“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”   ~1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Satan would love for us to believe the crazy folklore, that this creepy, dead grim reaper guy, clothed in black comes for us when we die. But the truth be known, we will rest in the grave until Jesus, the Angel of light, ​comes for us and takes us to heaven upon His second coming. Satan will be powerless! In fact, he will be bound to a desolate earth for a thousand years as his punishment for torturing the children of God.

​“These things He said, and after that He said to them, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. Then His disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps he will get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”   ~John 11:11-14

Death is nothing more than a nice rest before our eternity with Jesus. We, who chose to follow God and accept what Jesus did on the cross, will die and enter into a sleep until Jesus returns, wakes us and takes us to heaven.

​“For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.”   ~Ecclesiastes 9:5

The Bible says the dead know nothing; they do not praise the Lord, and they rest in peace until the day of the Lord. Hence the term, R.I.P. (Rest In Peace) that’s engraved on tombstones. We don’t sprout wings and fly off with some angel of death, nope, we rest in peace.

​“The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence.”   ~Psalm 115:17​

Surely if we went straight to heaven when we died, we would praise Jesus, right? Of course, we would! This misinterpretation of a few Bible verses has spread like wildfire, like every other deception of the word of God. The Bible is crystal clear about everything, especially the state of the dead. We will rest in the ground until Jesus comes to take us home at the last day, the day of ​His second coming. No doubt about it. When we die, we are dead, but only for a while because Jesus has overcome the grave, He has put an end to death forever!

​“Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”   ~John 11:23-26

So . . . why must we die?

Death is the direct results of sin. But Jesus overcame both sin and death by paying the price once for all!

​“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   ~Romans 6:23

Does this mean everyone must die and be resurrected when Jesus returns? All have sinned, yes, but all will not die. There will be many that are alive when Jesus returns.

​“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”   ~Romans 3:23

Some will not die. Some will not sleep in the grave, but all who trust in the Lord and keep His infallible word will join together in the air on the Day of the Lord, the wonderful second coming of Jesus Christ.

​“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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”   ~1 Corinthians 15:51-57

My brother recently died. I had prayed day and night believing God for a miraculous healing for him. And he actually rallied for a few days, and it was looking as if God had answered my prayers, but then he took a turn for the worse and died. I was devastated. But I know that God has a plan, nothing is by chance, and I am certain that there is a mighty big reason that God laid my brother to rest. No one dies without God’s approval; both life and death are in His hands. I will trust Him no matter what! The following is my favorite Bible verse; it’s the verse that made me realize th​at Jesus is a very personal God, a God with plans for every single one of us.

​“​For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”   ​~​Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

There is such peace in knowing the truth—in knowing that we will rest until Jesus returns. I am so grateful for these Bible truths of reassurance. We can all have this assurance, that the word of God is infallible and powerful, faithful and true!

For a better biblical understanding of exactly what happens when we die, click here: Where do we go when we die?

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.”  

~1 Thessalonians 4:13-15

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