People often fear
death. “The ancient philosopher Epicurus (341–270 BC) recognized that the fear
of death was present in everybody and therefore he sought a way to remove that
fear. Epicurus taught that humanity not need fear death because human beings
are nothing more than a composition of atoms which at death simply disperse and
that is the end of things. Epicurus didn’t believe there were any gods to fear
or anything to face once a person breathed their last. His teaching of maximum
pleasure in this life with minimum pain and suffering dictated that everything
ends when death occurred.” The Epicureans believed, “When the dust has soaked
up a person’s blood, once he is dead, there is no resurrection.” Maybe that’s
the way you look at death. There’s an alternative for you to consider.
Despite this and other philosophies that deny death, there is still great fear and uncertainty about death. Again in Job is says death is the “king of terrors” (Job 18:14). In the movie the Bucket List, a movie about coming to grips with death, one of the dying characters state, “WE all want to go on forever, don’t we? We fear the unknown. Everybody goes to that wall. Yet nobody knows what’s on the other side. That’s why we fear death.”
Despite this and other philosophies that deny death, there is still great fear and uncertainty about death. Again in Job is says death is the “king of terrors” (Job 18:14). In the movie the Bucket List, a movie about coming to grips with death, one of the dying characters state, “WE all want to go on forever, don’t we? We fear the unknown. Everybody goes to that wall. Yet nobody knows what’s on the other side. That’s why we fear death.”
There is One Person who
has gone to that wall, passed to the others side and has returned to tell us
what to expect. That Person is Jesus Christ. No credible scholar doubts that
Jesus was an actual historical figure. Scholars also accept Jesus performed
miracles. There is universal agreement Jesus was crucified and died. But it is
the resurrection that makes Jesus the expert Who can answer our question about
death and if there is an afterlife.
1.
Jesus tells us there is life (eternal life) after
death.
2.
Jesus tells us that when a person dies there are two
possible eternal destinies a person can experience; one negative; one positive;
one to be avoided at all costs; one to be sought at all cost.
3.
Jesus tells us there is a way to assure and ensure that
we experience a positive eternal destiny.
First, that Jesus
taught there was existence after death is seen in the following verses. The
Sadducees denied the resurrection but Jesus said to them:
Mark 12:26-27 - But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”
Jesus states those died
in the past still have an existence.
Jesus comforted His disciples with the words:
Secondly, Jesus taught there were two eternal destinies. Jesus said:
Luke 16:22-23 - So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels
to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23
And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes
and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
He speaks again of two eternal destines when He states:
Matthew 25:46 - And these will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
John 5:25-29 - Most
assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, 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 to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not
marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will
hear His voice 29 and come forth—
those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done
evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
In Hebrews it states:
Hebrews 9:27 - And as it is
appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
So
it’s pretty clear from the expert on life after death that there is life after
death and that that existence poses two possible destinies; one very bad; one
very good.
Finally,
is it possible to determine our eternal destiny? Is it possible to avoid hell
and secure heaven? The answer to this question is a clear YES! In John chapter
3 Jesus had a very down to earth conversation with a religious Pharisee named Nichodemas.
You might think a religious man like Nicodemus would have a confident
understanding about the afterlife but he
did not. This shows us being
religious does not secure heaven in the afterlife.
What did Jesus say was necessary to secure
heaven in the afterlife? Listen to what Jesus said to this religious man:
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water
and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do
not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it,
but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is
born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered and said to
Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to
him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know
these things? 11 Most assuredly, I
say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not
receive Our witness. 12 If I have
told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell
you heavenly things? 13 No one has
ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of
Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, 15 that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God.
The
person who turns from their sins to God (repents) and
receives Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, the afterlife will consist of
an eternity spent with God.
But
for those who reject this good news of the Gospel, their destiny will be spent
in an eternity separated from God’s presence.
Jesus
said:
Matthew 7:13-14 - “Enter by the narrow gate;
for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the
way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
One commentator states:
“G. B. Hardy, a Canadian Scientist,
once said, "I have only two questions to ask. One, has anyone ever
defeated death? Two, did he make a way for me to do it also?" The answer
to both of Hardy’s questions is “yes.” One Person has both defeated death and
provided a way for everyone who puts their trust in Him to overcome it as well.
Epicurus may have believed that everyone fears death, but the truth is no one
who trusts in Christ needs to be afraid. Rejoicing in this fact, the Apostle
Paul wrote, “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and
the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your
victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’" (1 Corinthians 15:54–55).[1]
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