If we still die, what does it mean that we have everlasting life?

TL;DR

Ever since sin entered the world, our physical bodies were bound to expire. However, our souls–the very essence of who we are–will live on in eternity; the question is just where we will spend eternity.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

God made a perfect world with perfect, immortal people (Genesis 1:31). But sin and death entered through Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God (Genesis 2:17, 3; Romans 5:12). From that point forward, human beings were subject to physical death. But even in Genesis, God made provision for eternal life (Genesis 3:15). Though the Old Testament does not emphasize heaven as prominently as the New Testament, it still recognizes that the soul lives on (Genesis 35:18; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Psalm 49:15).

The New Testament emphasizes the everlasting life we have through faith in Christ (John 3:16, 6:47). Indeed, the New Testament often uses the metaphor of sleep when referring to death (John 11:11-14; Acts 7:60; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). This shows that believers’ lives do not end when their physical bodies die. Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 also points to life after death. Jesus is the source of this everlasting life for all who place their faith in Him.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

Moses spoke of Rachel’s “soul . . . departing” as she died (Genesis 35:18).

Solomon said that God “has put eternity into man’s heart,” so that he innately understands he is more than flesh and blood (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Solomon also understood that we have an “eternal home” after death (Ecclesiastes 12:5).

Many of the Psalms speak of God delivering souls from death (Psalm 30:3; 33:19; 49:15; 56:13).

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

Jesus told the thief hanging next to Him on the cross, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Before He resurrected Lazarus, Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). All believers have everlasting life through Christ.

In Romans 13, the apostle Paul contrasts those who live by the flesh with those who live by the Spirit. Those who live by the flesh will not inherit eternal life with Christ. Paul wrote, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13)

Paul spoke of the pain of being in our mortal bodies as contrasted with being with Christ in our eternal home. He wrote, “. . . we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). When we die we are at “Abraham’s side,” a metaphor for the place of comfort we remain in until Jesus’ Second Coming and the judgement (Luke 16:22).

The apostle John wrote of the life found in those who place their faith in Christ, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

In his letter to believers in Corinth, Paul affirmed the “spiritual body”: “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

An old saying claims that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. But Christians know this isn’t true. They know that through Christ, we have the certainty of eternal life (John 3:16; 1 John 5:13). Those who die as believers in Christ have a future so certain that physical death is referred to as being "asleep" (John 11:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13).

How should this impact our life now, though? For one, when faced with serious illness or death–our own or our loved ones—we do “not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We know that physical death of the body brings us into the immediate presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). We also want to throw a life raft to the drowning world by telling them about how they, too, can be saved unto everlasting life. Our priorities won’t be career or gaining wealth but increasing God’s kingdom.

We all live eternally after death. The question is where we will spend our eternity—either in the glorious presence of God through faith in Christ or separated from Him without hope. This reality should shape how we live today and should fuel us to share the hope of everlasting life available in Jesus.

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UNDERSTAND

Adam and Eve’s sin brought death into the world.

Through Christ, the redeemed have eternal life with God.

The condemned also live eternally but separated from God’s goodness and grace.

REFLECT

How does knowing you have everlasting life through Christ impact how you live your life?

In what ways does knowing your soul lives on after death change how you view suffering, loss, or illness?

In what sense has your everlasting life in Christ already begun?

ENGAGE

How does the concept of life after death challenge or confirm the way we live in today’s world?

How can believers effectively communicate the hope of everlasting life to those who are skeptical or indifferent?

How do different cultural views of death and eternity affect the way people respond to the message of Christ’s everlasting life?