Matt 22:31-33 “But about the resurrection of the dead-- have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
Rev 6:9-10 “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"
So, what happens in this period after the body dies and before Christ’s return?
Although some will teach the unsaved soul never wakes up. I am surprised that some evangelicals hold that view because the concept of hell is so repulsive. You can’t change the truth just because you don’t like it.
Some will point to the passages when Jesus raises people from the dead in the New Testament. He refers to them as sleeping and it seems that even when He tells them to get up, He is talking to them as if they are alive. “Lazarus come forth” “Little girl get up.” He is commanding their spirits which are conscious. As G. Campbell Morgan says: “The body was dead. The man was not dead. No man is ever dead when his body lies dead!” The soul of man will never enter into a state of non-existence nor unconsciousness.”
The Lord allowed three disciples to see Moses and Elijah with Jesus on the Mountain of Transfiguration in Matthew17 in forms they could recognize.
We get a glimpse behind heaven’s curtain in the book of Revelations 6. Notice the souls are communicating with the Lord asking about the time for His return. We know at the return of Christ there will be bodily resurrection.
Luke 16:19-31 relates the story of the rich man and Lazarus. It is a vivid description of these two having consciousness along with Abraham after physical death. Since this is a descriptive story, I believe we must take literally, that there is conscious awareness immediately after death and many who experienced near death experiences or even claimed to have died and returned to the body, are immediately made aware of something very real at the gates of the place of dead.
know there will be a final judgment and a resurrection of the bodies of the righteous when Jesus returns. After the millennium, according to Revelations 20, there is also a resurrection of the wicked or unsaved. Neither the resurrection nor the judgment had occurred in this passage of Lazarus. The rich man is pleading to give word to his brothers so they can get saved. The judgment hadn’t come yet and he is fully conscious of what is going on.
Application: Take comfort in knowing loved ones who died in Christ are presently with the Lord
Prayer: Thank You Jesus that I can be confident and know that to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord.” 2 Cor 5:8
