What Happens When a Christian Dies?

There is much grief in our world.  Many of us carry around the anguish of having lost someone close to our hearts.  There are questions that loom about death and what comes in the “after life.”

The Bible tells us that there is something after death.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: – Hebrews 9:27

Notice the words, “after this,” in the verse.  Death is not an ending.  Death is the doorway into eternity.

There are two types of people in the world.  There are those who know the Lord Jesus as Saviour, and there are those who are lost without Him.  Those who are lost will not know the joy of the Lord in eternity.  They will pass through death to enter into Hell awaiting the great judgment and damnation.  It is so important that we be saved today!!

There are those who are saved.  They have repented of their sins and, by faith, trusted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.  They have believed that He died for them, was buried, and has risen again.  They have called upon Him to be their Saviour.

I would like to consider what happens when a believer dies.  What will take place the moment I close my eyes on this earth and step into eternity?

When a Christian Dies…

1.  …Your Spirit Leaves Your Body (James 2:26)

There is more to a person that what is seen on the outside.  Man is made spirit and soul and body.  Our body is conscious of the world through our five senses.  Our soul is conscious of ourselves through our feelings, intelligence, and will.  Our spirit is conscious of God; it is the candle of the Lord.

Death is the separation of the spirit and body.  The body is placed into the ground, but the spirit leaves the body.   You are not a body with a spirit.  You are a spirit with a body, and, at death, the spirit leaves the body.

2.  …You Go to Be with Christ (Philippians 1:23)

There is no intermediate stage or holding area for God’s people.  There is no soul sleep.  Immediately upon death, a believer will go to be with his Lord.  As we often say, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

Imagine the joy of stepping through death’s doorway only to be welcome into the presence of Jesus.  How glorious to be with the Lord who conquered death, hell, and the grave.  Because Jesus lives, I know that I, too, shall live with Him.

3.  …You Will be Reunited with Loved Ones (Matthew 22:32)

Those who have trusted this same God are in the presence of the Lord.  When your spirit leaves the body, you will go to where they are – the presence of Jesus.  Aren’t you glad for people whom you know are with Him?  Aren’t you glad to know that someday you will be in a place where you will never say “goodbye”?  Isn’t it glorious that there awaits a place where we shall never grow old?

I have known people who are already in Heaven.  Heaven has become sweeter.  I miss them now, but someday I shall see them again.

Oh, yes, I am glad to be a Christian!

4.  …You Will Receive a New Body at the Resurrection (Philippians 3:21)

God is not finished with your body just because you die.  There will be a time when the Lord shall raise this corruptible body from the dust and remake it into a new body.  It will be a body like unto Jesus’ glorious body.

Jesus’ resurrection is the example – the firstfruits – of what awaits God’s people.  He left that grave literally and bodily.  Some glad day, I shall have a body like His.  It will not be riddled with pain.  It will not need insulin shots, radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and heart operations.  It will grow old; it will not become frail and weak.  It will not develop Alzheimer’s or dementia.

There is so much more that we could mention, but I don’t believe we could ever tell the half of it all.  I rejoice that I have a Saviour who has defeated death.  I trust Him who ever liveth, and I know that He has given me life.

What a Saviour we have in Jesus!