Q. What benefits do believers receive from Christ when they
die?
A. When believers die their souls are made perfectly holy
and immediately pass into glory. Their bodies, which are still united to
Christ, rest in the grave until the rapture.
What happens to Christians when they die?
This is a question that most people will ponder at some
point in life. When we think about a deceased loved one, or even our own
mortality, we find ourselves wondering what happens when life ends.
Paul did not want us to be ignorant on this issue. To use
his words to the Christians at Thessalonica, who were wrestling with this same
topic:
“I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are
asleep, that you do not sorrow, even as others who have no hope. For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even those also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with them. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord will by no means
precede those who are asleep.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-15)
For those who have died in the Lord (sleep), their souls are immediately ushered into the presence of
Christ (Hebrews 9:27), but their bodies remain on earth. On that day known as
the rapture, their bodies will reunited with their souls in heaven. At this
time their bodies will be glorified, free from sickness, fatigue, or death.
Paul described those bodies this way:
“So is it with the
resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is
imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
(1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
Paul concluded that passage in 1 Thessalonians by telling
believers to comfort each other with those words. Whenever we are brokenhearted
or find ourselves missing a loved one, we need to remember that this is not our
home, and that heaven awaits us.
Comments