To Die Is To Be In The Presence of The Lord

Compass psychotheology asserts that everything about Christianity is interpersonal. This means that no human being is alone in his or her existence; that every person is born, lives, and dies in an interpersonal relationship with God and others.

To highlight this truth we can look at human death in a new light, and lose our fear about it. The physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ foretells what will happen to every Christian.

Jesus' resurrection was an interpersonal event involving the love and power of all three Persons of the Trinity (John 10:17-18). Jesus said he had to power to lay down his life and take it up again. We also know that the Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead (Ro 8:11), according to the Father's plan. The important insight is that although Jesus felt very much alone and filled with dread at the moment he became the atoning sacrifice for our sins, he was not abandoned by the Father and the Holy Spirit.

We, too, may feel alone or helpless at the time of death. We may see it coming through a terminal disease, or it may strike suddenly in a fatal car crash. Either way, we are not alone. If Christ is our personal Savior, the Trinity infuses us with the same resurrection power that raised Christ from the grave. We can feel comfort knowing that Jesus has proceeded us in death and will awaken us to eternal life.

Jesus rose from the dead through the creative renewing of his original body, a body now glorified, deathless, and ascended into heaven until his Second Coming. You will receive a body like Christ's, vital and everlasting, when you die in him, or if he returns during your earthly life (1 Cor 15:50-54). 

“It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength” (I Cor 15:42-43).

It won't have mattered if you died in an airplane crash, were incinerated in a fire, or drowned in the ocean. It won't have mattered even if you suffered the pain of cancer or passed away quietly in your own bed. To die is to be in the presence of the Lord. And to be in the presence of the Lord brings joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8). Indeed, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (Psalms 116:15).

What have I learned as a psychologist about dying? I've learned to lose my fear of dying by intensifying my trust in Christ's resurrection and the Spirit of God's power to resurrect me. It has proved helpful to reflect on my mortality. I have often imagined myself dying and waking up seeing Jesus. Though I have never seen his face, I will see it then. And though his human eyes first looked into the eyes of his disciples, they will then look directly into mine.

The interpersonal significance of the resurrection lies in how our unique personalities are preserved through death and brought forward into eternal life with God and the community of the redeemed. Our original selves in Christ, seeing him face to face for the first time, will answer all of our earthly questions, and lead to a fascinating and never-ending life in Heaven.