A. The communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church enjoy immediately after death is, in that their souls are then made perfect in holiness,¹ and received into the highest heavens,² where they behold the face of God in light and glory,³ waiting for the full redemption of their bodies,⁴ which even in death continue united to Christ,⁵ and rest in their graves as in their beds,⁶ till at the last day they be again united to their souls.⁷ Whereas the souls of the wicked are at their death cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, and their bodies kept in their graves, as in their prisons, till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.⁸

In WLC 82, that the communion in glory which the members of the invisible church have with Christ, is (1) in this life, (2) immediately after death, and (3) at the Last Day. Our present study deals with the second point.

Death for the righteous is, as we saw in the previous study, a means by which we may enjoy further and fuller fellowship with Christ our Lord. This is so because three things happen immediately upon our death.

Firstly, our souls are made perfect in holiness (see Heb 12:23). That is to say, the corruption of our nature is removed, and we are made not only sinless, but also unable to sin. In this life we are just by imputation of the righteousness of Christ; in the life to come (beginning with death) we are made just by impartation of righteousness of Christ.

Secondly, we are received into the highest heavens. This is clearly taught by the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, where he confidently asserts that "whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord" (v. 6) and "to be absent from the body" is "to be present with the Lord" (v. 8). The doctrine of ‘soul sleep’ such as taught by the Seventh Day Adventist Church is no doubt wrong, for Paul speaks about a conscious presence with the Lord (cf. Lk 16:19-31; Lk 23:39-43). Neither is the Romish doctrine of Purgatory biblical. No, God’s Word is emphatic that believers upon their death enter the highest heavens where we shall consciously enjoy the love of God to an extent that we are presently not capable of experiencing.

Thirdly, having been received into the highest heavens, we shall enjoy the privilege of beholding the face of God in light and glory. This does not mean that we shall see God with our natural eyes, for we will first enter heaven in our soul apart from our bodies. But we can have no doubt that we will see God in Christ when we enter into the highest heavens (cf. 1 Jn 3:2; Jn 14:9).

But this state of glorious communion with God is still not the final and fullest enjoyment of Him that we are capable of and destined to enjoy. For there will be a full redemption of our bodies. For though our soul enters the highest heavens, our body will remain yet in the present physical world. That body, being a part of us, is also united with Christ—for He laid down His life to redeem us, not just to redeem our soul. God according to His wisdom allows the body to die and to decay for a time. But one day, the same body will be raised, and we shall then enjoy God in Christ in body and soul forever and ever. The patriarch Job expressed this truth graphically when he says:

In a drastic contrast to this great privilege that the righteous will experience, the souls of the wicked are cast into hell immediately upon death. There they will "remain in torments and utter darkness" until the great day of resurrection and judgement. At that Last Day, when the righteous will be resurrected with a body adapted to enjoyment in heaven, the wicked will also be raised, but with a body of perpetual corruption that is adapted for suffering in hell. W