What happens when we die?

Pastor Andreas Albers, Our Saviour, Wartburg

Does a believer in Christ go straight to heaven when they die, or is there a time of waiting and resting until the Last Day? This is a question that many Christians ask. But what is the right answer? What do the scriptures say?

On the one hand, some texts seem to indicate an immediate going to heaven when we die. For example, Jesus says to the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43): “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Paul also says to the Philippians (1:23) “My desire is to depart and be with Christ.” Jesus also tells a story about the poor man Lazarus who, when he died, seems to have immediately gone to heaven (to Abraham’s bosom).

On the other hand, there are other texts that speak of a time of waiting, resting or sleeping, that precedes our going to heaven. Paul writes to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:20-22): “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Paul, here, speaks of a future time of being made alive after a time of sleeping.

So which is it? Do we go straight to heaven when we die, or is there first a time of waiting or soul sleep?

The key to a right understanding on this matter is to clearly define our terms. We often use the word “heaven” in a broad way, to describe the place where believers will live forever with God after their deaths. However, “heaven” in the strict sense does not describe our eternal home. Our eternal home is the “new creation”, or the “new heavens and the new earth” (or the New Jerusalem). Heaven, strictly speaking, is only the temporary place of existence of the souls of all believers from the time of their deaths to the Last Day, the day of Resurrection.

When God created Adam and Eve, he created them as body and soul combined together. This is also the case for us. From the very moment of conception, we are soul and body. At the moment of death, however, there will be an unnatural separation of the soul and the body. This rending is unnatural, because it is not how God initially intended it. God intended us to live with him – in body and soul – forever. However, because of sin, we all have to die.

When we die, our bodies go to the ground, while our soul goes to be with the Lord in heaven. To be in heaven is to be in the presence of Jesus and of all who have died in the Lord that are waiting for the day of resurrection.

In Genesis 25:8 we read: “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.” Who are “his people”? These are the believers who died before him, amongst whom are Abel, Enoch and Noah (see Hebrews 11).

When we die, we are gathered to our people, namely the people of God. When Jesus tells us about the deaths of Lazarus and the rich man, He says (Luke 16:22): “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.”

And this state of separation of body and soul continues until the resurrection, when Jesus will return back to judge the living and the dead.

So, when we die, we do go to heaven immediately – to the throne of God. But this bodyless existence is only for a while. We don’t know much about this state. We don’t know how conscious we will be. But we will see the Lord face to face. We will be with him in bliss and peace. At the same time, this will also be a time of waiting. The book of Revelation describes the souls of martyrs in heaven as being in a state of waiting. John writes (Rev. 6:9+10): “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’”

On the Last Day, when Jesus comes back, this intermediate state will come to an end. All the dead will be raised bodily. Our souls and our new bodies will be joined back together as they were in the beginning. It is only at that point that we will enter into the eternal state, what the Bible calls the new heaven and the new earth. At the resurrection, our body will also be purified and made holy, so that we will be unable to get sick or die.

In the funeral liturgy, we say “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” We commend the body of believers back to the earth it was taken from “in the hope of the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Even after we are dead, God is not done with our bodies. On the Last Day, the Lord Jesus will return and call our bodies out of the grave, reunite them with our souls, and give us the gift of the resurrection. Our graves will be just as empty as his grave was. Martha also confessed the bodily resurrection, when she said to Jesus (John 11:24): “I know that [Lazarus] will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

As for the unbelievers, we also have to distinguish between the temporary place of existence called “hell” and the eternal place of existence called the lake of fire. Upon death, the soul of the unbeliever goes to hell, a temporary place of torment. After the Resurrection, the unbelievers will be thrown into the eternal “lake of fire” which God prepared for the devil and his angels. Rev. 20:15 states: “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Likewise, Jesus says (Mt. 25:41): “‘Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

As for those who are still alive on the Last Day, they will not have to be resurrected. However, they will have their mortal, perishable bodies transformed into imperishable bodies. This will happen in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Paul writes to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:51-53): “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. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”

All of this is so beautifully captured in the last verse of the hymn “Lord, Thee I love with all my heart” by Martin Schalling (1532-1608), which I would like to quote in closing:

“Lord, let at last Thine angels come,
To Abram’s bosom bear me home,
That I may die unfearing;
And in its narrow chamber keep
My body safe in peaceful sleep
Until Thy reappearing.
And then from death awaken me,
That these mine eyes with joy may see,
O Son of God, Thy glorious face,
My Saviour and my fount of grace.
Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, my prayer attend,
And I will praise Thee without end.”

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