I was reading 1 Thessalonians, and it presents a concept that seems puzzling. We are told in the Bible that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” and Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “this day you will be in paradise with Me” and there are many other similar verses in the Bible. Now comes Paul Chapter 4 telling us that we “sleep” when we die and when Christ comes back, we shall rise first and those Christians alive will follow.
Wat???
So, do we sleep until His return, or do we go immediately to be with Him? “Soul sleep” is a non-biblical belief held by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and a few others that after a person dies, his/her soul “sleeps” until the resurrection and final judgment. The concept of “soul sleep” is not biblical. When the Bible describes a person “sleeping” in relation to death, it does not mean literal sleep. Sleeping is just a way to describe death because a dead body appears to be asleep.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully.” Do we have to await the afterlife or the Rapture to understand this passage? No, this can seem confusing but upon close examination it becomes clear.
As noted, the Bible states that when we die, we, (our souls and spirits), enter immediately into God’s presence provided we belong to Christ, if we don’t we enter hell. From our limited point of view, death and sleep may seem similar, but not from God’s point of view. Paul once said, “We are confident (of eternal life), I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Later, we will be given new “glorified” bodies that will never age or be subject to death, because they will be like Christ’s resurrection body. The Bible tells us when this will occur as being when Christ comes back the second time, “The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
At the resurrection, this body is “awakened” and transformed into the everlasting body a person will possess for eternity, whether in heaven or hell. It kind of reminds me of a cocoon awaiting a beautiful butterfly to emerge.
At the second coming of Jesus Christ, all Christians will be reunited with our imperishable glorified bodies, and like beautiful butterflies, we will spread our wings and join our glorious Father in heaven.
A few years back I gave my personal testimony to several hundred people in Atlanta at the Covenant House. Afterwards a very large, tall, African American lady came up to me and though she was showing some gray hair lifted me off the floor like A weight lifter and hugged me so hard I thought I might pass out. I’m sure I was getting blue in the face when she finally released me. She exclaimed, “God changed you from a big ‘ol’ ugly caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. Praise God!” Then she planted a big wet sloppy kiss on my cheek and hugged me again with another spine cracking hug. I will never forget that day.
1 Cor. 15:52
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality . . .