When We Die
I don’t know how many times I’ve been a pallbearer at a funeral. Several. You lift on the handle that holds the body of someone you knew, you loved, but who has died. As you walk it out of the church, as you walk it to the burial site in the graveyard, you might ask yourself, “Is this it? Is this truly the end?” On reflection, if a Christian, we might ask, “Do we immediately go to heaven? Is the soul separated? Is there some intermediate place we go?” If not a Christian, “Is there a hell? Will I go there? Did this person as a non-believer go there?” My goal in this Cross Point is to offer some thoughts based on my study. What happens when we die?
Once a person dies and is buried, their body returns to dust over time. Nowadays the process can be quickened if cremated. You might hear the preacher at the graveside say, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “The dust returns to the earth as it was, the spirit returns to God who gave it.” OK, so the body wastes away, and the spirit (or soul) returns to God. What then? Hebrews 9:27 tells us, “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, after that comes judgment.” This article is not about becoming a Christian, but I’d be remiss not to say: the Bible teaches that there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Jesus says we must be his disciple, in faith obeying him as Lord (Matt. 28:18-20; etc.). That is the dividing point between those God allows to spend eternity in his presence, and those who will not. Only those who follow Jesus in faith will be in heaven. But when does the Christian actually go to heaven?
I’m of the opinion that heaven will not be populated until after the return of Christ and the end of this sin-filled age on planet earth. In Revelation 21:1-3 the apostle John says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.’” Jesus had said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and will take you to myself” (Jn. 14). Jesus will return to take us to this place? Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says, “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable…For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, this mortal body must put on immortality…The sting of death is sin…but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (I Cor.15:50-58).
I believe heaven will be a restored earth, put in place after the end of time as we know it, when Jesus comes again to finish this battle with Satan and sin and bring about final judgment. He has prepared it, a restored Eden-like place, but it awaits the culmination of the time he is allowing for repentance, for as many people as possible to come to faith in Christ. When he returns, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be caught up in the air (I Thess. 4:14-18) with those living, all who were disciples of Christ, to spend eternity with him on this restored earth. We will have a new body, a perfect one, that is resurrected from the dead, to be reunited with our soul. But, meanwhile, once we die, what happens to the soul that won’t be reunited with the body until resurrection day?
The apostle Paul said to the Corinthians that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6-10). When one of the thieves on the cross next to Jesus repented, Jesus told him that, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). I believe when we die our soul goes to be with Jesus in this place called “paradise.” It is a holding place for the faithful, awaiting the trumpet call when judgment will take place and the new heaven and earth will be introduced. Jesus once told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus died and was comforted by Abraham (I believe in paradise) and the rich man was tormented in Hades (the holding place for the lost).
“Jesus was given authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the grave will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good (in faith) to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil (lacking faith) to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:27-29).
Cross Point: Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live." Jesus was resurrected, baptism symbolizes our resurrection, and one day our new bodies will come forth.
Once a person dies and is buried, their body returns to dust over time. Nowadays the process can be quickened if cremated. You might hear the preacher at the graveside say, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “The dust returns to the earth as it was, the spirit returns to God who gave it.” OK, so the body wastes away, and the spirit (or soul) returns to God. What then? Hebrews 9:27 tells us, “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, after that comes judgment.” This article is not about becoming a Christian, but I’d be remiss not to say: the Bible teaches that there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Jesus says we must be his disciple, in faith obeying him as Lord (Matt. 28:18-20; etc.). That is the dividing point between those God allows to spend eternity in his presence, and those who will not. Only those who follow Jesus in faith will be in heaven. But when does the Christian actually go to heaven?
I’m of the opinion that heaven will not be populated until after the return of Christ and the end of this sin-filled age on planet earth. In Revelation 21:1-3 the apostle John says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.’” Jesus had said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and will take you to myself” (Jn. 14). Jesus will return to take us to this place? Paul in his letter to the Corinthians says, “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable…For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, this mortal body must put on immortality…The sting of death is sin…but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (I Cor.15:50-58).
I believe heaven will be a restored earth, put in place after the end of time as we know it, when Jesus comes again to finish this battle with Satan and sin and bring about final judgment. He has prepared it, a restored Eden-like place, but it awaits the culmination of the time he is allowing for repentance, for as many people as possible to come to faith in Christ. When he returns, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be caught up in the air (I Thess. 4:14-18) with those living, all who were disciples of Christ, to spend eternity with him on this restored earth. We will have a new body, a perfect one, that is resurrected from the dead, to be reunited with our soul. But, meanwhile, once we die, what happens to the soul that won’t be reunited with the body until resurrection day?
The apostle Paul said to the Corinthians that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6-10). When one of the thieves on the cross next to Jesus repented, Jesus told him that, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). I believe when we die our soul goes to be with Jesus in this place called “paradise.” It is a holding place for the faithful, awaiting the trumpet call when judgment will take place and the new heaven and earth will be introduced. Jesus once told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus died and was comforted by Abraham (I believe in paradise) and the rich man was tormented in Hades (the holding place for the lost).
“Jesus was given authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the grave will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good (in faith) to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil (lacking faith) to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:27-29).
Cross Point: Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live." Jesus was resurrected, baptism symbolizes our resurrection, and one day our new bodies will come forth.
Posted in Cross Points