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Saturday, April 19
... but thanks be to God who is giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ... (1 Corinthians 15:57)
"Holy Saturday" seemed anything but holy to those who rst experienced it. Jesus had died the previous day; his crucifi ed corpse now lay in a borrowed grave. Those who suff ered through the grief of this day had no idea of the joy that awaited them in the morning.
Jesus' state on this Saturday calls to mind a common question: What happens to Christians between death and the nal resurrection? This issue is more personal for me than ever before. I recently stood at my parents' grave and thought about their status in heaven. After my wife's father died, I assured our family at his memorial service that he is with Jesus in paradise. But in what condition? If we do not receive our glorifi ed bodies until the trumpet sound at the Second Coming (1 Corinthians 15:52), what happens to us in the meantime?
What God's word means
Paul has just described our fallen human condition: "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (v. 56). Then comes his shout of victory: but thanks ("gratitude, thankfulness") be to God. Here's why: he is giving us (note the present tense) the victory (over sin and death) through ("because of, by the agency of") our Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle explained: "if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Christ Jesus. . . . For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:17, 19).
Why Easter matters
Victory over sin and death began on Easter Sunday and continues to this moment. If Christ is your Lord, you have chosen the winning side in the cosmic battle between good and evil, life and death. In World War II, the decisive victory (D-Day) against the forces of Nazi Germany came on June 6, 1944. The final victory (V-Day) did not come until May 8, 1945. Between D-Day and V-Day the battle continued, but its ultimate outcome had been decided.
For Christians, D-Day came at Easter, while V-Day comes when the risen Lord returns. You and I still battle sin and death, but their defeat is certain and victory is ours.
How to respond
Between Easter and the Second Coming, what happens to those who die in Christ? It is clear that they are with Christ. Jesus told the dying thief at his side, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). "Paradise" was a Persian word for the walled garden of the king. Not only would the thief receive eternal life—he would spend it with the King himself. In the moment we die, angels take us to God's side (Luke 16:22). We will never die (John 11:26; Philippians 1:23), for we are home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Those who die in Christ are in glory, for "to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).
But in what state? Some theologians posit a body-less existence until the Second Coming. Others think we get an "intermediate body" until our Lord's return and the nal resurrection. Still others think we receive our final body when we die, a position which must be reconciled with 1 Corinthians 15:52 ("the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable") and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ("the Lord will descend from heaven . . . and the dead in Christ will rise first").
Here's my thought: we are asking a chronological question of a non-chronological reality. In heaven, there is no such thing as "time" (Revelation 10:6, KJV). We step out of the space-time continuum when we step from death into eternal life.
As a result, those in heaven are not waiting for the Second Coming as are those on earth. They can receive their glori ed bodies in the moment of their death, even though it may be another thousand years as we reckon time before the fi nal resurrection. For this reason, I believe that those who died in Christ are already in that glorifi ed state where "death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
Whatever your position on the "intermediate state" between death and the final resurrection, know this: those who die in Christ are alive in Christ. We already have eternal life — we are already immortal. God is giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How can you best express your gratitude to him today?
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