from our body, it is present with the Lord. You do not have to wait in the grave for the resurrection; you are with Christ and will receive your glorified body at the rapture.

I very much believe you will keep your personality traits because that is how God made you. He made you the way you are and would never undo that work. Yes, He will perfect us so that we are no longer sinful, but I am sure you will still have the same personality and even keep some memories from earth. There are examples in the Bible to support this. In the story of Lazarus that went to heaven and the rich man went to hell, they both recognized each other and spoke of their lives on earth. I think we will keep the memories Christ wants us to keep and the hurtful ones will have no place. He wipes away every tear from your eye.

I am sorry to hear about the death of your friend. Be assured that if he believed in Christ, He is in heaven now. He is healthy and happy and is still the same person you remember. When you join him in heaven, you will recognize each other and have the same bond, even stronger in perfection. Hope that helps. God bless.

Joe, there are a lot of different ideas on that. Some say hades is a holding place of torment until the Great White Throne judgment and then hell is opened for all unbelievers. Some think unbelievers are in hell now, yet judgment has not officially taken place. Some think that believers before Jesus' death were held in a place called Abrham's bosom, until Jesus Himself ascended and opened up heaven.

Hard to say. We'll know for sure one day!

Joe & W&W, and Handmaiden thanks for your clarification ~~ yep, you're right on!

Please don't be afraid. I sense fear in your post! Hopefully I can encourage you.
I have died on record twice.
Both times were in front of witnesses; one at the hospital and one at work. I was not pronounced physically dead but, none-the-less, I was in Heaven.
I didn't experience some tunnel with light or people that have gone before me, etc. like some cases. I did experience a tunnel coming back from the second death experience then excrutiating pain, since I had fallen.
I was always told that when we die we go to the grave and sleep for a thousand years, or something, it absolutely horrified me and made me afraid as a believer.
When this happened, I realized that I had been in the throne room of God and not some box. This was a tactic set-up by the enemy to make us afraid, as well as making us believe we float on clouds, play harps and do nothing for eternity.
Anyway, upon death, there is no pain, we are in an amazingly young and replenished body. Some of us wear robes with intricate gold embroidery, some wear other robes in other styles. Even rocks have life. Very beautiful! There is radiance, loveliness, colors you can't even name, they don't exist in our earthly view. Everything there has life and abundant life...It is Paradise Everyone!!!!!! Just as Jesus Stated!!
Coming back after both experiences, changed me. I have no fear of death. What is difficult is the lack of life and despair her! Oh if people only knew what is in store for all of us who believe and seak Christ's Own Heart. What Joy!!!
It gives me comfort just recalling it....My last experience was Good Friday 2008...
I pray that God grants you blessings, comfort and peace that surpasses all understanding!!!!!

i watch this http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6240598F449465BC
and it make me confuse still?
if upon death we either go to heaven/paradise or hell/purgatory dont we have to 1st be judged then to decide which place we go?
I still try to make sense of all this, but it is being conflicting from other peoples views/beliefs/interpretations ect..

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:18

Enoch9000,

I don't have any special revelations about the afterlife; all I know is what I find in the Bible.

There is a final judgment, known as the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation. It follows the raising of the unrighteous dead. I take it that the bodies the lost are given are suited to their eternal destiny even as those of the saved are suited to theirs.

As the verse in John says, if someone dies without Christ they are already condemned. This is the default destination of those who are not children of God. Therefore, I don't see any place for a preliminary judgment. Perhaps the reason for this is that God wishes to reward or punish everyone before all creation, and not privately as individuals?

He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God stays on him. John 3:36

Note the present tense "has" in the verse. It is a present reality, continuing into the future. Simply put, the video you referred to is in error. The soul does not sleep.

Job 14:10-12 describes death from a human viewpoint. Yes, the body ceases to function and may be described as "sleeping." Jesus himself used this comparison, as there will be a resurrection. This is not describing the state of the soul.

Job is a difficult book; you must weigh whether the words spoken represent God's position or reflect the human search for wisdom. It is only in the end that God sets everyone straight.

Consider this passage:

There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. Deuteronomy 32:50

Note the phrase spoken by God, "gathered to your people." This cannot refer to the body, as shown by the next verse:

He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Deuternomy 34:6

Obviously, Moses was not buried with the bodies of "his people." His soul was gathered to his people, however.

Then there is this:

22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” 2 Samuel 12:22-23

This anticipates a reunion between David and his deceased son. David expects to see his child upon death, not simply to be laid to rest until the future resurrection.

So what happened to the Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead?
If he was in heaven why did he bring him back to this crap-hole sinful world to die all over again?
Why is there no scripture or talk about what Lazarus saw or did when he was dead and then brought back to life? where did he go? what did he see, what did he do, what became of him?

I also imagine that in a very true and real way believers will never die, as Christ said;even though these Jars of clay do;we(Spirit and soul)merely 'eject'if you will.
Spiritual death is solely for the unbeliever;we have eternal life.
That being said,I would still much prefer a Rapture,Dear Dad!
Maranatha!

The Nazareth Inscription Stone
Edict of Caesar shows Gospel preached early

http://www.biblestudy.org/biblepic/nazareth-inscription-stone-showing-resurrection-preached-41ad.html

I would not hold this inscription up as proof positive to make a point, although I think it is interesting that it was found in Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, and dates to A.D. 41.

Looks as if they were having some problems with people not staying in their graves they way they're supposed to. Who knows why?