OK, you're dead, now what? (part 3 -- fin)

OK, you’re dead, now what?  (part 3 – fin)

            So far, we have seen:

            First, when we die, our bodies return to the earth.

            Second, when we die, our souls/spirits are immediately in the presence of Jesus (for believers) or in a place of torment (for unbelievers).

Third, when we die, our souls/spirits are conscious and experience pleasure or pain.

Fourth, when we die, nothing we do can change our location from the place of torment to the place of pleasure or vice versa.

Fifth, our bodies remain in the earth and our souls/spirits remain with Jesus in the place of pleasure (or, if you are an unbeliever at death, in the place of torment) until Jesus returns.

Sixth, when Jesus returns, the dead believers will meet Him in the sky and then the living believers will meet Him in the sky.

Seventh, when the bodies and spirits/souls of believers are reunited with Jesus in the sky, we will be with Jesus forever as humans – bodies and spirits/souls joined together as one.

No let us consider:

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (I Corinthians 15:51-53, ESV).

First, when Jesus returns and meets us in the sky, we will be made immortal.

When Jesus returns and our bodies and spirits/souls are reunited, we will be glorified, perfected, and made immortal.  We will never die.  Our bodies and spirit/souls will never be able and in fact will never die again – we will be alive forever – with Jesus.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (John 21:12-14, ESV).

Second, we will know each other.

With the exception of a few times that Jesus temporarily kept people from knowing Who He is after the Resurrection, Jesus was recognizable to His family and friends.  And since we will be like Him, we can be sure that we will know our family and friends.

Third, we will eat.

Jesus ate after the Resurrection and told the disciples that He would eat and drink the Lord’s Supper in the Kingdom.  Likewise, we will eat and drink in the Kingdom.  Will we need to eat?  Will we have other bodily functions?  We’ll have to see.

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:19-25, ESV).

Fourth, the rest of the Creation will be restored and glorified.

The Kingdom of Heaven that we will inhabit for all of eternity is this planet, glorified – with all of the created order as we know it.  Will we have our pets from years past?  To the children, I say, I don’t see why not.

What will we do with Jesus and our friends and family and all the other believers throughout time and space and the critters of Creation?  Certainly, there will be worship.  But, will we play and learn and spend time with our friends on this earth as we do now imperfectly?

If you want to think more on these things, one book I would strongly recommend in the new book by Derek Thomas, Heaven on Earth:  What the Bible Teaches About Life to Come.  I agree with Derek’s analysis and hope with his hopes…though I am more interested in seeing cats than dogs – but we can have them both!