Five Minutes After You Die: There Will Be Perfect Peace

by David Chadwick

Peace is such a powerful word. It’s not just the absence of chaos. It’s wholeness in the midst of a storm. It’s rest. Quietness. Tranquility. In fact, one of the biblical definitions for one of the Greek words for “peace” implies being exempt from the rage and havoc of war.

What is something else that happens five minutes after you die? You will be in perfect peace!

The Bible is very clear that in this world, we will have trouble (John 16:33). But in the same verse, he promises us peace. He promises undisturbed wholeness in the midst of the burdens, afflictions, tribulations, and anguish of this world.

Our world throws us empty promises on a regular basis. Promises of temporary “peace” and comfort through carnal solutions. Take this medication. Eat this food. Buy this drink. Watch this tv show. Date this person. Land this business deal. Fill your immediate desires. But the peace that Jesus gives us is a very different peace than the world offers (John 14:27).

The peace of Jesus exists outside of our earthly circumstances. It is untethered to this carnal world. It shines in the face of destruction. Jesus’s peace is untouchable to the enemy’s schemes. Someone once described it as, “joy in chaos. Peace that makes no sense.”

The peace that Jesus offers in this broken world is leading us to the ultimate, eternal peace we will find in heaven. That’s what Revelation 21:4 clearly states when it says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.” In an instant, all fear, heartbreak, and grief will melt away. They simply won’t exist anymore.

From the reality of perfect peace, I think we will move toward worship. Profound, unabashed, relentless worship. Did you know that right now, thousands upon thousands of angels are presently worshipping God? They cry out, “Holy, holy, holy” and “Worthy is the Lamb seated on the throne.” As are the saints who have gone before us.

We will join in on that chorus!

Our worship will create extraordinary, eternal joy in our hearts. There will be no religion in heaven, just an eternal relationship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords, which will motivate more and more worship for all eternity.

Heaven will resound with perfect peace.

Five Minutes After You Die: See Jesus Face to Face

by David Chadwick

What happens five minutes after you die? You will have immediate awareness of your surroundings. Eternity is real. Both heaven and hell are real. The Gospel of Jesus is real! And because of that, do you know what else will happen? You will see Jesus face to face!

When Stephen was being stoned in Acts 7:55-56, he looked into heaven and saw Jesus standing before the throne. It says that Stephen, “full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Pause for a moment and imagine how powerful this vision must have been.

I find Stephen’s vision to be fascinating. It is almost as if Jesus were giving this faithful steward of the gospel a standing ovation for his courage and boldness during his final breaths.

Let’s look at some other Bible verses that also stir up a great anticipation of seeing Jesus face to face one day.

1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

Or how about 1 Corinthians 13:12? It says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

Now try to imagine, as best you can, Jesus’s face. Full of love. Tenderness. Mercy. Kindness. Compassion. His eyes locked in with yours. A gaze of tremendous intentionality. His smiling face. Arms reached out. You finally realize you are surrounded by perfect grace.

The face of Jesus that greets us in eternity will be a face that shouts, “Welcome home!” And maybe a standing ovation like Stephen received?

Dear friends, this world is not our home. Heaven is. 2 Corinthians 5:1 clearly states, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

May we all eagerly await the day when we see Jesus face-to-face and that becomes fully realized.

Five Minutes After You Die: Immediate Awareness

by David Chadwick

Death is often people’s greatest fear. But as followers of Jesus, who carry the hope of heaven, we need not fear death. 1 Corinthians 15:55 says, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to take some time to look at what happens five minutes after you die. People all over seem to be fascinated with near-death experiences and life after death, so let’s take a look at this topic together. Each day, we will study one specific reality of what will happen after we die. Join me on this journey.

Five minutes after you die, you will have immediate awareness of your surroundings.

Please note here that this is assuming you are a believer in Jesus. In John 11:25-26, Jesus said that he is the resurrection and the life and that those who believe in him, though they die in the physical, they will never die. Never means never! This must mean that believers in Jesus will have some sort of immediate awareness of heaven and its surroundings.

In Luke 16:19-30, Jesus talks about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man cared about nothing other than himself, even though the poor man resided outside his gates every day. Both men died. The poor man was taken to Abraham’s bosom, also known as paradise, but the rich man went to Hades. “Being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side” (Luke 16:23). Verse 26 describes a great chasm fixed between the two men. This passage clearly shows that both men, upon death, were immediately aware of their surroundings.

With the thief on the cross, Jesus said that “today” he would be with him in paradise. This, once again, shows an immediate presence with Jesus forever in the glory of heaven.

When our eyes close for the final moment here on earth and we breathe our last breath, it will be more like falling into a deep sleep and then awakening in heaven’s glory. You will be beautifully aware of all that’s going on around you. This is why, as followers of Jesus, death should not be feared! It’s more like going to sleep and then awakening soon thereafter, with an immediate awareness of our Creator God!

Please make sure you will awaken in Abraham’s bosom, heaven, and not in Hades like the Rich Man!