In this series of blogs we have seen what the Bible says about death. Scripture is very clear in describing what death is and also what it is not. Death is the absence of life. It’s that easy and a child can understand it.
But because there are so many misunderstandings about death and they are persistent and deep-rooted, we have discussed a number of texts and histories that project these wrong views about what death is.
resurrection and vivification
The Bible places great emphasis on resurrection and vivification because it is the hope for the dead. Think of 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul discusses the fact of the resurrection in detail. What would resurrection even mean if the dead are not dead at all, but live on elsewhere?
sow in expectation
We sow our dead, as it were, by burying them, as a grain of seed is entrusted to the earth. That seed becomes alive and a completely new body emerges from it: a plant. Thus we bury our dead in expectation of the resurrection (1 Cor.15:37-44).
our resurrection
Also in 1 Thessalonians 4, which speaks of our resurrection at the snatching away, Paul says that the dead in Christ will rise and be caught together with those who are alive and left at His coming and go together to meet the Lord in the air (verses 13-18). In doing so we would encourage and comfort each other. So we do not go to Him one by one, but together. And that also makes sense if we know what the body of Christ is, an inseparable unity.
No doubt there are other Scriptures that merit discussion in this regard. If I encounter this myself, or if it is pointed out to me by others, we will discuss it and add it to this series.