What Happens To Our Dead Loved Ones?

"One suffers when a loved one dies because death is a loss to a void beyond all understanding." That is what one son said when hs father shortly and thereafter his mother died. His pain and sense of deep loss made him feel that he was "drowning emotionally." Perhaps you have suffered in a similar way. You may have wondered where your loved ones are and whether you will ever see them again.

Some grieving parents have been told, "God picks the most beautiful flowers to take to himself in heaven." Is that really so? Have our dead loved ones gone to a spirit realm? Is it what some call Nirvana, described as a blissful state of being free of all pain and desire? Have those we love passed through a doorway to immortal life in paradise? Or as others claim, is death a fall into neverending torment for those who have offended God? Can the dead affect our lives? To get truthful answers to such questions, we need to consult God's Word, the Bible.

What Is The "Spirit" In Humans?

The ancient Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato held that there must be something inherently immortal inside man and woman - a soul tht survives death and never really dies. Earth wide, millions believe this today. This belief often engenders as much fear of the dead as it does concern for their welfare. The Bible teaches us something quite different about the dead.
In considering the condition of the dead, we must remember that our original father, Adam, did not have a soul. He was a soul. In an awe - inspiring act of creation, God formed man - the soul- from the basic elements of the earth and then breathed into him "the breath of life." Genesis 2:7 tells us: "Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul." Adam's life was sustained by breathing. Yet, more than the blowing of air into the man's lungs was involved when God put the breath of life into Adam. The Bible speaks of "the force of life" that is active in earthly living creatures. - Genesis 7:22.

What is "the force of life?" It is a vital spark of life that God put into the lifeless body of Adam. This force was then sustained by the breathing process. But what is the "spirit" referred to at Psalm 146:4? That verse says of one who dies: "His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish." When the Bible writers used the word "spirit" in this way, they did not have in mind a disembodied soul that continues living after the body dies.
The "spirit" that departs from humans at death is the life force that originated with our Creator. (Psalm 36:9; Acts 17:28) This life force does not have any of the characteristics of the creature it animates, just as electricity does not take on the features of the equipment it powers. When someone dies, the spirit (life force) ceases to animate the body cells, much as a light goes out when the electricity is turned off. When the life force stops sustaining the human body, man - the soul - dies - Psalm 104:29; Ecclesiastes 12:1,7.

Next time: "To Dust You Will Return"