What happens immediately after death for a believer?
Thank you for your question. Death means separation, and for a person, physical death means separation of the soul from the body. For a Christian, since he also has a living spirit, it means separation of the soul and spirit from the body. At the point of physical death for a Christian, his soul and spirit are immediately transferred to heaven to be with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:3-8). His body, of course, is left on earth to be buried, cremated, decay, etc. This is all temporary. At the point of the rapture, our (decayed) bodies will be restored for the us, and we will live in eternity with our resurrected (glorified) bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We will return to the earth with Christ at His Second Coming to help with the administration of the 1000-year millennium (Revelation 19-21). Then, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1), and our permanent home for eternity will be that new earth.
For more information, please see my FAQ article at https://www.christiandataresources.com/frequentlyaskedbiblequestions.htm.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Owen