The apostle Paul says:
I Thessalonians 4
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with HIM.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (go before) them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
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Christians will then be taken to that new heaven and new earth created by God for those who belong to God.
Revelation 21:1-5 (the apostle John says)
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and HE will dwell with them, and they shall be HIS people, and God HIMSELF shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And HE that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
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When a Christian dies, he is removed from that dead body and his spirit sleeps in Jesus. When Jesus returns for the church at the end of this world, his spirit awakes and he is taken with the other Christians to live in the new heaven and new earth, the new Jerusalem which is created by God for all resurrected Christians.
So only the dead body is in that grave on this earth.
The spirit of the dead person has left the dead body and sleeps in Jesus. (I Thess. 4:14)
Therefore it is a "pagan" act to visit graves and weep over the dead as if there is no resurrection.
This is what the pagans do. Instead we as Christians testify to the resurrection.
Instead of going to grave yards and decorating graves, I just stay home and thank God for the resurrection that is through Jesus. To me the person who has died is not in that grave but sleeps in Jesus as the apostle Paul told us.
When I think of my parents and my aunt and uncle who are dead, I never picture them in a grave on this earth. That is only the dead body. I see them as being risen and sleeping in Jesus.
For the body without the spirit is dead. (James 2:26)
At the moment of death, the spirit of that person leaves that body.
The dead body is no longer that person we knew. That person we knew lived in the body but has now left that body and sleeps in Jesus and is no longer there.
I don't go to graves. Instead I think on the truth and see the dead in Christ as risen and as temporarily sleeping in Jesus.
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