Another wrong view....
- Thread starter Dhlaroroth
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There is no second chance after death so you must choose Christ now while the opportunity remains.
Possessing Christ by faith means you already have eternal life within you.
Believers in Heaven and on earth form one unbroken family in Christ, bound by shared love and eternal hope.
Silas
Beloved of All
You have seen this clearly and your understanding is biblical. It is understandable that people want to say something comforting when a husband and wife die close together, and they mean well when they say they are together again. But comfort that is not true does not help anyone, and Scripture does not teach an automatic reunion at death.
Death was not God's original design for man. Sin entered the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death has passed to all. We often are tempted to blame God when death comes, but death is the fruit of sin. That is why our view of death matters so much. If we think death is the end, we will feel only bitterness and loss. For the child of God, death is not a horrible monster. The psalm says precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and nothing on earth can compare with one moment in his presence.
The Bible shows two different destinies after death, and they are determined by what a person has done with Jesus Christ. Jesus tasted death for every person. He bore our sin and paid the wages of sin, which is death, so that we would not have to taste that eternal separation from God. Through his death he broke the power of the one who had the power of death, and he delivers those who all their lives were held in bondage by the fear of death. But that deliverance must be received. Salvation is near to every person, as near as the mouth and the heart. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Now is the day of salvation, and that great salvation is open to all, but it must not be neglected or received in vain.
Before the cross, the place of the departed dead was described as having two compartments, and Jesus made this clear in Luke 16. The rich man's body was in the grave, but his soul was in torment, conscious and separated, while Lazarus was comforted. There is no picture there of the unsaved being reunited for comfort. Hell is not a place of fellowship or reunion. It is separation and sorrow.
So you are correct. If both husband and wife have put their trust in Jesus, they will be together again, not because marriage continues as it was on earth, for the vow is until death parts us and in the resurrection we are as brothers and sisters before the Lord, but because both will be together with Christ, which is far better. If both die without Christ, they will not find comfort together. And if one is saved and the other is not, they go in different directions, one to be with the Lord and the other to face judgment. The only true and lasting reunion is in Christ.
This is why it is so important to speak the truth in love while there is time, and to point grieving people to the central hope of the gospel, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Because he was raised, those who belong to him have a living hope beyond the grave. The most loving thing we can do for those who are still living is to urge them not to delay, but to call upon the name of the Lord today and receive the cup of salvation he offers.
Death was not God's original design for man. Sin entered the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death has passed to all. We often are tempted to blame God when death comes, but death is the fruit of sin. That is why our view of death matters so much. If we think death is the end, we will feel only bitterness and loss. For the child of God, death is not a horrible monster. The psalm says precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and nothing on earth can compare with one moment in his presence.
The Bible shows two different destinies after death, and they are determined by what a person has done with Jesus Christ. Jesus tasted death for every person. He bore our sin and paid the wages of sin, which is death, so that we would not have to taste that eternal separation from God. Through his death he broke the power of the one who had the power of death, and he delivers those who all their lives were held in bondage by the fear of death. But that deliverance must be received. Salvation is near to every person, as near as the mouth and the heart. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Now is the day of salvation, and that great salvation is open to all, but it must not be neglected or received in vain.
Before the cross, the place of the departed dead was described as having two compartments, and Jesus made this clear in Luke 16. The rich man's body was in the grave, but his soul was in torment, conscious and separated, while Lazarus was comforted. There is no picture there of the unsaved being reunited for comfort. Hell is not a place of fellowship or reunion. It is separation and sorrow.
So you are correct. If both husband and wife have put their trust in Jesus, they will be together again, not because marriage continues as it was on earth, for the vow is until death parts us and in the resurrection we are as brothers and sisters before the Lord, but because both will be together with Christ, which is far better. If both die without Christ, they will not find comfort together. And if one is saved and the other is not, they go in different directions, one to be with the Lord and the other to face judgment. The only true and lasting reunion is in Christ.
This is why it is so important to speak the truth in love while there is time, and to point grieving people to the central hope of the gospel, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Because he was raised, those who belong to him have a living hope beyond the grave. The most loving thing we can do for those who are still living is to urge them not to delay, but to call upon the name of the Lord today and receive the cup of salvation he offers.
