WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CHRISTIAN (FOLLOWERS OF JESUS) DIE?
Do they immediately go to the
presence of the Lord or do their souls sleep until the resurrection?
Contents
2. THE BIBLICAL CASE FOR IMMEDIATE
HEAVEN
2.1. “Today You Will Be with Me in
Paradise”
2.2. To Depart and Be with Messiah
Prolegomenon
When a committed follower of
Jesus and a faithful member of a Church died we longed to be with our Lord Jesus. Someday,
we'll be ushered into the presence of the Lord Jesus, when all the pain and
difficulties of this life will have passed and we will be in glory. This isn't
just pie in the sky but our actual confident expectation.
Is this view of the afterlife valid
or should believers expect an extended period of soul sleep before the
resurrection from the dead, when we will at last see the Lord Jesus? What do
the Scriptures have to say about this?
The source of any confusion about
heaven versus soul sleep arises from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This
passage was intended to comfort those who were concerned that their loved ones
who had already died in the Lord would therefore miss the return of the Lord
Jesus and not be with Him forever. Three times Paul describes those who have
died as being “asleep” (1 Thess. 4:13-15).
The phrase “those who have fallen
asleep” does not actually teach some sort of doctrine of soul sleep. Rather,
the word “sleep” is a euphemism for death. It describes the condition of the
physical body of a Jesus follower who has died. Upon physical death, the inner,
immaterial person goes to be with the Lord immediately. But our bodies become
empty vessels, separated from our spirits and even look as if they are
sleeping.
The comfort Paul gives is that when
the Lord returns, we will be “caught up” to be with Him (1 Thess. 4:16-17).” We
will not precede those who have died when entering the Lord’s presence. Rather,
those who have died in the Lord will be resurrected before those who are caught
up to be with the Lord. At that time, the bodies of those who have died
(“fallen asleep”) will reunite with their spirits which have been present with
the Lord since physical death.
The believers who are alive will
then be snatched up and receive glorified bodies without ever dying. Then, we
will be together forever, both the resurrected believers and those who were
taken up by the Lord Jesus. At that time, we will be reunited and have
glorified, immortal bodies, just like the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus
(cf. 1 Cor. 15:42-49).
2. THE
BIBLICAL CASE FOR IMMEDIATE HEAVEN
So what do the Scriptures say will
happen when a follower of Jesus dies? The Bible clearly states that those who
have believed that Jesus died (taking the punishment for their sins) and was
raised from the dead (proving He is God) will go to be with the Lord
immediately upon death.
2.1.
“Today
You Will Be with Me in Paradise”
How do we have this assurance? The
first passage that comes to mind contains the words of the Lord Jesus to the
thief on the cross, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in
Paradise” (a first-century Jewish word for heaven; Luke 23:43). Clearly, the
Lord was promising that the penitent thief would go to heaven immediately upon
death.
Those who hold to soul sleep argue
against the simple meaning of this verse, saying (correctly) that the original
Greek did not have commas. Therefore, it's only the English translators who put
the comma after the phrase “Truly I say to you” and not after the word “today.’
They contend that the correct translation of the Lord’s words are: “Truly, I
say to you today, you shall be with me in Paradise (someday after the
resurrection from the dead).”
In summary, some assert that the
word “today” refers to the time when the Lord was speaking and not to the time
of the thief’s arrival in heaven. There are two basic problems with this
interpretation.
First, although
the Lord frequently uses the word “Truly” to begin a statement, nowhere else
does He say “Truly I say to you today.” If the Lord Jesus only meant that He
was saying something on that day, He certainly would have used that expression
elsewhere.
Second, placing
the comma after the word “today” results in a meaningless redundancy. Of
course, Jesus was saying it that day. When else would He be saying it? Placing
the comma after “I say to you” and beginning the next clause with “today” makes
an important point of emphasis— that very day the thief would be with Him in
heaven.
2.2.
To
Depart and Be with Messiah
A second support for believers in
Jesus going to be with Him immediately upon death is found in Philippians 1:21-
25. This passage describes the tension Paul feels about life and death, saying
“I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be
with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is
more necessary for your sake” (Phil. 1:23-24).
Paul “was torn by a win-win
situation.” On the one hand he wanted “to depart [die] and be with Christ,”
plainly indicating that at the moment of death, he would immediately go to be
with Jesus. In the apostle’s view, this would be far better than any other
experience. On the other hand, Paul saw the necessity and benefits of remaining
“on in the flesh” to minister to the Philippians. That's why he wrote, “For to
me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (v. 21). Paul’s earthly life was
filled with joyful service for Jesus the Messiah but dying would be even better
because he would see his Lord face to face.
2.3.
Home
with the Lord
A third passage that teaches that
followers of Jesus go to be with the Lord upon death is 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.
There Paul describes circumstances of life and death. While we are alive in
this life (“at home in the body,” 2 Cor. 5:6); we are not in the immediate
presence of the Lord Jesus (“we are absent from the Lord,’ 2 Cor. 5:6).
Alternatively, the apostle wrote that his preference was “to be absent from the
body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). By this he meant that when
we leave this life, we go directly into the presence of the Lord in heaven, our
true home. The testimony of both the words of Jesus and Paul confirm that
followers of Jesus go to be with the Lord immediately when they die.
3. FINAL
THOUGHTS
We need never fear death nor grieve
uncontrollably for Jesus followers who have died. We who believe that Jesus
died and rose again (1 Thess. 4:14) can have the confident expectation that at
the moment of physical death, our immaterial part (soul, spirit, mind, heart)
will enter into the presence of the
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