The little boy was puzzled as to why his grandfather died. He knew his grandfather was a Christian and that Jesus had said whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die (John 11: 26).

It was explained to the little boy that Jesus was referring to the second death. All, including Christians, will die the first death because all, due to the nature of sin inside of us, are appointed to die once (Hebrews 9: 27). The only exceptions to that appointment are those Christians who are alive when Jesus returns.

It was further explained that his grandfather’s first death was a temporary death; that his grandfather would live again when Jesus returned. It would be a life for his grandfather that would never cause him to die again.

This was contrasted by telling the little boy about the fate of those who don’t believe in Jesus. They too will be raised from the first death, although it will be a thousand years after the first resurrection that involves only the believers in Jesus.

At that time, he was told, the unbelievers will come to realize that they should’ve believed in Jesus. They’ll finally admit that He is their Lord, but it will be too late. Their prior unbelief will be the cause of their being included in God’s cleansing of sin from the earth.

God will cleanse the earth with fire and the non-Christians will die in that fire. It was explained that it is in that fire that the second death will take place. It is a permanent death. It is eternal. It is the one in which the Christian, though, will never die (Revelation 2: 11).

The little boy then understood that Christians would live beyond the first death. And so he determined to keep believing in Jesus, for he wanted to see his grandfather again.