We all know that we are going to die, but far fewer know what happens when we die. There are many theories, beliefs, and even personal testimonies of people who claim to have seen what is on the other side of this afterlife. As a Christian, I put my personal faith and understanding in what God’s Word says, and not in human reasoning or enlightenment.  

The book of Genesis tells us that Eve was beguiled by the serpent’s (Satan’s) cunning lie (truth mixed with error), “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5, NASB).  

In disobedience to God’s Word, Eve’s eyes were not only open to the devil’s spoken half-truth of knowing good and evil, but also to God’s spoken truth, “for on the day that you eat from it (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:17); for “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). 

Is Eve or anyone of our beloved ones still alive beyond the grave? For my Christian friend Sam, he too was once beguiled by the serpent’s cunning and delusional lie that the human soul is immortal, until … (I invite you to read his sobering story in the following Signs of The Times magazine article—Sam’s Unwelcome Guest).