After I Die

I used to get stuck on the premise of what goes where when I die. On one hand the Bible speaks of waiting for the resurrection - so does this mean I lay dormant lay asleep until Jesus return? Wait, I thought my soul was lifted straight to heaven and my body just a shell?

Well, let us look as the Bible for some answers:

“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:43‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Bible is saying that soul of the believer journeys home - into paradise with Jesus. Paradise is only the first stage of heaven, but not the final version - our bodies and our final form still await us.

That final stage will begin when Christ returns on the final day. The keys of death have been removed by Christ. Souls will be reunited with bodies, resulting in a full spiritual body. The final version will be as God sees you.

Amazing! I think of “body” more of a physical form for heaven on earth, not my actual earthly body - a new shell fused into a spiritual being, the seed of my soul once planted into an earthly soil and now spiritual. I will live forever in the house of the Lord.