Sixty-five-year-old Thelma sat in the waiting room fidgeting with the magazine in her lap. Her husband of over 48 years chatted quietly with a patient next to him, who was also waiting to see the doctor.
“Mrs. Milner?” the nurse called, “The doctor will see you now.” Thelma and her husband made their way to an examination room.
“Good to see you again, Thelma,” the doctor said in a cheery voice as he entered. “You too, Mr. Milner.” The doctor made his way to a chair and opened the file folder in his hand.
“Well, there is no easy way to say this, Thelma,” the doctor said in a serious tone. “The tests confirm you are in the first stages of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Thelma’s hand instinctively went to her mouth as she let out a slight groan. Her husband grimaced as he placed his arm around his stunned wife.
For the next 15 years, one of the longest cases ever, Thelma’s family watched as her body, mind, and all traces of her memory were ravaged. A once beautiful and vibrant woman was reduced to nothing more than skin and bones. Finally, unable to eat, speak, or respond to the voice and touch of loved ones, Thelma gasped her last breath and was gone, leaving behind a grieving family.
Like the Milner family, all of us will at some point suffer the loss of a loved one. The emptiness and suffering from such a death is real, and at times it feels almost unbearable. While the comfort from loved ones and the passing of time dulls the pain, the reality is that death is an inevitable shadow that robs people of the ones they love.
It is understandable that death is a scary thought, even to many Christians. Job described it as “the king of terrors” (Job 18:14). Most of us avoid talking about death, and even when we do talk about it, we use euphemisms to soften or disguise the harsh reality. We prefer terms such as “pass away,” “go to sleep,” or “go to be with the Lord.”
Why, exactly, do we fear death? There are at least five reasons.
1. Death is mysterious and unknown. It is normal to fear the unknown. There is often a great deal of apprehension because we don’t know exactly what to expect. And death poses the greatest of all unknowns.
2. We have to face death alone. If we could join together and face the unknown mysteries of death in a group, perhaps it would be easier to bear the thought of it. But we cannot. We must travel alone into that dark night.
3. We are separated from our loved ones. Like the Milner family, death robs us of the ones closest to us. And some may even question whether we will ever meet them again.
4. Our personal hopes and dreams will not be realized. When we die, our goals die with us. We cannot continue to build our dreams. Death ends the best of our plans.
5. Death is unavoidable. Even with today’s scientific advances that extend the length of our lives, all of us will die. No one can escape the inevitability of death.1
While all of this is true, there is still a significant consolation. As Christians we can experience freedom from the fear of death. The relevance of Jesus’ bodily resurrection is not only that our sins are atoned for, but that we will also live again. So will our loved one if he or she has placed their trust in Christ.
When Jesus’ close friends Mary and Martha lost their brother, he told them, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish” (John 11:25-26). Because Jesus is our resurrected Lord, we will be God’s resurrected children. God “has made all of this plain to us by the coming of Christ Jesus, our Savior, who broke the power of death and showed us the way of everlasting life” (2 Timothy 1:10).
Yes, death is inevitable and so we all must die. But death isn’t permanent for those who have trusted Christ. “Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23).
Not only are we forgiven of our sins and made right with God, but we also inherit a body that will live forever.
Although we are redeemed, justified, sanctified, and adopted as God’s children in this life, we have yet to gain the full rights of our adoption. Paul said that “what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later…for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved” (Romans 8:18,23-24 NLT). That is the added relevance of Christ’s resurrection. Not only are we forgiven of our sins and made right with God, but we also inherit a body that will live forever. This means that one day we will experience glorification.
New bodies. Bodies that won’t suffer pain, endure hardships, or wear out. That is our future inheritance. “Someone may ask, ‘How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?’…Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory. They are weak now, but when they are raised, they will be full of power. They are natural bodies now, but when they are raised, they will be spiritual bodies…Every human being has an earthly body just like Adam’s, but our heavenly bodies will be just like Christ’s” (1 Corinthians 15:35,42-44,48).
That is certainly a truth we can embrace and look forward to. Peter called it our “priceless inheritance.” “Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay” (1 Peter 1:3-4). This priceless inheritance is a state of being in which each of us will be given “full rights” to a glorified, heavenly body to live where “there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). This means we will have perfect bodies in a perfect world. Yet for that to come about, Paul said, “our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die” (1 Corinthians 15:53). And that can, and will, happen to the redeemed because Jesus rose from the grave.
This promise is as exciting as anything we read in the Bible. It elates us; it gives us hope; it stimulates the imagination. And it excites our natural curiosity. When does that eternal life begin? When do we get our resurrected bodies? Do our loved ones in Christ have them already? Do we get the “new bodies he has promised us” immediately upon our own death? Or do we have to wait in the grave or somewhere else until Christ returns in order to get a resurrection body?
Jesus said, “There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:2-3). This passage makes it clear that Jesus plans to come back to get his followers. Paul the apostle said that Christ “has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Jesus is the first one to receive a spiritual body, and all those who trust in him are next in line to get theirs. “Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised” (1 Corinthians 15:23).
Scripture makes clear there is an order or timing to the resurrection of believers. “Let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us,” Paul says. “Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; also see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The order is clear: Christ was raised first and he ascended into heaven. When he returns, the dead in Christ will be raised with new bodies, and those Christians who remain alive will receive their new bodies as well.
This naturally raises another question: “If we don’t get our spiritual bodies until Jesus returns, are God’s children existing consciously without bodies? And if so, where?” Some say that Christians who have died are simply “asleep” and will remain in an unconscious state until the return of Christ. Since Paul makes reference to those “who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14 NIV), and other such passages use a similar language (see 1 Thessalonians 5:10; Matthew 9:24; John 11:11), some believe we go into what they call a “soul sleep.” They say that those in Christ who are “sleeping” will be awakened at the resurrection and receive new bodies.
However, most evangelicals consider the “fallen asleep” phrases in Scripture as euphemisms for death that describe the body’s outward appearance. The physical body is “sleeping” until the resurrection, while our nonphysical souls enjoy a conscious existence with the Lord. The Old Testament declares, “You were made from dust, and to the dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19) and “For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
But is this actually a conscious spirit existence with God even before we are bodily resurrected? Yes. Jesus told the dying thief on the cross, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Obviously, the thief wouldn’t be getting his spiritual body until Christ returned, yet Jesus said that the man would be with him. Paul said he preferred “to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8 NASB). All the references in Revelation to humans prior to the resurrection of the dead depict them as conscious souls.
As these passages indicate, when Christians die they enter into what theologians refer to as an “intermediate state.” This is considered a transitional existence spanning the period between a believer’s death and Christ’s return when all who are dead will be bodily resurrected. This moment of resurrection when the spirit is reunited with a transformed body is often referred to as “going to heaven.” But as we will discuss in later chapters, there is a difference between an intermediate heaven and the eternal heaven (see chapters 26 and 27).
If our souls are with the Lord in an intermediate heaven prior to the resurrection of the dead, do we function as physical human beings during that time? These are issues that Scripture simply doesn’t address. Yet theologians such as Randy Alcorn have ventured to say:
Given the consistent physical description of the intermediate Heaven and those who dwell there, it seems possible—though this is certainly debatable—that between our earthly life and our bodily resurrection, God may grant us some physical form that will allow us to function as human beings while in that unnatural state “between bodies,” awaiting our resurrection.2
Because of Christ’s resurrection and the promises he has made to us, our fear of death can be lifted. Because he lives…
• The mystery of death is revealed. Yes, death is mysterious and unknown, but after the resurrection of Jesus, we know something about it that we could not have known before. It is not permanent. Christ went through it, and he blazed a trail we can follow. Some of the mystery has been removed because we now have footprints to follow that we know will lead us into new life.
• We don’t have to face death alone. Although from our perspective it may seem that we have to go through death alone, we now know this is an illusion. The death and resurrection of Jesus shows that this promise is not empty. Christ has actually stepped into the darkness of death and awaits us there with the light of life to lead us safely through.
• We are not permanently separated from our loved ones. The resurrection calms this fear as well. Because God has conquered death through Jesus Christ, our loving relationships will continue after death. Death may separate us temporarily from our loved ones, but the resurrection of Christ will bring us back together.
• Our personal hopes and dreams have a future. The resurrection also does away with this fear. In fact, it would be accurate to say that in heaven all our hopes and dreams will be fulfilled.
• Death is unavoidable, yet it is a transition to eternal life. It’s true that death is inevitable and no one can escape it. But because of Christ’s resurrection, death is simply the passage to our eternal home in heaven.3
While there may not be answers to all our questions, the resurrection of Christ answers the most pressing ones. Above all, this one thing is certain: We are guaranteed a “priceless inheritance” that includes a resurrected spiritual body that will live forever with the Lord and our loved ones. That is possible because Jesus conquered death and rose from the grave. While we may not have all our questions answered about our future bodies and home in heaven, by Christ’s resurrection God has revealed a taste of what it will be like. Paul says:
The wisdom we speak of is the secret wisdom of God…That is what the Scriptures means when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God’s deep secrets (1 Corinthians 2:7,9-10).
In the scriptures we have explored in this chapter, God has revealed to us, his adopted children, a taste of what an eternal relationship with him will be like. He has revealed himself through his Spirit and his Word in order that, as Jesus said, “My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11 NIV). As a loving father and mother desire to fill their child with anticipation of a vacation or trip to Disney World, so our heavenly Father wants to see our hearts filled with joy of what awaits us. He wants us to sense the joy of what heaven and eternity will be like. He wants us to anticipate living with him eternally in a place where there is no sin or heartache.
One day Jesus will conquer death to bring you and your loved ones into a place of completed joy beyond compare. At that point death will be “swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). As a Christian, your resurrection is an assured reality. Because of Christ’s resurrection, your eternal relationship with God and with your loved ones in heaven is guaranteed. You are destined for an eternal future of bliss. Anticipate what is to come and be excited!