While I was shopping at a local grocery store, I ran into a high school friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in years. She told me about her family and what the kids were doing now, then she asked me about my parents. I told her they had recently “fallen asleep,” or passed away. She told me how sorry she was to hear that news, then she was quiet for a moment. Her silence drew me in closer. Then she blurted out, “I have no idea what is going to happen to me after I die and that bothers me!” Wow! I was not expecting that in the middle of the bread aisle! She looked to me for answers, and I was so thankful I could provide them from God’s Word.
God wants us to know the truths revealed in His Word. God’s will is clear about that: “Who [God] will [desires to] have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:4). God doesn’t want anyone to be ignorant. He wants all of us, including my friend, to know the truth, which includes what happens after we die. So, imagine yourself in a local market or grocery store with your shopping basket, standing in the bread aisle, listening to what I told my friend. Here’s the truth about what happens after we die.
The Bible tells us in I Thessalonians 4 of the return of Christ. This has two phases. The gathering together is the first part of the return of Christ, when he returns for the Church of the Body of Christ. The Church of the Body is made up of all born-again believers from the Grace Administration. When this time comes, some will already be dead and some will still be living. The first ones to be gathered together will be those believers who are dead, or who have fallen asleep, in Christ. They will be raised from the dead. Then those believers who are still alive at that time will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:17). This is the great Hope we have to look forward to!
Believers of the Grace Administration will not receive punishments based on works done in this life. Rather, we get rewarded for our faithfulness! We are saved from the wrath to come!
But what about after we are gathered together? What happens then? Perhaps you’ve read in the Book of Acts about the resurrections of the just and the unjust.
Acts 24:15:
And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
So here are the when and the who of these resurrections. (First of all, let me reassure you that if you are already born again, you are not among those called the just and the unjust in this verse.) Sometime after the gathering together, the second phase of the return of Christ will begin. It will include the two resurrections mentioned in Acts 24:15. The resurrection of the just is for all believers exclusive of the Church of the Body, which means Old Testament believers and the called-out of Israel in the Gospels (the Church of the Bride). This resurrection is also referred to as the resurrection of life in the Gospel of John.
John 5:28,29:
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life….
That’s God’s loving plan for those who have stood faithfully in other time periods. All believers exclusive of the Body of Christ will be raised up from the dead at this first resurrection.
After the just have been raised, a period of time will pass before the resurrection of the unjust. The resurrection of the unjust is when all unbelievers will be made alive. The resurrection of the unjust is also referred to as the resurrection of damnation, or judgment (John 5:28,29). We can see more about the resurrection of the unjust in Revelation.
Revelation 20:13-15:
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell [gravedom] delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell [gravedom] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
With the first and second resurrections completed, all shall have been judged—sentences passed, rewards given—according to the works done when they were alive. After the gathering together and the resurrections of the just and unjust, all the dead will have been made alive.
God doesn’t want us to be ignorant. Isn’t it astounding the clarity He wants us to have? Straight from His Word we can come to a knowledge of the truth, and we can know with absolute certainty what happens after we die. We don’t have to wonder or worry about what the future holds. So next time you’re out shopping (or out anywhere) and you run into someone who is bothered by not knowing this truth, you can stop and tell them!
More information regarding death and resurrection can be found in the book Are the Dead Alive Now? by Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille. This exemplary research work clearly sets forth the accuracy of the Word regarding when the dead will be made alive and much more, and it is available for purchase at our online Bookstore.