Life after Death
If we’re going to some distant place on holiday, the first thing we do is we start to think about the place we’re going to and then we start to think about how we’re going to get there and the journey to this place. Also, what do we need, passports, special visa’s etc. We need to know what clothes to pack. There is a bit of preparation involved. If we’re travelling by plane or ship for the first time it can cause a bit of anxiety and stress, because we don’t know what to expect, and it’s all a new experience
Well one day we will all face the journey where we cross over from this life to the next, and just like we give some thought when we’re going away from home for an extended period, we should also give some thought to what happens when we die. What happens when we die is foundational in Christianity. And while it is undoubtedly a sad time for those left behind, we Christians have been given the revelation of resurrection and eternal life through Jesus Christ! This is not wishful thinking, because we have at least 3 witnesses in the Bible who have gone to heaven and come back and told us about it (Paul, John and Jesus, and we will talk about this later). We also have seen Jesus die and resurrected again from the dead, so we know resurrection happens. Further, the word of God , the bible makes it very clear that life does not end when you die;
John 5:24-27 New International Version
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
Now we know where the righteous in God, go after death… remember Jesus talking to one of the thieves on the cross Luke 23:43 “today you will be with me in paradise”, in Rev 2: 7 “… the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
But even with the knowledge of the promise of paradise, the process of dying can still be a daunting time for those at the end of their life. There may be anxiety and fear because it’s an unknown experience and we’re not sure what will happen, or maybe a fear of what will happen to those left behind, or maybe a fear of whether God will accept us and a fear of judgement. Let’s look at those few issues first before we move on.
Firstly, in terms of this being a daunting and “scary” time remember when you get off at your “bus stop” (To use a metaphor for dying), you will not be on your own and you will NOT die alone. Jesus be with you.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NKJV 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Jesus will be with us instantly! Absent from the body, present with the Lord! When we depart the body, we are immediately with the Lord. So, you’re not alone.
But more than that there will be angels to guide you as well!
Luke 16:22-24 NIV
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
Yes, its quite reasonable to be anxious about the unknown, but remember you are going to have angels supporting you in the presence of Jesus and a welcome that is out of this world. I’m not making this up this is in the word of God!
Sometimes there is a fear of leaving others behind and what will become of them. But I am comforted by the fact that Jesus reminds us; just look at the birds, they don’t have anything, yet God looks after them! Just entrust your family and those left behind to God,
Timothy 1:12 12 …. I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
He will guard what you entrust to Him!
. Maybe some fear, that God will not accept you, you’re not good enough? Jesus tells us that those who receive Him, believe in Him, He gave the right to be called children of God. You are His child. Look how a father receives his long-lost child… the parable of the lost son:
Luke 15:11-32 The Parable of the Lost Son
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Jesus is waiting for you, arms open wide…. why….because He loves you dearly!
If only we knew how much Jesus loves us, loves you, me!
Paul prays in Eph 3:16 that we may have the power of Christ in our hearts that we may GRASP how wide, and how long and how deep is the love of Jesus for us, a love that surpasses all knowledge, so that when we grasp how much He loves us, we may be filled in all fullness in God!
Jesus loves you, that’s why He will run to you with arms open wide! He does not reject His son who has come home.
So, moving on I just want to touch on this word Paradise.
in Rev 2: 7 “… the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God”. Also, Paul was caught up to “paradise” in 2 Cor 12:4, and Jesus said to the man on the cross “today you will be with me in paradise”.
Its root meaning is a Royal Garden, a walled and beautiful garden. I often think of this analogy given by some, which is so appropriate. It like we’re on a bus, with all our luggage and were going along the road of life. Right next to the road is a wall that surrounds these beautiful royal gardens. When you come to your own bus stop, you have a personal ticket through Jesus Christ to enter this majestic and wonderful place. Though you may be anxious, and you’re going to have to leave all your possessions on the bus, you are going to be welcomed and celebrated by the angels in the presence of Jesus. Your soul leaves the bus and enters directly into paradise. Into the presence of Jesus. You have a ticket, the seal of God to get into paradise.
For those not in Christ Jesus there is a separate place for them- different bus stop! We’ll talk about that shortly.
However, the soul entering Paradise is not the end of the road. There are two major things still have to happen, resurrection of the body and judgement. For those in Christ Jesus it’s a joyous occasion, for those who have rejected Him, its a terrible time!
Matthew 10:28 New International Version
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).
So after death while the souls of the righteous go to paradise, but souls of the unrighteous go to hell – the English word we use for the Aramaic Gehenna. Interestingly the word, ”hell”, is older than Christianity and originally meant a hidden place, quite appropriate as you will see. Today it means a place of eternal torment and separation from God. Looking at that word Gehenna, that Jesus originally used in Aramaic, we find that Gehenna was originally the name of a valley in Jerusalem, where there was no direct sunlight so it was a cool place. It became a place for Royalty to stay. Over a period of time it eventually became a place of pagan worship where they worshipped Molech which practiced child sacrifice. An evil evil place. Josiah when he became King saw how detestable all this was and destroyed it. He called it Tophet- a place of spitting. No one was allowed to build there after that and it was subsequently used as a refuse dump. Waste, food even criminal bodies were dumped there. Worms and maggots would be found in the waste. Fires were occasionally lit to burn the waste. Some of the imagery of hell comes from this.
Mark 9:47-48 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’
It eventually became known as the Valley of Hinnom. The same place that Judas died and where his body was disposed of. Jesus’ body would have been thrown there if Joseph of Arimathea had not given Him a tomb!
So two separate places for the righteous and unrighteous. One goes to a place called Heaven or Paradise and the other to a place we call Hell.
Do you realise we have three witnesses who have been to Heaven and have returned and told us about it: Paul who ascended into paradise and returned (2 Cor 12), John when he was on Patmos (Rev 21:10) and of course Jesus. We know everything we need to know about heaven from those that have actually been there!
The word of God gives us this picture of Heaven and Paradise where there is no sin, no suffering, no hospitals, no death or mourning. A place where there are thousands and thousands of angels in joyful assembly and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect (Heb 12). Over and over again we see in the bible that people are recognisable. You will see people/family you know and they will know you.
There comes a time when we will all be given new bodies, a resurrection of a physical body. This happens for the righteous on the return of Jesus
1 Thessalonians 4:16 NIV
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Corinthians 15:20-25 NIV
. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24
He goes on to write; at the sound of the trumpet, the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, the perishable clothed in the imperishable!
Those not in Christ, the rest of the dead, the unbelievers are not resurrected until after the thousand years, of the Millennial Kingdom, is at an end (Rev21:5)
Revelation 20:5 New International Version
5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)
So the First Resurrection was for all believers, and the Second Resurrection is for all unbelievers.
Lets quickly talk about judgement
We all face a judgment of faith, and that is made by choices you make in this life! There are no second chances. You choose to receive and believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus now in faith or you reject it. Once that sin in your life is washed away by the blood of the Lamb, then you can only be judged by what is left in your life and what is good. This means for believers that any further judgement of works can only be for rewards and occurs at the coming of Jesus.
2 Timothy 4 New King James Version
4 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
In contrast those who have rejected the cleansing work of Jesus ie all unbelievers, at their resurrection they are judged, and we read about that in Revelation 20. Its called the “great white throne” judgement.
Revelation 20:11-15 NIV The Judgment of the Dead
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Now why did I do this message today. So that when you come to your “bus-stop” you know
You have the ticket, the seal of the Holy Spirit into Paradise
Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
You will not be alone – there is nothing to fear. To be absent from the body is to be present with our Lord!
You are good enough to go to heaven- not because of what you have done, but because of the grace of Jesus and what He has done. Think of the welcome the Father gives the prodigal son/daughter!
For those left behind you need not worry, He has looked after the smallest of birds for thousands of years!
Your name is engraved on the palm of His hand- how can He ever forget you! (Is49:16)