Skip to main content

Catechism #20



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. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Save a Life

(Like my blog about the peace symbol, this blog was written as a default response to all the parents, students, and other people who are asking my opinion of To Save a Life.) By now you have probably heard of the movie To Save a Life, which opened nation-wide in theaters on January 22nd. The movie deals with so many issues that teens face today, like suicide, cutting, drinking, drugs, premarital sex, teen pregnancy, and abortion. At first glance this movie looks like an awesome resource that we should recommend for our teens, parents, youth pastors, and youth workers. But a closer look at the movie reveals a few disturbing things. For starters, according to pluggedin.com, there are 2 uses of the “A” word, 5 uses of hell (used as a curse word), and once the “D” word is used. There are other crude terms used to describe a girl, and crude terms for referring to sexual activity. There is also a bedroom scene that shows a girl removing a boy’s shirt, then afterwards the girl putting he...
38 comments
Read more

Evangelism

“Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.” St. Francis of Assisi is given credit for this famous quote (although that exact phrasing does not appear in any of his writings), and a lot of people would think that this is a great philosophy. His actual quote was that everyone should “preach by their deeds.” Preaching with our deeds is not just a strategy, it is a necessity. We are commanded all through the Scriptures to let our light shine and be a peculiar people. People should be able to look at our lives and see that we are Christians. They should see the love of Christ readily on display, and thus feel compelled to live their lives in the same way. The sermon that we should preach with our lives is a sermon of love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, forgiveness, conviction, etc. But this idea that has emerged that says we should ONLY preach with our deeds is a heresy straight from the devil himself. Think about it: who is the one that does not want you t...
18 comments
Read more

All Things To All Men

One of our favorite verses to use in our evangelism methods is where Paul said that he “becomes all things to all men” so that he might “by all means save some (I Corinthians 9:22).” This is certainly a good idea if we keep it in its proper context and application. For example, I remember a time in high school where I knew a kid that loved skateboarding. Being the chicken that I am, I was never a skateboarder. All he would talk about was skating, and I knew none of his lingo. But to help develop a relationship with him (he was new to our church and didn’t know many people), I brushed up on my skating lingo so I could ask if he had done any sick ollies lately (impressed?). This would be like Paul saying “to the skateboarder, I became a skateboarder.” This is effective and necessary. But then there are the people that use this verse to justify doing sinful things in the name of evangelism. The first one that comes to mind is about drinking. Some people will go into the bars to evan...
23 comments
Read more