“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 NASB2020
It is difficult when a loved one dies including a believer. As Christians we know that we have eternal life in Jesus. We have our hope that when Jesus returns we will be resurrected and spend all of eternity with Jesus. However, as we navigate this world we can be more of used in the temporary that that which is eternal. So death is still difficult to face and accept, especially, when they are young of still in their prime. In these instances we can think that death may be a judgment when people die prematurely. Is death judgment for believers?
Once we are saved and born again, there is this warring between our flesh and spirit. Our spirit has been renewed in Christ and our flesh must be crucified daily so we do not give in to the lusts of the flesh. We are called to walk be the Spirit send not the flesh. This is the battle every Christian faces. Even of we are living be the Spirit we are still in our bodies that are still corruptible. The Apostle Paul write a about our longing for our resurrected bodies and to be with Jesus.
As long as we are on the earth and in these bodies, there is a longing to be with Jesus. Our spirit groans to be clothed in the body God has designed for is that is no longer corruptible. We want to be with a Jesus and experience our resurrected bodies. So, when a believer dies, they are not really gone they are absent from their body but present with the Lord. We can find great comfort in this. Also for the believer death is not judgment. We will all face judgment at the Judgment seat of Christ for our works in the earth. These works whether good or bad will be judged be Jesus and we will either receive a reward or suffer loss. We have confidence in Jesus Christ that every believer has conquered death. That is why we can rejoice and be comforted when a believer dies because they are present with the Lord.
Reflections 