By Seven J. Hogan
From Death to Life
Humanity’s greatest concern is death. Death is a problem in both a physical and spiritual sense, and it is a problem every individual must face.
Jesus Christ is the only answer, for when He was on Earth He lived a perfect life, then suffered and died on a cross to pay for humanity’s sin. After doing so, He was raised from the dead.
A person is saved – is delivered from his sins and from death – when he repents of his sins and believes that Jesus Christ died in his place, thereby paying the penalty for his sins. Spiritually speaking, the individual has been crucified with Christ and raised from the dead, and therefore he is no longer spiritually dead, but spiritually alive.
He is forgiven of all his sins, given eternal life, and will go to Heaven after his life on this world is over (Ephesians 2:1-9).
Once a person is saved, he is transformed, and by the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit he is to live for Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:10 says: “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering.” The believer is to know Jesus Christ and His resurrection power, experience His love, joy, and peace, and fulfill God’s plans while he is living on Earth.
Life after Death
But what happens when a believer dies?
Because of Christ’s resurrection, the Christian’s soul is immediately and supernaturally taken to Heaven. By God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the believer has walked through that door called death, but is still alive – still experiencing the life of God. The believer in Christ, upon death, goes to Heaven, where he is free from all sin, pain, sickness, and sorrow.
But though spiritually alive, the believer has not yet been physically glorified – he has not yet received his new physical body. Therefore, the question must be asked: When will the heavenly believer be resurrected and glorified?
This will occur at Christ’s 2nd coming; therefore it will be a future occurrence. At the end of this present age, Jesus Christ will return in the clouds above Earth, and all believers who have physically died will be resurrected and physically glorified (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
What about believers living on Earth when Christ returns? They will not be resurrected because they did not die, but they will be raptured. They will be quickly snatched from this earth, physically glorified, and immediately taken to be with Christ (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). At Christ’s return, all believers already in Heaven, and all believers still on Earth, will be glorified – will be given perfect, powerful, and immortal bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).
Scripture assures that “We will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye … for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
Are You Saved?
Have you repented of your sins and placed your faith in Jesus Christ; believing that He died to pay for your sins and then was raised again from the dead?
If you have, you have defeated death in every way, shape, and form, and you will spiritually and physically live forever with God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and all the angels and saints.
The apostle Paul tells us:
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable,
and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come
about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in
victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is
your sting?’ … Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Steven J. Hogan has been a pastor-teacher for more than 25 years, and the pastor at Hope Bible Church of Tampa, Florida, since 2003.
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