When someone dies it is a sad event and sometimes a tragic one. Christians grieve like anyone else who loses someone they love; but we do not believe that is the end of the person.

For us death marks a change, not a full stop. When we die we are released from age, suffering and the limitations of our body, and we are in God’s hands. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, so he can raise us.

To stand face to face with God is what Christians call judgment. All of us will need to account for the way we have lived and for the way we have loved or failed to love God and neighbour. But God is also a God of forgiveness and peace. Our hope is that we can stand before God not relying on our own holiness but on the love of God shown in Jesus.

If all life comes from God, then so does new life. God who made us in our mother’s womb can also re-make us to share new life in glory. We do not return to earth, but dwell in God’s presence. We do not get old, or change or decay; life is eternal. This new life, seen first in Jesus, is the climax and triumph of God’s love. Whatever happens in our lives, good or evil, the ultimate destiny of humans is to be with God in his eternity.