“Christianity affirms that our entire life, which includes our bodies, our minds, our souls and our spirits, is to be redeemed.”1
The Bible often uses the euphemism “sleep” when referring to believers who have died (1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15). This is likely because we feel that death has a finality to it, and the Bible teaches that for those in Christ, death is not the final answer.
Dealing with the grief of her brother’s death, Jesus said to the sister of Lazarus, “he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26). The Bible refers to a “second death” (Revelation 20:6, 14), to which those who are in Christ are not subject. The first death is the inevitable decay of our present mortal bodies. The second death is separation from Christ.
“To have everlasting life does not mean merely that we never get sick again and, therefore, our new bodies won’t wear out. Rather, we should see our eternality rooted in the fact that we have been joined and united with Christ for all eternity. It is our union with Christ that is the source of our everlasting life, not just that we have been given really good new bodies.”2
Additional Scripture References: John 6:39-40; 17:2-3;
Acts 24:10-15; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 21:1-4
The Winding Path 