The Christian never dies, for God is the God of the living and not the dead. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Jesus said to the criminal hanging next to Him on the cross, "Today, you will be with Me in paradise." My mother compiled these verses posted on the LTW blog in praise to the Lord for the blood He shed for us on the cross and the gift of eternal life.
There is no "soul sleep" for the Christian. Jesus died so that we may live! Apart from salvation, the Scripture clearly teaches that people are sinners and will die in their sins. God offers the FREE gift of forgiveness through Jesus and the blood He shed on our behalf.
Not only do we escape death though faith in Jesus, but our eternal life begins at salvation in a relationship with the God of all creation. By accepting the crucifixion of Jesus as atonement for our sin, our penalty has been paid, and we no longer have to be separated from God. However, in order to be saved we must agree with God about our condition before Him as helpless sinners in need of a Savior with no way of saving ourselves. Karma cannot save. There is no salvation in reincarnation. "Lost souls in the air", as they are often described in reincarnation, are demons according to the Bible. Demons are counterfeit spirits sent to deceive with the ultimate goal of preventing people from knowing Jesus, their only hope for forgiveness, eternal life and everlasting love. Though the spiritual world of the occult is very real, spiritual life based on truth and holiness only come through believing in the Jesus of the Bible who died and rose again. He was not a mere "christed energy." He would have had no reason to die if that had been the extent of His "christ-consciousness." Such a "New Age Jesus" is described by false teachers to have been "highly evolved," yet these same occult gurus cannot explain why He suffered and died on the cross. It is because they have a different savior than the true Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Matthew 24:23-24 warns that "false christs" are being taught.
Jesus was God, who humbled Himself to come and pay the penalty for our sin in full so that we can live forever. The book of John is a wonderful place to start to read more about the "Incarnate Word of God" who came and dwelt among us.
