At the end of last year, I wrote a post Facing my Fears. I spoke about how I was facing surgery, and my fears about all sorts of things, including the timing, the operation, the recovery, and the risks, including death. Well, as you can see, I survived. The results were good – no sign of cancer. Soon afterwards, we set off for our long caravan trip to Tasmania and have been having a marvellous time.
But, a few days ago, the symptoms that prompted the surgery recurred. Now what? My first reaction was to quietly panic. After that settled, I jumped to the worst-case scenario. But I don’t want to die!
I felt incredibly sad, which surprised me. I know death is not the end of my life. I’m a Christian, and all Christians know that because of Jesus we will live forever in heaven.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NIV)
I wondered why I felt so sad. Perhaps it’s because I thought of all the things I have yet to do in life. Not a bucket-list of fancy holidays, or places to visit, or exclusive experiences. No, I don’t have a list like that. Although, I do have a few regrets about things I didn’t do. I was sad as I thought of relationships that I wouldn’t get to have with my new and unborn grandchildren. I thought about all the time I’ve wasted and continue to waste – especially on social media. I don’t want to die.
I thought about how so many people don’t know how to get to heaven, and yet, all too often, I’m too scared, or too lazy to tell them. I’ve got this blog (thank you for reading it!), and yet, I don’t always tell people about it.
I’ve met dozens of people on this trip and every one of them, including me, is going to die.
Everyone is going to die (whether they want to or not)
Death, that inescapable fact, is one of the main reasons for the existence of this blog. One of the big questions of life is: What happens when/after I die? It’s not a question that we ask on a normal day, and the world would tell us not to ask it at all.
It’s a difficult thing to talk about death. Everyone has their own view. And after we’re dead, it’ll be too late to come back and warn others. My late uncle used to say death can’t be too bad, because no one ever comes back. It’s true that no one comes back, but for some, it’s probably not because they are having a good time.
The world would have us believe that we don’t need to think about death. It won’t happen, at least for a very long time. And when it does, you will just cease to exist, and there will be nothing to worry about. It will be just like the time before you were born. Some say we will turn into an angel, or a star. Some say we’ll be a ghost and come back to either watch over, or to haunt the people we knew.
I don’t believe these answers are correct. It seems that many others, deep in their hearts, also wonder if these are just fairy stories to make us feel good as we try to forget, or at least postpone, the inevitable. It seems most of us don’t want to die. reddit.com/i_dont_want_to_die
I’ve heard people say that they are going to be cremated and have their ashes spread. Their thought is that if their bodies are burnt, they will be totally gone to nothing. The Bible, however, says that we cannot escape God’s judgement.
People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.
Hebrews 9:27 (NIV)
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. 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. 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. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV)
These verses are very confronting. After reading them, maybe you want to take the advice of the world: You’d better just live wild and free now, because life is short.
Yes, life is short. None of us know how much time we have left on Earth. But eternity is long. Very long. We were made to live forever. The big question is – Where will you be spending eternity?
Look back at John 3:16. Jesus died for the whole world, so everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
And he [Jesus] died for all
2 Corinthians 5:15a (NIV)
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29 (NIV)
Won’t everyone go to heaven?
So, if Jesus died for everyone, doesn’t everyone go to heaven after they die?
God is merciful and heaven is a free gift, available to everyone. Yet, the verses above from Hebrews and Revelation make it clear that not all people will go to heaven.
Everyone will be judged. So, does that mean that if I’ve lived a good enough life, I can go to heaven?
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5 (NIV)
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)
God says we are conceived in sin and born sinful. We can never be good enough to save ourselves. Even our best deeds are just like filthy rags. So our good works can’t get us to heaven.
It is only because Jesus died to pay the price for sin, all sin, everyone’s sin, that we get to go to heaven.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
But not everyone believes in Jesus. Perhaps they think they don’t need to be saved from the consequences of their sin. Perhaps they don’t understand their own sinfulness. Perhaps they think they are good enough on their own. After all, they haven’t done anything really bad. Perhaps they think that Christianity is just a made-up religion and plenty of other religions could be just as valid. Perhaps they don’t believe that God could be so cruel as to punish our sin. Perhaps they don’t believe that there is a God.
God doesn’t force anyone to believe in Him, but He has given us evidence of His existence in His wonderful creation. And He has given us His word, the Bible.
God is just. He does punish sin. But, amazingly, Jesus, Son of God, true God and true man, took ALL the punishment for ALL the sin.
Stop and read that last sentence again.
God is just. All sin must be paid for. And God is merciful. Jesus has paid for all sin.
Heaven is a free gift, available to everyone. It’s free to you, but it cost Jesus EVERYTHING!
I don’t want to die, not yet anyway. Only God knows when my life will end, and that’s OK.
What I really don’t want, is for you not to know about God’s free and wonderful gift for you. I don’t want you to be languishing in hell forever.
What I really want is for you to be in heaven too. That’s what God wants too!
I can’t make you believe in God. That’s not my job.
But, while I’ve still got time, I want to share God’s answers to your big questions about life, about death, and about life after death.
What about you?
Where do you think you’ll be spending eternity?