"I will," I promised. "In fact, why don't I pray for you before I leave?" She readily agreed to this.
Sharon and I had worked together a lot to do Christmas and Easter programs with the children. She had also done the music for the children's ministry I conducted, such as Vacation Bible School and AWANA. We'd had many adventures and become great friends! She had prayed for me when I went on mission trips in college. She and I had done a lot of ministry together, touched eternity. We had often had long, in-depth conversations about the Lord. It had surprised me when she had gone into the hospital so suddenly.
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| Vacation Bible School, 2009, one of many ministry ventures Sharon and I did together. |
I prayed with Sharon that day, then went on my way.
Later that week, the Lord called her home. It was very unexpected and surprising. Everything about this illness had been unexpected and surprising, but no one had imagined it would end like this.
Everyone who lives very long ends up losing someone to death. As Christians, we know we have the greatest hope about it. First Thessalonians 4:13-18 give us an encouraging promise: But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
This passage gives encouragement that death isn't the end. As Christians, we'll be reunited in the presence of Jesus, whether we die, or live through the Rapture (more about that in my next post!). However, while this passage gives us the ultimate hope and encouragement, it doesn't answer the question about what happens immediately when a Christian dies. Death is a scary, morbid topic, mainly because nobody living has ever died (or they wouldn't be living!), so it's the unknown. Many Christians I know have shared with me that they don't fear where they're going when they die, because they know Christ, but they do fear the process of dying. I can understand that. It's unnatural to us. Death was never part of God's original plan.
Back to the question, what happens immediately at death? There are those who believe that when a person dies, their soul sleeps in the grave until the judgment, at which point believers go to everlasting life, and unbelievers are judged. Those who believe this take the passage I shared from First Thessalonians and point out that "the dead in Christ rise first" means that they're still asleep until the trumpet call awakens them. This belief is called mortalism. One time, I was teaching in a kids' Bible study. The students came from various churches. One of the boys in the study, who attended a church that believes in mortalism shared that his grandpa had recently died. My co-teacher in the study happened to know this boy's grandfather was a Christian. While acknowledging this boy's loss, she pointed out that he could be glad the grandpa was in heaven, and he'd see him there. The boy was comforted with this assurance. However, his mother overheard, and got very upset. In front of us, she told her son, "Don't let them confuse you! Grandpa's in the grave. He'll rise again at the end." Was she right, or were we? Where is my friend Sharon right now (and countless other Christians who have died through the centuries)? What does the Bible say about it?
Before I go on, I'm going to just tell you that I firmly believe that Christians who die go immediately to Heaven. I'm going to spend the rest of this post proving that.
Second Corinthians 5:8 is one of the most direct scriptures on this topic. It clearly says We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. There you have it. Being absent from our bodies puts us into the presence of the Lord, or in Heaven. But is there more info on it in the Bible? Yes!
Jesus Himself said in John 11:25, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live... We live even when we die. Doesn't sound like sleeping in the grave to me. Add to that the idea that the Bible teaches us in countless passages that believers have everlasting life. If it is everlasting, it has no ending, or break.
The thief on the cross put his faith in Jesus, quite literally, on his deathbed. Jesus told him, "Today you will be with Me in paradise." (Luke 23:43). This man wasn't going to sleep for thousands of years. He was going to live with the Lord as soon as he died.
In Philippians 1, the Apostle Paul writes about how he's in a bit of a quandary. He wants to be in Heaven with the Lord, but also wants to continue his earthly ministry. In verse 23, he says, I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. He goes on to talk about the benefits of being on earth to continue serving the Lord and the people. If dying would only be an unconscious state of rest until the Trumpet call, Paul wouldn't be in this quandary. He'd want to live, no question. He was fully convinced he would be with the Lord in Heaven upon his death. A few verses earlier, in verse 21, he had said, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. It it's a gain, it has to be better than the earthly life he was already living. Sleeping in the grave wouldn't fit that description.
In Mark chapter 12, Jesus has a confrontation with the Sadducees, who believed there was no life after death. They tried to trick Him with a question about marriage in the afterlife. In verse 25, Jesus addresses the marriage issue. Then in verses 26-27, He gets to the heart of what they're really asking. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong. What Jesus was saying here is that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who had been dead for centuries before Moses met God at the burning bush (and even longer before Jesus talked with these Sadducees) weren't dead, but living. They were fully alive after their earthly deaths.
There are two people in the Bible who went to Heaven without dying. These are Enoch and Elijah. In Genesis 5:24, we are told that Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Hebrews 11:5 reiterates this by saying: By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. He went to heaven without dying, showing that believers do experience an afterlife.
As for Elijah, he went to Heaven in a whirlwind (Second Kings 2:11). Same principle. He kept right on living, just as we will at death. Elijah makes an appearance in the New Testament, on the Mount of Transfiguration, along with Moses (who had died). Both of these Old Testament believers were fully alive and awake with Jesus--not sleeping in some grave (Moses was the only one who had died, but still). This account is found in Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36. Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, discussing His upcoming death and resurrection (we know they were specifically discussing this from Luke's account of the event). What I find interesting is that Peter spoke up (admittedly out of turn) indicating by his words that he recognized Moses and Elijah. He had never met them. They had been gone centuries before Peter's birth. Yet he knew them. I believe this passage teaches us that, not only is there is life after death for Christians, but also that we'll know each other in eternity, even believers we never met in life, and who didn't even live at the same time. By this account, the Apostle Paul and I will recognize each other. Dwight Moody and I will recognize each other. Some Christian no one ever heard of in 500 AD and I will recognize each other. A believer living right now in China and I will recognize each other, even though we'll never meet on earth. A Christian who will be born a century from now (if Christ should tarry) and I will recognize each other. This is truly exciting to think about. We have Christian friends throughout the centuries waiting for us! Christ brings all of us together, throughout time and space. Believers don't simply sleep. They continue to live with the Lord. One woman I know always refers to Christians dying as a change of address. That's what it really boils down to. The reason there is grief at death is because those of us left behind can't communicate with them. I can no longer talk with my friend Sharon...but I will!
Another biblical glimpse we get into believers going into eternity is found in Acts 7:54-60. Stephen, an early follower of the risen Christ, was falsely accused and put on trial by the Sanhedrin (the Jewish court system). He built a case in the preceding fifty-three verses. The Sanhedrin was enraged, rather than convicted, and stoned Stephen, making him the first Christian martyr. Verses 55 and 56 give us some insight into what happened to Stephen. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” In verse 59, he told Jesus to receive his spirit (which he wouldn't have said if he was going to be unconscious for a few millennia), and in verse 60 we are told he "fell asleep." He got a glimpse of Heaven before he actually went there. He wasn't afraid to die, because he saw so clearly where He was going.
Death is often referred to as "sleep" in the Bible. This does not mean an unconscious state. It is more of a rest. Freedom from the cares of life. If we are truly honest, we Christians really, truly, deep down, share the Apostle Paul's sentiments, "For me to life is Christ and to die is gain." Our heart longs for our true home. But we're here for a purpose, and God gives us the desire to thrive here. Nobody really wants to die. But when we do (it's when, not if) we have that hope of eternity! I will see my friend Sharon again. A very good friend of mine lost her son this past year, and she has that assurance she will see him. My Christian loved ones and I have the promise of being together forever.
A study of the Bible will reveal that the Old Testament saints had much less assurance or knowledge of eternity that we are blessed with today. Job clearly believed he would see the face of God. Job 19:25-27a tell us: I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes. David, the man after God's own heart, knew that He would see his baby who had died again one day (Second Samuel 12:23). This also indicates that small children who die before they are capable of understanding sin and salvation would go to Heaven. However, even strong believers of the Old Testament, fully trusting God to send the Messiah to pay the penalty for their sins, had a much more vague view of Heaven and eternity than we do. Hezekiah, a very godly king of Judah, wept bitterly when faced with death, clearly seeing it as a sort of end (Isaiah 38). These Old Testament believers didn't have all we do, because Jesus hadn't come yet to reveal it to them. I believe that is why they were commended in Hebrews 11. Their faith had to be even stronger than ours, since they were trusting in Someone who hadn't even come yet. Hebrews 11:13 tells us: All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. They were putting their faith in what had been revealed to them by God. This came with some assurance, but not as much as we have today.
This time between death and the final resurrection is a time of bliss with the Lord and fellow believers, but it isn't our ultimate joy. That will come after the resurrection. That will be when we receive our rewards and glorified bodies. That will be when God will create the new heaven and new earth. We have joy beyond comprehension awaiting us!
A lot of important things may be pressing on your today. In a thousand years, however, all that will matter was that you knew Jesus Christ and are with Him forever. Because it really will be forever. I'm going to close with a beautiful and moving poem I recently read (author unknown).
Take my hand
And Walk with Me
Down the Road of Eternity
We will follow where He leads
Down the Road of Eternity--
Down the Road of Eternity...
It's a narrow way
That we travel on.
For the path is steep,
And the journey's long.
But the prize that waits
Beyond this life
Is worth the pain,
Worth the sacrifice.
Take my hand
And Walk with Me
Down the Road of Eternity
We will follow where He leads
Down the Road of Eternity--
Down the Road of Eternity...
All the angels gathered
Around the throne
Around the throne
For the saints of God
To be welcomed home.
I want you to
be there with me
When I walk with Jesus
through Eternity.
Take my hand
And Walk with Me
Down the Road of Eternity
We will follow where He leads
Down the Road of Eternity--
Down the Road of Eternity...
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