When you die, is that the end? Who knows? Who can tell what is on the other side? Jesus tells the story of a man who died and went to a “place of torment”. He was not happy there and concluded that his brothers, left behind on earth, would not be happy there either.

In a moment of apparent compassion he made a special request that a messenger be sent to warn them so they would avoid coming to the unhappy situation in which he now found himself. The story goes on to say that he was told that his brothers had the written Word of God, and if they would not believe that, they would not believe supposing someone went to them from the other side of death. What an answer he got! For us it is a good pointer as to where we can learn something about the ‘other side’. God has spoken!

You are a person with a body and a spirit. You are more a spirit with a body than a body with a spirit. Death comes and whatever happens to your body, your spirit goes marching on – but the question is: where? That is the idea behind the expression ‘the remains’, sometimes used to refer to a person’s body after death. The body remains behind, and will be disposed of one way or another, but your spirit will be in the ‘next world’, either in a place called heaven or in a place called hell.

One of the inspired writers in the Bible was called Paul. He was taught by God so he understood a lot about these issues. One of the things he wrote about himself was that when death came he would “be with Christ, which is far better”. He was referring to heaven. To have that experience ahead of you should fill you with hope and help you through life’s hard times. In fact, with that in mind, you should see all the ‘up’s-and-downs’ in this life as part-preparation for going to be with Jesus in heaven. This will help ease a lot of the pain. However, the only way to have that expectation is that you are trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. That means a new relationship with him, and it will show its reality in your life. “He who has the Son of God has life”.

What about the other place, called hell? God’s Word shows us things about the place. One part of the Bible where we get an insight to such an ‘unseen place’ is Isaiah, chapter 14, from verse 9 onward. This is almost like an obituary of a king, written while the king is still alive! In it God shows us how things will be there, using the illustration of a powerful king. The king is seen as very wealthy, living in luxury, and surrounded by pomp in this life. But, things change. We are given a look into ‘Sheol’, the place of the dead. What happens in this scene?

Four things are noted about some of the activities in the unseen world into which the king was to enter. The first of these shows us that ‘there is existence beyond death’, because he is depicted as coming into the company of others who exist there.

Those who rise to meet him are but ‘shadows’ of their past – like the expression used of a person who has lost some of the previous splendour. Death is just a change of location and circumstance, not termination of existence.

The second thing to learn about hell is that there is still personal identity and reality of recognition. Those there know who is coming in to join them! That of course will not ease the pain of the place. If it would, the man in torment would not have wanted his brothers to avoid coming.

Then, we learn that there is the loss of the power that the person had on this side of death. They say, with apparent sense of amazement, “You too have become as weak as we”.

Then, lastly, all the previous trappings of pomp and ceremony are gone. What is depicted is rather an ignominious bed of maggots so unlike the bed of splendour to which the king had been accustomed. These words from the metrical psalm describe well the changed circumstances:

For he shall carry nothing hence
When death his days do end,
Nor shall his glory after him
Into the grave descend.

Thankfully, at the end of the chapter, God speaks words of comfort and hope to those who trust in him. Depicting a city, well-built on a solid foundation, He has provided a refuge for those who are afflicted, who need help and shelter. That is what the good news of Jesus is. He is the refuge, He gives the comfort by His word and the Holy Spirit. He is the hope that will stand whatever happens on this side of the great divide between this existence and that beyond what we commonly call death. One of the old writers said, ‘Those who have welcomed Christ, can welcome death’.