In heaven’s diagram death is but the beginning—the first letter of the first sentence in the first paragraph of the first chapter of the great story that God is writing with your life. Life is not the beginning and ending, but solely the ending of the beginning. Consider this assurance from the apostle Paul: “We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13 JB).

God transforms our hopeless grief into hope-filled grief. If a Christian perishes before the rapture, that person’s spirit immediately enters the presence of God, and that person enjoys conscious fellowship with the Father and with those who have gone before.

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