What Happens When People Die

I am going to type this out straight from Wayne Grudems Systematic Theology so here goes nothing!

1. The Souls of believers Go Immediately into God's Presence.
Death is a temporary cessation of bodily life and a separation of the soul from the body. Once a believer has died, though his or her physical body remains on the earth and is buried, at the moment of death the soul (or spirit) of that believer goes immediately into the presence of God with rejoicing. When Paul thinks about death he says, “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Co 5:8). To be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord. He also says that his desire is “to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Phil 1:23). And Jesus said to the thief who was dying on the cross next to him, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). (Paradise is simply another name for heaven) The author of Hebrews says that when Christians come together to worship they come not only into the presence of God in heaven, but also in the presence of “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. 12:23). However, as we shall see in more detail in the next chapter, God will not leaver our dead bodies in the earth forever, for when Christ returns the souls of believers will be reunited with their bodies, their bodies will be raised from the dead, and they will live with Christ eternally.