With this post I am beginning a series entitled, "The Afterlife." What happens to a Christian when he or she dies? The Bible makes some amazing promises, and faithful Christians may find it challenging to put some of the pieces together. I'd like to open this series with what seems to me to be a black-and-white emphasis in scripture. That is, that a child of God is united with Jesus Christ in spirit at the point of death.
We will come to other matters in later posts. Yes, there will be a final resurrection and a final, universal Day of Judgment. However, note with me the biblical evidence indicating that we will be with the Lord in spirit during the intermediate period between our death and that last, great day.
Though he was in prison in Rome, the apostle Paul was inspired to write a joy-filled letter to the saints in Philippi. Whether he would he be released and live, or whether he would he be executed and die, he knew that all would be well. Therefore, he could write, “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
GAIN? Really? That is so very opposite that is to the world’s dread, fear, and avoidance of death! Entire industries have been created in hopes of cheating death or postpone it for as long as possible at all costs. To many, death is absolutely terminal, the end of one’s existence. How could Paul dare to say such a thing? Not, “To die is inevitable.” Not, “To die is to cease to live.” But rather, “To die is gain.”
The first phrase, “To live is Christ,” is not hard to understand. Paul wrote, “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me” (1:22). He added, “… to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account … for your progress and joy in the faith … because of my coming to you again” (1:24-26). He was excited about continuing to live here on earth, because of the ongoing impact he could have for the cause of Jesus Christ. That was true for him, even though he continually faced rejection, persecution, and affliction.
Because Paul lived for Christ, life was always worth living.
Yet Paul had an even greater “desire to depart [die] … for that is far better” (1:23). We may ask, “Why?” Well, obviously, at death he would be free from prison and pain. He would no longer suffer or be sick, hungry, or thirsty. He wouldn’t grow old or weak. All of that is true, but none of that was the reason Paul gave here. So, what was his reason?
Paul knew that at the point of death he would be with Christ.
The apostle wrote, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better (1:24). It was this confidence, Paul’s conviction that he would be united with Christ when he died, that caused him to write, “To die is gain” (1:21).
The New Testament overflows with this truth, that one who dies in the Lord goes immediately to be with the Lord. He or she is not apart from Christ, but with Christ, between his or her death and the Lord’s Second Coming. Let’s consider other scriptures that affirm this clear, compelling, and motivating truth truth.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
2 Co 5:6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
This text speaks of what happens at death and where the dead go. It emphasizes that a child of God is either at home in the body and away from the Lord or away from the body and at home with the Lord. When is one at home with the Lord? When one is away from the body (at death). Which state is preferable? We know from the Philippians passage noted above. Here Paul writes, “… we would rather be away from the body and away from the Lord” (5:8). Why? Simply because to die is gain, because the Christian who departs this life will be with Christ.
Acts 7:54-60
Ac 7:54 Now when [the Jewish leaders] heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58 When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.
When Stephen was about to be martyred, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. As his accusers were stoning him, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (7:59). The text implies that the Lord granted Stephen’s request. For him, to die was gain, because Jesus received him into His presence.
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; 4:13-18
1 Th 3:11 Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
1 Th 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
First-century Christians were uncertain regarding the status of their brothers and sisters who were “asleep,” that is, whose bodies had been laid to rest. Where had their spirits gone at death? And what would happen to their “sleeping” bodies when Christ returned?
The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write an amazing truth here in 1 Thessalonians 3. He noted “the coming of the Lord Jesus with all His saints” (3:13). Yes, the spirits of the departed saints, who have been with Christ since their bodies were laid to rest, are with Him now. When He returns, they will return with Him. Then, their bodies will rise and be transformed to be like His glorified body. Read also 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.
Once again, Paul declared this promise in the following chapter. He explained that, when Christ returns, God will “bring with Him those who have fallen asleep” (4:15). They will be with Christ at the Second Coming! That is only possible, of course, because those who have physically died have gone to be with Christ and are with Him now.
Luke 23:39-46
Lk 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Jesus Himself affirmed this to be the case. When Jesus was being crucified, one of the thieves asked the Savior to remember him when He would come into His kingdom. Jesus replied, “… today, you will be with Me in Paradise” (23:43). So, just where did Jesus – and that thief – go that day?
Jesus committed His spirit into His Father’s hands (23:46). Since His spirit went to the Father when He died, and since He told the thief, “You will be with Me,” the clear implication is that they both were together, with the Father, at the point of death.
So, the term “paradise” here must refer to the destination of both Jesus and the thief. Part of the “joy set before Him” when Jesus died (Hebrews 12:1-3) must have been the awareness of that reunion with the Father. In addition, one can hardly imagine the peace and relief that this thief experienced when he heard that he would be there, too.
No matter how the word “paradise” has been defined or employed outside of the Bible, it is the Bible’s use of the word that defines it for us. The idea that “paradise” refers to God’s dwelling place is not unique to the text in Luke 23. It is the confirmed in the only other places that the appears in the New Testament.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
2 Co 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
Here Paul mentions a man (perhaps Paul himself) who was caught up. Where was he taken? First, Paul refers to his destination as “the third heaven” (12:2). This would be not the sky (the first heaven) nor space (the second heaven) but rather God’s dwelling place, most often called just “heaven.”
Then, Paul says that this man was caught up to “Paradise” (12:4). This was not a separate journey to a different place. Rather, the apostle was specifying the same place (the third heaven) using an equivalent term (Paradise).
Revelation 2:7; 22:1-2, 14
Re 2:7 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’
Re 22:1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Re 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
Jesus told John to write a letter to the church in Ephesus. In it He promised that each one who overcame would eat of the tree of life. Where? In the “Paradise of God” (2:7). Of course, Revelation is an apocalypse, filled with vibrant colors and graphic images. The “tree of life” would call readers back to Eden and man’s loss of access to that tree (Genesis 2:9; 3:22-24).
As we read the end of Revelation, we see that the tree of life is described as being where God is. The tree is on either side of the river of the water of life, which flows from the throne of God and the Lamb (22:1-2). The tree is also granted to those who enter into God’s heavenly city (22:14).
Conclusion
And so Paul, sitting in a prison in Rome, was thankful to be alive, because “to live is Christ.” However, “to die is gain,” and for that reason he desired even more to “depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
As you consider your own life and ultimate death, how would you fill in the blanks?
“To me, to live is ___________” (what you consider to be the source, center, and purpose of your life) “and to die is ____________” (gain or loss, better or worse?) What do you believe will happen to you, and where you believe you will be, when you die?
The next post in this series, "The Afterlife," will discuss what Jesus said about a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus who both died (Luke 16:19-31).
