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When a Christian Dies, What Happens Next?
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 Remember him — before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, [7] and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
2 Corinthians 5:1, 6-8 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.... [6] Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.... [8] We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Vs. 8, KJV We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Philippians 1:22-24 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! [23] I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; [24] but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Acts 7:55-59; 8:2 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. [56] “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” [57] At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, [58] dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. [59] While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ... [8:2] Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
Revelation 6:9-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar [in heaven] the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. [10] They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” [11] Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
Luke 23:39-43 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? [41] We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [43] Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, [23] to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, [24] to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Summary of what happens when a Christian dies: 1) The body returns to the dust of the earth it came from. 2) The soul and spirit return to God in heaven. 3) Now absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. 4) We join the company of the “spirits of righteous men made perfect”. 5) And our being with the Lord in heaven is, as Paul said, better by far. And there the faithful who have died await the eventual, glorious day of the Second Coming of Jesus to the earth and the resurrection of and impartation of life to our then-to-be-glorified bodies. “...And so shall we ever be with the Lord” Originally preached at Medford (Oregon) Christian Center, September 18, 2002 ---------------------------------------------------- ©2002, James H. Feeney. Copyright statement.
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