Your death could be the absolute worst thing ever to happen to you or the absolute best. So either you need to be terrified of dying or looking forward to it joyfully. People who have experienced death and survived unanimously affirm that physical death is merely the separation of the spirit that is the real you from the physical body in which it resides. One person said the spirit and the body are like the hand and glove. As the hand fits perfectly in its glove, so the spirit fits perfectly in its body. If your spirit has left your body, it can come back only to your body and no other. People’s spirits in heaven look like the bodies they had in physical life. Our spirit and our body are unique to us. And as the glove is lifeless without the hand in it, so the body is lifeless without the spirit in it. So since this seems simple and straightforward, what is the big deal about the spirit and the body being separated?
In my book Heaven Is Amazing! and its successor Heaven Is Beyond Imagination, 100% of the eyewitnesses affirm that when they died their being was flooded with the reality of God the Creator. And they affirm they were either accepted by Him or rejected. If accepted they were taken to a place that is more beautiful, joyful, peaceful, loving, wholesome, and thrilling than you can ever imagine. You absolutely want your spirit that is the real you to end up there when you die.
But if He does not accept you, you are not taken to that beautiful loving place. The eyewitnesses to this event all tell of being taken by demons to a place of terrible torture, aloneness, and deprivation. They report screams of terror and pain that never end. You absolutely do not want your spirit, the real you, to end up in that place. Perhaps there is the option of some NDE situations, which I have not researched since my goal was a deep understanding of heaven, of your spirit hanging around on Earth without the possibility of enjoying any of the pleasures of this world. If this is also a possibility, it is not a satisfying option either and should be avoided.
The testimony of both eyewitnesses and Scripture is that God created us in His image for the purpose of a wonderful loving relationship with Him. To this end He created heaven as a place of perfection filled with His love and glory for all of us to enjoy. The eyewitnesses of heaven affirm that this is indeed what heaven is like. But the catch is that since it is perfect we have to be perfect or we would contaminate the place. In order for us to reciprocate His love He had to give us freewill, the opportunity to choose to love or reject Him. Unfortunately we have all rejected Him in one way or another, perhaps just by choosing to ignore His commands to do things our own way. He still could not stand to keep us out of heaven, so He arranged to pay the penalty we deserved for us. In the form of Jesus He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father yet willingly let himself be killed by sinful man to take on the death all our sins deserved. If we will repent of our sin and accept Jesus’ gift to us, all our sins are blotted out of the record in heaven and there is no record there that we have sinned and our names are written in the Book of Life. Some eyewitnesses to heaven have actually seen angels do this.
So if you have done this and your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, death means you get to go to that wonderful, marvelous, beautiful, loving place. Everyone who has been there didn’t want to leave and is eager to get back. If this is your case, you can look forward to death joyfully. Todd Burpo scolded young Colton about dashing out into the street. He told Colton he could get killed by a car like that poor bunny whose fur was there. Colton’s response was, “Oh boy. I would get to go back to heaven!” You can look forward to it also.
But if you have not repented and accepted Jesus, God cannot take you to the place He has prepared for you and is eager to share with you. In this case, the demons come and take you to the place God made for Satan and all the angels who rebelled against God’s authority. God didn’t create it for you; He created heaven for you. The demons, however, hate God and hate those created in His image. So they are happy to take you to their place and take pleasure in torturing you. In this case, you need to be absolutely terrified of dying. Several eyewitnesses to hell have reported spirits there pleading with Jesus to take them out. They said they will repent now and follow Him. But all Jesus could say was, “It is too late. It is too late.” We only get the opportunity to repent and serve Him while we are in our physical bodies. Once we leave them the game is over. “The fat lady has sung!”