Similarities
In a number of ways, death is identical for both the good and the bad.
First, death is the inevitable fate for all (except that final generation which witnesses the return of Christ – cf. 1 Cor. 15:51). Scripture declares that as a consequence of Adam’s transgression, death comes to all (Rom. 5:12). Indeed: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
Second, the uncertainty as to the time of death is common to all classes of humanity. Death can take us at any stage of life – infancy, adolescence, in the prime of life, or in the advanced years. Death may come with a leap, or with a crawl. It comes, though, and comes to all!
Third, for both the prepared and the unprepared, death is the same physical phenomenon. Physical death is that inanimate state of the body that results when the spirit (that part of man that is in the image of God – Gen. 1:26) has departed from its earthly tabernacle. James gives a clear definition of death when he says, “the body apart from the spirit is dead” (2:26).
Paul speaks of death as a departure when he writes of having the “desire to depart and be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). Again, the apostle recognizes the possibility of human existence “apart from the body” (2 Cor. 12:2,3), which would necessitate the body’s death. And so, physically speaking, the righteous and the wicked die in precisely the same fashion.
Fourth, the Bible teaches that both the godly and the ungodly are conscious after death. In fact, the Scriptures do not suggest that death causes any change in the composition or nature of the human spirit. In the narrative concerning Lazarus and the rich man, both, after death, were quite aware of their condition and environment. The one was comforted and the other was in anguish (cf. Luke 16:25).