In this third Sunday School session on death and dying, we step back to ask a more fundamental question: What is death, according to Scripture? Beginning with Jesus’ declaration that God is “not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32; Mark 12.27; Luke 20:38), this lesson traces the Bible’s developing understanding of death, resurrection, and eternal life—from Old Testament texts through the teachings of Jesus and the Apostle Paul.
We explore what Scripture says about the relationship between body and soul, what happens at death, and why the Christian hope is not a disembodied nirvana, but a resurrection that is more real, full, and complete than anything we have ever experienced or imagined. Drawing especially from 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 5, we recognize death as a real enemy, yet one whose power is decisively undone in Christ.
The discussion also considers how Christian beliefs about the resurrection shape the way believers live, grieve loss, and mark death through practices such as funerals and burial. Throughout, the emphasis remains focused on a distinctly Christian vision of hope: that those who die in Christ are alive to God, held in His presence, and are awaiting the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come.