What Happens When We Die?

The Lord has been prodding me lately to write about ghosts, aliens and other unexplained or paranormal phenomena.  BUT, I realized that to write about ghosts in particular, I must first start by discussing what happens when you die.

So what do most people believe happens when you die?  From talking to my friends, family, etc. over the years, my experience has been that people tend to fall into three main categories; 1) those that have fear of dying because they have no idea what will happen to them, or just not sure what will happen, 2) those that believe they will be judged immediately and go to Heaven or hell, and 3) those that believe their souls will stay in their bodies while they rot in the ground until Jesus comes again.  This third belief is so popular that it is taught in many churches today and can be found on numerous Christian websites concerning death.  And not to offend anyone, but it is still wrong.

None of these beliefs have any basis in fact and frankly, are quite ludicrous.  Regarding those who believe they will be judged immediately, well…. We all know we have to wait until Judgment Day for that, so that’s not even worth expounding on.  Regarding those who believe their souls will stay in the ground with their bodies, well, that is the worst belief, in my opinion, because it doesn’t even make any logical sense!  What about those who were cremated and their ashes scattered?  What about those who died hundreds of years ago and their bodies, caskets and all have completely decomposed and gone?  What if someone dug up your corpse while excavating land and then destroyed the body rather than re-bury it elsewhere?  (I could come up with hypotheticals galore, but you get my point.)  And even if you want to be buried, what if your loved ones go against your wishes and cremate you?  Oh no!  You can’t get a glorified body if God can’t find your withered old corpse in the ground?!  If that’s not LUDICROUS THINKING, I don’t know what is.

There are many Bible passages that tell us very clearly what happens when we die.  NONE of these say your SOUL goes into the ground or stays with your dead body.  Rather, as the first quote tells us, when we die we go to be with the Lord (our souls).

“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”  (2 Corinthians 5:8 KJV)

Paul, specifically says in this next quote, that when we depart from this life, we are with Christ:

“For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.”  (Philippians 1:23 KJV)

This is what is said regarding death when Jesus returns:

“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)

 

The meaning of the passages is pretty clear;  Those who are still alive will be brought up to Heaven along with the dead, who will have received their glorified bodies, and all of us together will rise up to Heaven.  Don’t get lost on the phrase “sleep in death” or “fallen asleep”.  Just because our bodies are ‘sleeping’ does not mean our SOULS are sleeping.  There is always a possibility that the ‘sleep’ does refer to our souls, so it’s possible there is a sleep WITH THE LORD.  Since I have already shown instances that prove when you die, you are with Christ, I believe that the “sleep” referred to here is concerning our dead bodies and not our actual souls.

The point is that you don’t need to know all the exact particulars.  You just need to have FAITH in what you already know; when we depart from this life, we will be with Christ.  PERIOD

To be fair, the Bible is not very clear about what happens to those who don’t have a body in the ground.  But I fail to believe that God would just say, “Oh sorry you can’t come to Heaven because someone cremated you, or I can’t find your old dead body anymore.”  No, you will get a glorified body regardless of whether you have a withered old corpse still in the ground or not.  To believe anything else would be sheer stupidity, and the most High God is anything but stupid.

So the end result of all of these passages is the same:  When we die our SOULS go to be with the Lord.  Knowing that should give ALL CHRISTIANS PEACE over death… their own death and those of their loved ones.

I sometimes anger my husband because I know that this life we are living is temporary and I’m ready to die at any time (he’s not ready for me to go, hence why he gets angry).  It’s true.  I don’t fear death and would certainly LOVE to be with the Lord!  One day, we will have glorified bodies and live for eternity in the New Kingdom that will be established here on earth.  What happens in this lifetime will be nothing… a mere drop in the bucket… compared to eternity.  I don’t worry that I haven’t had children and won’t pass on any legacy;  I don’t worry that I haven’t done something great to be remembered by;  I don’t care about any of those things that everyone seems to worry about because NONE of that matters.

I work for the Lord.  This life, I live for Him.  I do what He tells me to do.  I try to speak the Word to all who will listen.  I strive for more knowledge in the Word.  And when my time comes for me to leave this earth, I will be happy and rejoice in the Lord.  For the moment, for this temporary lifetime here on earth, THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.