We often find ourselves curious about death. We know that everyone who has gone before us has faced death, and we know that one day we, too, will face death. But it seems that the only ones who could answer the looming question of “What happens to us when we die?” are not around for us to ask.
What Is Reincarnation?
One prevailing theory about life after death is reincarnation. Reincarnation is based upon the belief that the entire universe exists in a never-ending cycle of life and death. Individuals live with the goal of becoming one with the universe. Their actions in this life either move them higher on the ladder toward this end goal, or they drop them lower on the ladder and further from the goal. 
Under this theory, individual souls that do not successfully become one with the universe before they die end up reincarnating (re-fleshing or getting a new body). If their actions were good enough to merit an advance up the ladder, they might reincarnate as a higher being. But if their actions were bad enough to merit a demotion, they may start the process over as a lowly creature like a cockroach. It is a constant cycle of birth, death, and rebirth until a person finally gets their life right.
Resurrection (Not Reincarnation) in Christianity
Reincarnation is primarily a teaching found in Hinduism and Buddhism. It is not a biblical belief, and Christianity does not teach that it is true. On the contrary, Christianity teaches that the actions and beliefs of this life are final at death and that there are no second chances. The Bible presents Jesus alone as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
(John 14:6). Whether or not a person believes in Him determines whether or not they will be resurrected to eternal life with Him in heaven or an eternal life apart from Him in hell.
Rather than teaching reincarnation, Christianity teaches about resurrection. Jesus lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary death, and then was resurrected from the dead.
Romans 6:8-10 explains that “if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.”
Jesus alone has conquered death to never die again, and He is the trustworthy Source for telling us what happens after we die. Indeed, Paul goes on to say that “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). The entire biblical message revolves around the resurrection of Jesus as the acceptable Sacrifice for our sins and the promise of resurrection into new life after death for those who have believed in Him. 
The afterlife, then, according to Christianity is resurrection into eternal life with transformed bodies and free of suffering for those who have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf and followed Him as Lord. The only alternative for those who haven’t believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior is to resurrect into eternal condemnation in hell.
What About Incarnation?
Though Christianity does not teach reincarnation, it does teach incarnation as one of its central tenets. These two phrases are often confused because they sound so similar, but they are completely different from one another. While reincarnation teaches that individual people are reborn into new bodies when they die based on their actions in this life, incarnation teaches that God in the person of Jesus took on human flesh and became a man. The literal meaning of incarnation is “to make into flesh.” So, the Bible teaches that the God of the universe was made into flesh in order to save His people.
This doctrine might seem overwhelming or complex, but it is true. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have existed as our triune God for all of eternity. To be God is to be holy, righteous, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, grace, love, and so much more. God the Father is everything that it means to be God. God the Son is everything that it means to be God. And God the Holy Spirit is everything that it means to be God.
When Jesus took on flesh, He added to His divine nature everything that it means to be human. He took for Himself a body, emotions, a will, a mind, a personality, and the ability to make decisions. While maintaining His divine nature, He added to Himself human nature. And though His human nature was confined to His human body, His divine nature was not. He lived a human life just as we do, but He continued sustaining the universe as He always has.
Why Is the Incarnation Important?
The Christian concept of incarnation presents us with a Messiah who is both divine and human. He is the divine Man, and this is necessary in order to accomplish salvation. There was an unbreachable gap between God and humans due to the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity. When Jesus took on human flesh, He became the Mediator, the Bridge between God and humanity. He alone lived a perfect life as a human, and He alone became the sufficient Sacrifice to receive the wrath of God on behalf of sinners.
The incarnation is ultimately an incredible mystery and an amazing miracle. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die on our behalf so that we could have a Path to eternal life through Him. We couldn’t make ourselves perfect again. We couldn’t make ourselves worthy again. But God did what only He could do by becoming Righteous on our behalf and cloaking us with His righteousness when we submit ourselves to Him.
Reincarnation is about people becoming perfect as a result of their own efforts and their own goodness. The resurrection is made possible because of the incarnation of Jesus, who lived the perfect life that we could not live on our behalf. Christianity teaches that Jesus alone is the Way to salvation because He came as God to satisfy His own standard perfectly and provide reconciliation to sinners. Rather than trusting in ourselves, we trust in the One who came to live, die, and be raised from the dead for our sakes. Praise the Lord for His good plan.