The Death of a Christian

 What happens when we die? It is perhaps the oldest of all questions.

 There are a handful of individuals recorded in Scripture who might have been able to offer us some insights. They died and then came back to life:

·       1 Kings 17:17-24 – The prophet Elijah raised to life the son of a widow.

·       2 Kings 4:18-37 – Elijah raised a young man from the dead.

·       2 Kings 13:20-21 – The body of a hastily buried man was tossed into the grave of the prophet Elisha. When his corpse touched the bones of the prophet, the man came back to life.

·       Luke 7:11-17 – Jesus raised to life the son of the widow from Nain.

·       Luke 8:49-56 – Jesus raised to life the 12-year-old daughter of Jarius.

·       John 11:1-44 – Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

·       Matthew 27:50-54 – An unknown number of people came back to life after Jesus’ resurrection.

·       Acts 9:36-42 – Peter raised Tabitha from the dead.

·       Acts 20:7-12 – Paul raised Eutychus from the dead.

 Some of these people were dead for only a few minutes; some, for several days. There is no record of what they experienced while dead, so we can glean nothing about what it is like to die from their stories. One thing they have in common: they all eventually died again.

 The case of Jesus is unique. He came back to life without the action of any human agency. Once resurrected, he remained alive for ever. And his resurrected body, while recognizable as belonging to Jesus, was significantly different from the body that was nailed to the cross. But while Jesus had much to say about eternal life, he told us nothing about what happened to him between that moment when he breathed his last and the moment of his resurrection.

 There are no extra-biblical sources about what happens after we die since no one alive today has ever died and then come back to talk about it. The closest we can come are the many “near death” experiences that have been reported and clinically studied for well over 100 years. While these experiences are not all the same, many involve out-of-body sensations, the sense of being drawn through a tunnel toward a bright light, and feelings of peace and well-being. Many of those who’ve had such a near death experience report that they no longer fear death.

 Distinct from near death experiences are the stories of those who have witnessed a person slip from consciousness into death. These accounts have become less common in recent decades due to the extensive use of pain-killing narcotics that render the dying unconscious. But some of these accounts, when describing the death of a Christian, are truly remarkable.

 As John Wesley neared death, though apparently exhausted by the wasting effects of disease, he suddenly sang with great energy: 

“I'll praise my Maker while I've breath,

And when my voice is lost in death,

Praise shall employ my nobler powers:

My days of praise shall ne'er be past,

While life and thought and being last,

Or immortality endures.”

 Soon after, he exclaimed, with all his strength, “The best of all is, God is with us!” and lifting up his dying arms, in token of victory, and raising his feeble voice with a holy triumph, he repeated, “The best of all is, God is with us!”

 As the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody realized that death was near, he said, “Earth recedes, heaven opens before me. No, this is no dream . . . it is beautiful, it is like a trance. If this is death, it is sweet. There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.”

 Years early Moody proclaimed, “Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I will be more alive than I am now.”

 Or consider the death of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson:

 In July of 1861, when asked by Captain John D. Imboden how he could be so fearless in battle, General Jackson replied, “Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. Captain, that is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.”

Less than two years later, on May 10, 1863, having been informed by his wife, Anna, that he would die before the end of the day, he asked the attending physician, “Doctor, Anna informs me that you have told her I am to die today. Is it so? When the doctor confirmed his diagnosis, Jackson said, “Very good, very good. It is alright.” Later he added, “It is the Lord’s Day; my wish is fulfilled. I have always desired to die on Sunday.” When offered brandy, he declined. “It will only delay me departure and do no good. I want to preserve my mind, if possible, to the last.” Later he slipped in and out of delirium, alternately praying and giving commands to his troops. Finally, he smiled, and speaking with a tone of calm relief, he said, “Let us cross the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” With those words, he died. 

In his book, Angels: God’s Secret Agents, Billy Graham describes the death of his maternal grandmother:

 … the room seemed to fill with a heavenly light. She sat up in bed and almost laughingly said, “I see Jesus. He has His arms outstretched toward me. I see Ben [her husband who had died some years earlier] and I see the angels.” She slumped over, absent from the body but present with the Lord.

Many families can share similar stories of the death of a saintly family member.

What does the Bible actually teach us about death, especially, the death of a believer? Here are some pertinent scripture passages:

 …and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” – Ecclesiastes 12:7

For the Apostle Paul, death held no fear, but only the prospect of glory to come: 

⁶So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷for we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. – 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

 ²¹For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. – Philippians 1:21-23

 These words from Paul remind us of a related biblical teaching: the physical resurrection of our bodies: 

Romans 6:5 – For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 

Romans 6:4 - We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

Romans 8:11 - If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 

1 Corinthians 15:42-43 – ⁴²So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 

As his life was ebbing away on the cross, Jesus offered these words of assurance to the thief on the next cross in Luke 23:43 – “And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”

God offered the Apostle John a vision of the glorious future that awaits those who die having trusted their lives to our Lord: 

Revelation 21:1-6 – ¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” ⁵And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 

Jesus offers us this promise, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25b-26a) 

Then there is this intriguing line in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. When Lazarus died, we read, “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.” (Luke 16:22a) 

Billy Graham, commenting on this parable in his book on angels wrote: 

… Jesus says that the beggar was “carried by the angels.” He was not only escorted, he was carried. What an experience that must have been for Lazarus! He had lain begging at that gate of the rich man until his death, but then suddenly he found himself carried by the mighty angels of God! . . . . nothing compared to the homecoming of a true believer who has said good-by here to all the suffering of this life and been immediately surrounded by angels who carry him upward to the glorious welcome awaiting the redeemed in heaven. 

Let’s look again at Jesus’ words in John 11: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” 

…everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. How can that be? We’ve all known dozens… hundreds of devout Christians who died and were buried. We put flowers on their graves. We mourn their loss. How can Jesus say that they never died? 

It’s ultimately a matter of perspective. When a Christian loved one dies, those of us left behind only see a lifeless corpse. That, from our perspective, is what death looks like. It is the end of someone we loved; the end of a relationship; the loss of someone of inestimable value. But when Jesus promised that his followers would never die, he was telling us that we will never experience our own death. What will be seen as our death by others for us will be more like walking into a different room or awakening from a dream. And far from drifting into some shadowing existence, we will awaken to an existence more vivid and real than anything we could possibly imagine. 

Greatest of all the blessings that await us in eternity is the Beatific Vision, the direct, unmediated sight of God’s essence by the redeemed in eternity. In Scripture, seeing God is emphatically described as a supreme blessing. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). While in this earthly life such seeing is limited, we are promised a future, perfect vision of God. 

In Revelation 22:4, believers are assured, “They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.” This final and fully revealed presence of God marks the culmination of salvation history. It is “beatific” because it brings eternal blessing, profound happiness, and complete fulfillment. 

In 2 Corinthians 5 when Paul affirmed that “…we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” he referenced the state of the believer between the death of our physical bodies and the resurrection of our new eternal bodies. Those who die in faith are instantly united with Christ in paradise (as he promised the thief on the cross), a place of rest and tranquility where we await the final resurrection of our bodies on that day when Jesus returns to earth in glory and triumph and the graves are opened. Resurrection speaks of our new bodily life after this period of rest and waiting. It describes our life after life after death. Those resurrected bodies will be designed for everlasting life on a New Earth. 

The British theologian, N.T. Wright, captures the idea in his book, Surprised By Hope: 

What Paul is asking us to imagine is that there will be a new mode of physicality, which stands in relation to our present body as our present body does to a ghost. It will be as much more real, more firmed up, more bodily, than our present body as our present body is more substantial, more touchable, than a disembodied spirit. We sometimes speak of someone whose been very ill as being a shadow of their former self. If Paul is right, a Christian in the present life is a mere shadow of his or her future self, the self that person will be when the body that God has waiting in his heavenly storeroom is brought out, already made to measure, and put on over the present one—or over the self that will still exist after bodily death. 

These bodies will be impervious to pain, to sickness, to suffering of any kind either physical or emotional. They will never know weariness or discomfort of any kind. Were we to encountered such a man today, we would call him superman—and we would be right.