The Bible teaches that when a person dies, the spirit is separated from the body. This marks the end of life in the physical realm. But when Jesus Christ came to earth, He declared, “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26). For those who believe in Jesus, death takes on an entirely different meaning.
The New Testament tells us that upon death, Christians’ spirits go to be with Christ immediately: “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Paul stated in Philippians 1:23 – “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
At the second coming of Jesus, our physical bodies will be raised to immortality and will rejoin our spirits. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others dowho have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words).
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 – Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Here are other Frequently Asked Questions and how the Bible answers them.
