WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?
LIBERTY AND LOVE #109
A kind brother asked about what the New Testament teaches concerning the last day and the return of Christ versus all of the man-made doctrines that are taught from the Book of Revelation by the denominations. Here is what we know.
Paul said in Philippians 1 to “depart and be with Christ is far better” — talking about his death. To him, death meant to leave earth and be with Christ. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5:8, he said to be “absent from the body” is to be “present with the Lord.” So our spirits go to heaven to be with Jesus when we die. The body returns to the earth from which it was made (Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 12:7).
But there is going to be a resurrection of the body. Jesus said, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” (John 5:28-29 NIV)
So on the last day the bodies will be raised. And this will happen on a day that no one knows when it is going to be. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.” (2 Peter 3:10 NIV)
This is where 1 Thessalonians 4 comes in: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV)
So the Lord could come at any time, and when he does the bodies will be raised from the grave. But the spirits of the saved are already with Jesus now. So when Jesus returns, he will bring back those who have died and gone to be with the Lord, and raise their bodies from the grave (or the urn or the sea or wherever they are).
Then what happens? “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV)
Notice that Paul says in both 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 that some will be alive when he returns. “We shall not all sleep”— that is we shall not all die. “But we will all be changed”—we will all get new bodies. That’s what he’s talking about in 1 Corinthians 15. We will get glorified, resurrection bodies (Philippians 3:21).
So the bodies that are in the graves will be changed into resurrection bodies. The spirits—that is the people who are in heaven—will get those new bodies on that day. Now all of this is in plain language. So nothing in the Book of Revelation, which is a book of signs and symbols, can be used to contradict what Paul and Jesus said in plain language.
As far as the actual judgment, that could speak of this change and those who are lost not getting the change or there could be an actual judgment scene like is pictured in Matthew 25. We don’t know all the details. But what we do know is:
1) Jesus could return at any moment
2) When he comes he will bring with him those who have died and gone to heaven
3) All the saved who are alive when he returns and all who return with him will get new resurrection bodies
4) Then we will go and be with the Lord forever in heaven.
Dewayne Dunaway
