One comedian has quipped. “I don’t fear death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” Most of us would agree there is some truth to that statement. The mystery of “the other side” causes anxiety, if not downright fear. So, let’s confront the fear of death by considering what awaits us on the other side.

In his book, Finishing the Course with Joy, theologian J. I. Packer makes four observations from 2 Corinthians 5:1-10—a key passage in understanding what’s on the other side.[1]

1. A new body awaits each believer.

   One day, our earthly bodies, which Paul refers to as a “tent,” will wear out. That process might come from age or disease, but our bodies will ultimately cease to function. However, for the believer, this is simply a transition. Paul says we will have “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1-2).

2. Our new bodies will be fully fitted for our new environment.

   Paul describes the resurrected body as not being “unclothed, but that we would be further clothed” (2 Corinthians 5:3-4). Packer says that “in the new body there will be no sense, ever; of reach exceeding grasp, or desire outstripping capacity, or weakness sabotaging strength . . . All that is mortal and points to our mortality will have been ‘swallowed up by life’”.

3. We will be at home with Jesus.

   Today, God lives in us through his Spirit, whom God “has given us . . . as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 5:5). But in heaven we will be with Jesus. Our desire will be to please him, just as it should be now. “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).

At home with Jesus. That’s the desire of every believer! “Death is swallowed up in victory . . . thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54, 57).

Father,
Thank you for preparing an eternal home for our resurrected bodies to live forever in an eternal state of bringing glory to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[1] The four points in this devotional are adapted from J. I. Packer, Finishing the Course with Joy (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway), 87-89.