
Death
The Bible teaches that death is not annihilation in which we cease to exist. The Scriptures teach that death is the temporary separation of our eternal soul from our mortal bodies. On the Last Day, Christ will return to 'judge the living and the dead', resurrect all people (give them new, eternal bodies), and take those who trust in him to live with God forever.
Why must Christians die?
Scripture clearly indicates that Christians, too, must pass through death to life. We learn that our bodies are actually dead right now because of sin ('The body is dead because of sin' Romans 8:10). And so, Christians, too, must die.
The sting of death and sense of God’s judgement is horrible punishment for those who have no faith in Christ as their Saviour. They face, at the end of their life, only the prospect of an unknown future or a terrifying vision of eternal damnation. However, the death of a Christian is not death in as full a sense as it is for the non-Christian. For the Christian, eternal life and joy follow death, for our Lord Jesus Christ is the One who walks with them through the 'valley of the shadow of death' (Psalm 23).
What happens after we die?
For unbelievers, there is the 'second death' (Revelation 20:14) in hell, from which there is no possibility of escape. On the day of judgement, they will be separated from God forever.
Those who trust in the redemption won by Christ our Lord, however, pass from death to life. This is why the Bible uses so many comforting images to describe the death of the child of God. Here are some of the phrases the Holy Spirit uses to describe a Christian’s death: being gathered to one’s people; departure in peace; departure and being with Christ; a turning away from the evil to come; sleep; rest; passing from death to life; deliverance from all evil; and, finally, 'gain'. Gain? How can death be 'gain'?
When a baptised child of God passes through death – a son or daughter of God who has been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God – then death is 'gain'.
Through death, the children of God pass into an eternity of joy and peace with their Heavenly Father. Each Christian, therefore, may rejoice in the life that Christ has won and gives to them through the word and sacraments. When we die, our souls await the final consummation of all things on the day Christ returns. We shall receive glorified bodies that are free from tears, pain, sickness and age – perfectly renewed and glorified resurrection bodies.
In these new and glorified bodies, we shall spend all eternity in heaven, enjoying the presence of God and all his saints, forever and ever. The overwhelming joy of this truth is almost too much for us to even begin to comprehend, but it is true!
