Life After Death

What Happens to Christians After Death?

There are many clues in the bible about life after death. Remember the thief who died beside Christ? The Lord said to him, “This day you will be in paradise with me”. Luke 23:42.

The Bible says our bodies will be transformed from lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. Therefore, we need to examine what Christ’s glorified body was like after He arose from the dead, to answer this question.

· We will be known by those close to us as He was by his disciples after His resurrection. Luke 24:12, Mark 16:8, Matt: 28:9,John 20:17

· We will be able to eat with our friends as Jesus did with His disciples. John 21:1

· Jesus rose up to heaven, and we will rise up to Heaven as He did to the Father. Luke 24:50

What does the bible say about knowing our loved ones in heaven?

· Mary did not recognize Jesus at first until He wanted her to know him. John 20:15.

· The two on the road to Emmaus knew him in their hearts. Luke 24:30

· The disciples knew him when he walked through walls to be with them. Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36

· The Rich man knew Lazarus’s after his death even though there was a gulf between them. Luke 16:23.

PARADISE--The Bible explains that we ALL have two kinds of bodies; one natural and one spiritual. One dies--the fleshly one, and the other, the spiritual one, goes to paradise. In paradise believers await together the final resurrection where our fleshly bodies will be ressurected to join our perfect spiritual bodies in a New heaven and a New earth. Jesus told the thief on the cross: “Verily I say unto thee, Today you shall be with me in Paradise. Luke 23:42.

Those who have died are in Paradise with God waiting for the time that the bodies of the Saints will be redeemed at the Second Coming of our Lord.

To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. Rev. 2:6. And I know such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not; God knows), how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 2 Corinthians 12:4

The Natural Body Then The Spiritual Body

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45.

1. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

2. The first man was of the earth, made of dust (Adam); the second Man is the Lord from heaven.

3. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man,(Jesus) so also are those who are heavenly.

4. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. (Jesus)

How are the dead raised up?

But someone may ask, “How will the dead be brought back to life again? What kind of bodies will they have?” What a foolish question! You will find the answer in your own garden! When you put a seed into the ground it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it “dies” first. And when the green shoot comes up out of the seed, it is very different from the seed you first planted. For all you put into the ground is a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting, then God gives it a beautiful new body—just the kind he wants it to have; a different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed. And just as there are different kinds of seeds and plants, so also there are different kinds of flesh. Humans, animals, fish, and birds are all different.

The angels in heaven have bodies far different from ours, and the beauty and the glory of their bodies is different from the beauty and the glory of ours. The sun has one kind of glory while the moon and stars have another kind. And the stars differ from each other in their beauty and brightness.

In the same way, our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die. The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength. They are just human bodies at death, but when they come back to life they will be superhuman bodies. For just as there are natural, human bodies, there are also supernatural, spiritual bodies. I Corinthians 15:35:

Who has already been raised from the dead?

Of course we immediately think of Jesus, but what about Lazarus, and Jarus’daughter? They too rose from the dead as a witness to us.

Lazarus Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. (You always hear me, of course, but I said it because of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.)”Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”

And Lazarus came—bound up in the gravecloth, his face muffled in a head swath. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!” John 11:41-44.

Jairus’s Daughter

“Your daughter has died,” he told Jairus; “don’t bother the Teacher any longer.”

But Jesus heard it and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; only believe, and she will be well.”

When he arrived at the house, he would not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. Everyone there was crying and mourning for the child. Jesus said, “Don’t cry; the child is not dead—she is only sleeping!”

They all laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead. But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Get up, my child!” Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astounded, but Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what had happened. Luke 8:49-53.

Jesus’s Resurrection

That evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors, in fear of the Jewish leaders, when suddenly Jesus was standing there among them! After greeting them, ²⁰he showed them his hands and side. And how wonderful was their joy as they saw their Lord! John 20:19.

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 1 Corinthians 15:20.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Heaven is a place of love, peace, and security.

All of the fruits of the Holy Spirit spelled out in Galatians 5:22, will fill every part of the sanctuary of heaven. Can you just imagine a place where there is only love, no hatred,

	only joy, no mourning, no crying, no pain,
	only peace, no war, no bombs, no fear,
	only longsuffering, no impatience, no
	judgmental attitudes, no standards,
	only kindness, no meanness, no ridicule, no name calling,
	only goodness, no evil, no hurtful behavior, no false friendships,
	only faithfulness, no people turning away from one another,
	only gentleness, no rudeness, no hurtful comments, no cliques where you don’t belong,
	and only self-control, no anger with malice, no selfishness.

Your Heavenly body will be

A Perfect body.
A Powerful Body
A Spiritual Body
A glorious physical body without spot or blemish. Cor.15:42

God is Keeping Records of Your Good Deeds.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” this passage tells us that what we do down here for those less fortunate will be repaid us when we get up to heaven. So God is keeping a record of your good deeds. Not so you can earn your way into heaven, that gift comes only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your sins. This is so he can reward you especially for eternity. Luke 14:13

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2.

Strong ’s Hebrew/Greek dictionary clarifies the word mansion in the bible as follows: As “a staying, abiding” denotes an “abode” as an English “manor,” “manse,” etc.), translated “mansions” in John 14:2; “abode” in v. 23.

We know that there was always a house beside the church called a manse. So where we will live for eternity will be close to our Lord in every way. And who would not like to lean their head upon the shoulder of Christ and be able to see Him face-to-face.

Revelation 20:4. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things, which were written in the books.

The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Scriptures to Encourage Us When We are Facing Death.

Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. John 11:26

Although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 2 Cor: 4:16 We eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies, so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20.

We get a glimpse of heaven here on earth through our brothers and sisters in Christ, through observing God’s beauty in the earth and in our quiet times when the Lord speaks to us.

Death is swallowed up in Victory!

“But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Matthew 22:29-31.

God clearly shows us by this verse he calls these men by their earthly names. And he declares that he is not the God of the dead but the living because they are alive with him…not dead.

In the book of Revelations the earthly names of Jesus’ Disciples are written on the foundations because they will be known in heaven even after their deaths. Yet, it is their earthly names that will be written on those foundations for all to see.

Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89