An article I wrote for my church this week:
Many of the people who attended Ethos group this past Sunday were confused about something that Jason said in his sermon. While preaching on Matthew 24, Jason explained that when we die our bodies remain, but our souls go to be with the Lord. Then, at the second coming, Christ brings our souls with him and reunites them with our bodies in the resurrection. When many of us became Christians we did so after hearing the promise of spending eternity with God in heaven thanks to Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Unfortunately, this promise isn’t quite the promise that the Bible makes, and based on the discussion I experienced in Ethos group this Sunday, it seems likely that many of us need to expand our knowledge of the Biblical view of the afterlife. (I needed some help in this area myself, and have been talking with Jason to make sure I have everything straight). So, just what is the Bible’s view on this matter?
Before I go too far, I want to be clear: If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will spend eternity with God. The question I want to ask is not whether Christians are with God for eternity, because we all seem to agree on the answer to that question: yes. Instead, I want to ask: where and in what form will you be spending eternity with God?
Resurrection: Eternity with God in Bodily Form
Let’s answer the second question first. In what form will you be spending eternity with God? The Biblical answer to this question is the resurrection. Even in the Old Testament, we see clear teachings about the resurrection of the dead. One clear passage that explains this is Isaiah 29:19-21:
“But your dead will live;
their bodies will rise.
You who dwell in the dust,
wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead…
See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling
to punish the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her;
she will conceal her slain no longer.”
This passage clearly teaches that one day God will come to judge the people of the earth for their sins, and on that day those who have died and are buried in the ground will rise and awake to new life. This is a theme carried on throughout the Old Testament (i.e. in Daniel 12:13, Job 19:21-27), but it is expanded and clarified in the New Testament.
When Jesus disputed with the Pharisees, he made his views of the resurrection very clear:
“I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” (John 5:25-29).
Jesus was quite clear: He is the one who will one day judge the earth and punish evil doers for their sins. At the resurrection, when the dead come to life again, those who are righteous through faith in Christ will be separated from those who apart from Christ are trapped in their sins, and the sinners will be judged and condemned. This is consistently the New Testament view (see 1 Corinthians 15:12-57, Revelation 20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, etc.). So when we ask the question, “in what form will you be spending eternity with God?” the Bible clearly answers: in bodily form at the resurrection. When Jesus Christ returns we will all rise from the grave and return to bodily form, and our bodies will be perfected and freed from death, decay, and sin.
Heaven While We Wait for the New Creation
If you’ve followed along with me so far, you’ve probably come up with the obvious question: what happens to me between my death and Jesus’ second coming? We can find an answer to this question in Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross. Two thieves were crucified on either side of Jesus, and one cried out “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answers, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43). We know it will be at least 2000 years from the time of Jesus’ crucifixion in the first century until his second coming and the resurrection (assuming Jesus comes soon). Jesus doesn’t say “you will be with me in a few thousand years.” He says “you will be with me today.” When we die, we go into God’s presence in paradise, in heaven. Then, when Jesus returns we are restored to our bodies.
What happens at the resurrection? The resurrection is the first step of a larger move that God will make to restore creation. When Jesus returns there will be a resurrection of Christians and a millennial reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20) and then will come “a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). This is the image of the end that John receives in Revelation 21. A new Jerusalem descends from heaven to earth, and a loud voice from heaven calls out, “Now the dwelling place of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).
So when we ask where we spend eternity with God, the answer is only heaven for a short while. We are in heaven while we await the second coming of Christ, at which point we return to our bodies through the resurrection. Eternal life is in two stages: as a spirit in heaven with God for a time, and then in the body on the earth with God forever.
Theology of the Afterlife and Life Today
Why does all of this matter? Can’t we just acknowledge we will spend eternity with God and go about this life without worrying about the details of the next life? Actually, once we understand the Biblical view of the afterlife, there are quite a few important implications we can draw out. I’ll share just five:
(1) The Victory of God
If we lived eternal life as a spirit in heaven, it would be as if God had retreated and left the created world to fade away in sin. But the Biblical view of the resurrection and the new creation teach us that God did not retreat and give victory to Satan. Instead, He will return and renew creation, casting Satan down and asserting his victory over the rebellion of the created order by dwelling there with us for eternity. The resurrection of the dead also shows God’s victory over death, because the grave cannot hold us. Our bodies will one day live again.
(2) The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The resurrection of Jesus Christ only fully makes sense in light of the Biblical view of the afterlife. Jesus was raised from the dead as “the firstborn among the dead” (Colossians 1:18), the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). When we look back to Jesus’ resurrection, we see our own future state as resurrected beings and it gives us hope. No other religion offers such empirical proof of its views of the afterlife, but since Christ has been raised we have no reason to doubt our fate.
(3) The Goodness of Creation
Many heresies throughout the centuries have claimed that matter is evil but spirit is good. Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw all that he has made, and it was very good”, but after the fall, can we still call creation good? The Christian view of the afterlife reminds us that creation is redeemable and still inherently good. We must renounce the world in its corruption and bondage to Satan, but we must also endorse the world as God’s creation which He will one day restore to a state of perfection.
(4) The Continuity of Personal Identity
Some religions envision the afterlife as a merging or melding of all things in one consciousness. Others envision eternal life as an impersonal state of ecstasy. However, the Christian view of the afterlife reminds us that our personal identities matter. We will dwell forever with God as distinct persons, conscious of ourselves and others, and interacting with one another bodily.
(5) The Beauty of the Body
Many today struggle with their body image, feeling uncomfortable in their body and even finding their bodies ugly. The Biblical view of the afterlife reminds us that our bodies are gifts from God, gifts that will be with us for all eternity. When we are eternally with God in the perfected new creation, we will be in our bodies. The body is not an ugly cage trapping our soul. It is a beautiful part of our identity which will stand glorified in God’s glorious presence one day in the future. This can be a source of hope for those today who are deceived into despising their bodies or ignoring their own beauty.
Such a discussion could go on for many pages, but hopefully this will suffice to reintroduce us to an important Biblical topic: the afterlife. Let us all faithfully await the day when our knowledge will become personal experience.
