The Chapel - Rediscovering God Changes Everything.

This question is addressing something that scholars refer to as the “intermediate state” (the time between a person’s death and their final resurrection at Christ’s return). From a first glance at the passages discussing this, it can be initially confusing. In both Philippians 1:21-24 and 2 Corinthians 5:5-8, Paul asserts that when a believer dies, he/she will be at home with the Lord. In Luke 23:43, Jesus declares to the thief on the cross, “today, you will be with me in paradise.” Similarly, in Revelation 6:9, we see that there is a crowd of souls in heaven with God, prior to the return of Christ. From these passages, it is clear that we go to heaven immediately upon death.

However, in 1 Corinthians 15:23-26, 51-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Paul claims that those believers who have died will be resurrected at the moment of Christ’s return. This certainly makes it sound like we are waiting in the ground until that time. Those who strictly hold to this view refer to the intermediate state as “soul sleep” – believing that we are both spiritually and physically “unconscious” until we are resurrected. This is why we must always read the whole of Scripture rather than any one verse as we develop our beliefs; the view of soul sleep does not take into account the many verses we covered above.

Looking at the whole testament of Scripture, we come to the conclusion that the intermediate state is one of spiritual life and consciousness but physical death. We are with the Lord in spirit, though not yet in body. Upon the return of Jesus Christ, our bodies are resurrected into new heavenly bodies. God unabashedly gives us great hope for our new bodies: “Our earthly bodies, which die and decay, will be different when they are resurrected, for they will never die. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised, they will be full of glory. They are weak now, but when they are raised, they will be full of power” (1 Corinthians 15:42-43).

The most important truth we cling to is this: if you have entered into a relationship with Christ (confessing your sins, accepting His work on the Cross as only way to salvation and following His Lordship as the only way of Life), you can now view death as your moment of birth into Life. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:4, “We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life.”