Dead or alive

One of the great comforts of the Christian faith is knowing that death has no hold nor victory over you. In fact, when it comes to the Christian and dying in the Scriptures of the New Testament, the believer is not stated as having died, but rather “fell asleep” (Acts 7:60). Other words or phrases include: “put off this my tabernacle” (2 Peter 1:14), “the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6), “which sleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). The only time the word “dead” is used in regard to the Christian is with qualification, “the dead in Christ,” or “the dead which die in the Lord.”

Why is this so in the Scriptures? It is because the Christian/believer in Jesus Christ truly never dies. The physical body of the believer dies, but the spirit lives on for eternity in Heaven; hence, the word death/dead is not used in connection with the Christian, except with qualification. The Christian truly never dies, as he is translated from one realm to the next instantaneously.

As 2 Corinthians 5:8 states, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

For the unbeliever or non-Christian, the scenario is much different. Revelation 20:15 says, “And whosoever was not found written into the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” This is written in regards to those who have refused Jesus Christ as their Savior during their lifetime on earth.

What a joyous comfort to those who have trusted the Lord Jesus as Savior to know that they will never truly die.

How about you? Do you know where you will spend eternity?

Think about it.

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