| The Bible clearly teaches that when
we die we go to one of two places, depending on whether or
not we trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
Luke 23:42 records what Jesus
said to the person who was crucified next to him about what
would happen after he died: “Then he said to Jesus,
‘Lord, remember me when You come into your kingdom.’
And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today
you will be with Me in Paradise.’” Jesus said
Today... not sometime in the future. The apostle
Paul expressed confidence that when he died He would be with
Jesus Christ in heaven. In his letter to the Philippian church
he explained, “If I live on in the flesh, this will
mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot
tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire
to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”
(Philippians 1:21-24) Another
example is found in the book of Acts where Stephen is stoned
to death for preaching the gospel: “And they stoned
Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit.’” (Acts
7:59) Notice how Stephen said “receive my spirit...”
When our physical body dies, we enter a temporary period where
our spirit and body are separated. While our dead body, or
cremated ashes, are in the grave, our spirit is alive with
God in heaven. The book of Hebrews indicates this when it
refers to people in heaven as “the spirits of just men
made perfect.” (Hebrews 12:23)
“So we are always confident, knowing that while we are
at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk
by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased
rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the
Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)
When a person trusts in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of their sins, their spirit undergoes a spiritual resurrection
(Ephesians 2:1-10, Colossians 3:1, John
3:5-8). Upon death, their body temporarily enters the
grave and their spirit goes to heaven. 1
Thessalonians 4:15-17 gives an
overview of the destiny of the body and spirit: “For
this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are
alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means
precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise
first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” In this
passage and others the word “asleep” is used as
a metaphor for physical death, signifying that physical death
is a temporary state just as sleep is temporary. This passage
explains that when Jesus Christ returns to the earth in glory,
the spirits of all the saints in heaven will return with Him.
As they return, the remains of their bodies on the earth are
resurrected and rejoined to their spirits. This is called
“the first resurrection” (Revelation
20:4-6). The physical remains of the unsaved will remain
in the grave until the second resurrection which takes place
at the end of Christ’s millennial reign on earth: “But
the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand
years were finished.” (Revelation
20:5) After speaking of the first resurrection, the
passage in 1 Thessalonians goes on to explain what will happen
to the Christians who are living on the earth at the time
of Christ’s return; since their bodies are still alive,
their bodies won’t be raised from the grave but instead
they will be transformed and “caught up together with
them [those whose bodies were resurrected] in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” Both the rapture
of the living saints and resurrection of the dead saints are
part of the “first resurrection.” 1
Corinthians 15:50-54 adds further clarity: “Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [experience
the separation of body and spirit], 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 incorruptible [that is, the bodies of those
saints whose spirits already went to heaven will be raised
to an “incorruptible”, glorified state],
and we shall be changed [that is, the bodies of those
who are alive when Christ returns will be “changed...”
into glorified bodies during the rapture].” Jesus
seemed to speak of the rapture when He said, “Two men
will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other
left." (Luke 17:36)
What happens after the rapture is less clear, but the
book of Revelation provides many details that require careful
study and cross-reference with other prophetic books of the
Bible (Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Zechariah, etc.) continued
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