emery@tc.fluke.COM (John Emery) (03/20/91)
I would like to make some personal comments on the issue of what happens after a believer dies. This is in response to David Buxton's postings over the issue of whether the soul stays asleep until the resurrection or is in the presence of Jesus immediately. First off, I don't want to make it a big issue, because according to David, it would only seem like a split second anyway! I just want to share the hope that a believer has after he dies physically! Listen to the confidence David had: "...because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let you Holy One see decay." (Psalm 16:10) As David prophesied that God would raise Jesus from the dead, he also saw that God would not abandon *him* in the grave! What a hope. A psalmist writes it this way, speaking of the wicked: "Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations." (Psalm 49:11) But of the redeemed he says: "But God will redeem my life from the grave, He will surely take me to Himself." (Psalm 49:15) What joy and hope to know that He will take us to be with Him! Listen to the hope Paul had: "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;" (Philippians 1:21-23) Paul knew that he would immediately be with his precious Savior the moment he stopped living in the body. He knew he wouldn't have to wait hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years lying dormant in the grave, for like the Psalmist wrote, God would redeem his life from the grave also! Otherwise, he won't be torn whether to stay in the body or depart from it. His hope is reiterated again when Paul said, "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) Paul made it clear that being away from the body meant being at home with the Lord, as he did in his letter to the Philippians. The disciple Stephen saw the home of his spirit right before being stoned: "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' [...] "While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he fell on his knees and cried out, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' When he had said this, he fell asleep." (Acts 7:55-56,59-60) Surely it was his body that fell asleep and his spirit that Jesus received as he prayed. You know what is so awesome about it? Jesus Himself prayed this prayer while on the earth: "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." (John 17:25) Jesus WANTS us to be with Him. He wants us to see His glory. And the Father has given Him that! That is why Jesus died and rose again, so He could be Lord not only of those who are alive in Him, but also those who die in Him; "For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." (Romans 14:9) And that is where the dead are: with Jesus. And that is why it is written that "God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him." (1 Thessalonians 4:14). From the earthly perspective they are dead, but they are actually alive: "have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but the living." (Matthew 22:32) Although to those on earth, these Patriarchs were dead, yet Jesus said that that they were not dead but living. We get glimpses of this throughout the Scriptures. For instance, in the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mount, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. In the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Lazarus is seen by Abraham's side after he died. Praise God for this blessed assurance of being with the One who gave His life for us! Let's remember how much He loves us. John Emery emery@tc.fluke.COM