The Superior Express -

Q: What really happens when we die? Do we go straight to heaven? Do we go to purgatory? What does the Bible say?

A: It is hard to get a full and detailed understanding of the afterlife from Scripture. We are given a general picture and can have complete confidence in the basic elements (i.e., Believers will dwell with God forever, believers will be resurrected, etc.). But there are details about the sequence and circumstances that are debated within the church. For now, let me share some of the truths I believe to be taught clearly, and those that aren’t, we’ll just have to wait to find out! 

The first thing I think a believer can expect to happen when they die is to enter the presence of the Lord. In II Corinthians 5:1-8 the Apostle Paul compares our physical body to a house or tent that Christians should be ready and willing to give up, since we know we have a better one waiting for us: a “building from God.” Paul declares that to be absent from the body (in other words; to die) means that we will be present with the Lord (v. 8). Jesus instructed His disciples to have the same confidence in John 14:1-6. Believers in Christ can rest assured that we will enter the Lord’s presence from the moment we die.

Another truth we can be assured of is the resurrection from the dead (John 11:23-25; I Corinthians 15:20-23, 42-45, and 50-54). Believers are promised new physical bodies just like the Lord Jesus received (see John 20:26-29 and I John 3:2), which will be eternal and glorious, free from temptation, disease and discomfort (Revelation 21:4). Early believers were so confident in the resurrection that they referred to death as merely “falling asleep,” (Acts 7:59-60; I Thessalonians 4:13). Modern day believers can have the same confidence.

One more clear truth from Scripture is the creation of a new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1). Contrary to popular belief, the Bible doesn’t teach that believers will live forever with God in Heaven. Instead, God and man will return to a newly created earth and dwell there eternally (Revelation 21:6-7). God is not going to abandon the earth to brokenness and futility forever; He’s going to fix it.

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