Five Minutes After You Die: Perfect Resurrection Bodies

by David Chadwick

Our culture talks a lot about near-death experiences. Many people, even those who don’t believe in Jesus, think a lot about death.

I believe the topic of death gives many a wonderful open door to have conversations with people who do not believe in Jesus. Coming face to face with your own life’s eventual departure and ending brings a level of humility and sobriety that few other topics bring.

So what kinds of realities exist five minutes after you die? Let’s keep exploring this topic together.

What is today’s topic in this heavenly adventure? Believers of Jesus will be given resurrection bodies!

According to 1 Thessalonians 4:16, it is my conclusion that the Rapture will occur. “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” We will be on earth, and suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be transformed into our eternal resurrection bodies just as Jesus was. This will happen in an instant. In the twinkling of an eye.

More specifically, Jesus returns with the sound of a trumpet. All the saints who have died will return with him. We, who are still on earth, will be taken up to meet him in the air.

Jesus will find each of our eternal DNA, wherever we were buried (on land or in the sea), and reassemble it to form new, perfect resurrection bodies for everyone who has been taken up to meet him and for all the saints who’ve died before us in the clouds.

A perfect resurrection body is available to each one of us who love Jesus. What happened to Jesus will be what happens to us. Surely that is what Jesus meant in John 11:25 when he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live.” We who believe in Jesus will never die. We will be raised as he was raised.

Wow! Can you even imagine? What a glorious reality we are all running toward.

Five Minutes After You Die: An Intermediate State

by David Chadwick

The Christian faith is full of both certainty and mystery. Because of Jesus, we can be certain of our eternal salvation if we put our faith in him. Because of grace, we can be certain that his Holy Spirit resides in us and empowers us in this life of faith.

However, there are also mysteries that we must embrace. While the reality of heaven is a certainty, apparently there is somewhat of a mystery.

So, we die. We are now in Jesus’s presence. Then what? Evidently, there is an intermediate state. A place before Jesus’s Second Coming where we are with him. John 14:2 says he has prepared a mansion for us. Other translations call it a “dwelling place.” It is a place that Jesus has prepared for us. In this state, we will evidently have some kind of recognizable body, and we will be with our loved ones and others who have gone to be with the Lord.

Next? We await the Rapture in heaven with Jesus, where we will finally receive our eternal resurrection body. According to 1 Thessalonians 4, Jesus will call forth from everywhere the DNA of our earthly bodies. First for those who have died, then for those left on earth, he reassembles our earthly bodies into eternal ones. Our intermediate bodies are replaced with these resurrection bodies.

What will this be like? Someone once explained it like a promised trip to Hawaii, where we first must stop off at a glorious resort in California, where we will stay for a while en route to Hawaii. It’s not quite as glorious as Hawaii, but it will be beautiful, fun, and meaningful. A resting place while waiting for Jesus to finish the battle.

I really don’t know much more than this. Except to say that both the intermediate state and the eternal resurrection body WILL be glorious, beautiful, and exciting. I choose to lean into the mystery and get excited to fully realize the beauty of heaven one day.

As Christians, we should all be looking forward to this day! Like a perfectly planned trip for each one of us by our Lord. With him meeting our every need, supplying our every meal, overseeing every sightseeing adventure, and us being with those we love most in the world for this extraordinary trip.

Should Jesus tarry in his return before we die, we can all eagerly look forward to this intermediate state with endless excitement and anticipation!

Five Minutes After You Die: Present in Paradise

by David Chadwick

Five minutes after you die, there are two very different realities that will take place depending on whether or not you are a believer in Jesus or an unbeliever. For believers, you will find yourself immediately present in paradise.

As mentioned previously, just like for unbelievers, there will be immediate awareness and consciousness. Said another way, we will be fully aware! Our souls live forever, either in heaven or hell. For believers, death holds no power.

This is clearly taught in 2 Corinthians 5:8, which says, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Said differently, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. As sons and daughters of God, this world is not our home. It’s a temporary stop on our journey home. These bodies of ours are simple tents in which we reside while serving as ambassadors of a different kingdom.

In Luke 23:43, Jesus looked at the thief on the cross and said to him, “TODAY you will be with me in paradise.” The moment the thief died, Jesus promised that he’d be with him forever simply because he believed in Jesus. I can’t wait to reach heaven one day and talk with this unnamed thief to hear his entire story!

But unlike unbelievers, our souls will never face the judgment seat of Jesus! Why? Because the moment we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were judged by the Father as “not guilty” because we received the gift of eternal salvation from Jesus.

Today’s reality should allow every follower of Jesus to walk in perfect peace. Soon and very soon will come a day when we die. And we will be clothed in righteousness and perfect in paradise! Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love demonstrated to us through Jesus (Romans 8:38-39). Our souls are secure. And no matter what may happen to us, we can confidently say, “It is well with my soul!”