The Other Side of My Last Breath

When we take our last breath, we shed the flesh we inherited from Adam and Eve, and we step into eternity. For a Christian, this is a marvelous event. Loved ones and family rightly grieve their loss, but for the believer who has “fallen asleep¹,” this event is glorious. The Apostle Paul wrote:

So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. – 2 Corinthians 5:6–8

Just as Jesus promised the thief on the cross, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise².” so we too will be with Jesus when we are on the other side of our last breath. We will be with Christ our Savior, but we will not yet have our glorified bodies³.

We will be alive and living with Jesus, but we must wait to be united with our new bodies. There will be a day when all believers will be “caught up” by Jesus. When He does this, we will receive our glorified bodies. After this, the Church, the Body of Christ⁴, celebrates the marriage supper of the Lamb⁵.

There are several events for us once we are on the other side of our last breath. We will individually give an account to God of what we did with the life He gave us. For believers, this is not about salvation since we have already submitted to Jesus and received His redemption.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.”
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
– Romans 14:10-12 ESV, emphasis added.

Also, believers may receive rewards in heaven. Jesus said, “Be happy about it [persecution]! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way⁶.” Also, we each have a home in heaven⁷.

Just as some will receive rewards, others will suffer loss.

But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
– 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NLT, emphasis added.

So, incomprehensible joy awaits all believers when the appointed time comes for us to take our last breath⁸. We will receive a new body; we will receive a new home; we will be saved from eternal punishment; we will see Jesus face-to-face⁹, and we will be with Jesus forever. As believers in Jesus, death holds no fear.

This concludes the message I felt the need to communicate. What follows are answers to two common concerns.

Will Jesus say He never knew me?

Many sincere believers are concerned with what will happen to them if they aren’t “paid up, prayed up, and ready to go!” Allow me to encourage you. We are all called to live a holy life. Still, none of us get to heaven because of any “good deeds.” Jesus, our Lord, entirely accomplishes this work.

The Bible does say that there are rewards people may receive for their obedience to Christ, but this has nothing to do with salvation. One passage that scares some devout Christians is:

On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. ‘But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
– Matthew 7:22-23

Here’s the thing: we can’t fool God. Only people who do the Father’s will are Christians. What is this “work” we must do?

Jesus was asked, “ ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’ ” (John 6:28–29). We do the Father’s will when we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Belief begets action. When people put their faith in Jesus, they change. They begin to express their faith in Jesus by doing what He does – crying with those who cry, rejoicing with those who rejoice, helping the hurting, telling people their salvation stories. These are just examples, not a yardstick. What we know is that “faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).”

The progress of sanctification ( leaving worldliness and living righteously) varies vastly from Christian to Christian, but Jesus knows everyone on this spectrum. You may have lived a lifetime and barely moved the needle. That’s not right or good, but you’re on the spectrum. If, when a man comes before Jesus and tells Him about all the “spiritual” things he’s done, but he is not on this spectrum, then it may be that Jesus does not “know” him.

What about the rapture?

Every believer should eagerly anticipate the Lord’s return. We should join with the Apostle John:

He [Jesus] who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
– Revelation 22:20

Some believers bristle at the word “rapture,” saying this word never occurs in the Bible. I believe there is plenty of room for Christians to hold conflicting ideas about the rapture, but we should not use the excuse that the word “rapture” isn’t found in the Bible.

The New Testament was written in Greek. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 has the term “caught away.”

then we who are living, who are remaining over, together with them shall be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in air, and so always with the Lord we shall be;
1 Thessalonians 4:17, Young’s Literal Translation

The term “caught away” or “caught up” in Greek is ‘harpazo.’ The Latin word is “rapturo” from which we get the English word rapture. When Jesus fulfills the promise in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, all Christians – physically dead or alive – receive their glorified bodies. We can call it harpazo, rapturo, or the rapture; it’s all the same. We, as body, soul, and spirit, rise up and live forever with Jesus, our Savior.

There will be a rapture. Both the living and the dead Christians will receive glorified bodies. Nobody knows when this will happen.

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Footnotes

1. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – The Return of the Lord. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/1_thessalonians/4-13.htm ↩︎
2. Luke 23:43 – New International Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved January 14, 2025, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2023%3A43&version=NIV ↩︎
3. Philippians 3:21 – Citizenship in Heaven. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/philippians/3-21.htm. “Who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” ↩︎
4. 1 Corinthians 12:27 – The Greater Gifts. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/12-27.htm ↩︎
5. Bible Gateway passage: Revelation 19:7-10 – English Standard Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2019%3A7-10&version=ESV ↩︎
6. Matthew 5:12 – The Beatitudes. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-12.htm ↩︎
7. John 14:3-4 – New International Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014%3A3-4&version=NIV ↩︎
8. Job 14:5 – Job Laments the Finality of Death. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/job/14-5.htm ↩︎
9. 1 Corinthians 13:12 – Love. (n.d.). Bible Hub. Retrieved January 15, 2025, from https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/13-12.htm ↩︎