SEEK 30 – After Death
Question: Where do you go when you die? What is it like to be dead?
Bible Reading: Luke 23:36-43
Text: “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you; today you will be with me in paradise”
Recently I read an article in The Guardian by the philosopher, Scott Hershovitz in which he answered ‘questions that confound children and adults alike. I found it to be really sad. Although The Guardian printed it as something helpful and life fulfilling.There were two questions in particular where he gave not only a wrong, but also a dangerous answer.
Where do you go when you die? Homer, 7
“It’s hard to say for sure, since nobody who is dead can tell us. Some people believe in an afterlife – they think we might go to heaven if we’re lucky. But I think we simply cease to exist – that we aren’t anywhere. That makes some people sad. The universe will be around for billions or trillions of years after we have gone. We only get to hang out here for a little while. But I think it’s amazing that we get to be here at all – to explore the world and have fun. So enjoy it, Homer, and don’t worry too much about death.”
What is it like to be dead? Arthur, 8
“Same deal, Arthur. We don’t know for sure. But I think the answer is: it’s not like anything at all. Before you were born, there was nothing like the experience of being you, since you didn’t exist. And the same will be true when you’re dead. It won’t be like anything, since you won’t exist any more. And that’s OK – in fact, it’s good news. Being dead won’t bother you. You won’t even know that you’re dead.”
His whole message is – don’t worry. You are only here for a short time. Just enjoy it. And then you are dead. You will feel nothing. You will remember nothing. Indeed, in the context of the universe you are meaningless. IN the words of another philosopher, Bertrand Russell, you are a ‘blob of carbon floating from one meaningless existence to another”.
God gives us a very different answer. In a café in Chelmsford, England, I was once asked by a man with a big A (for atheist) on his t-shirt; “who do you think you are? You are just a speck of dust on a tiny planet in the midst of a vast universe”. To which I replied, “You are indeed correct, sir. If I accept your philosophy. But if I accept what God says, I am someone made in the image of the Creator of this whole universe, someone whose Son died that I might be in the new heavens and the new earth. In your philosophy I am worthless. In God’s I am priceless!”
In the book of Ecclesiastes 3:11 Solomon tells us that “God has set eternity in the human heart”. This means you and I have a sense of the eternal. Philosophers like Scott try to deny that sense of the eternal – but they are denying what their own soul tells them.When I was struggling, trying to be an atheist, I tried really hard to imagine not existing. It just didn’t work. I couldn’t do it. Eternity was set in my heart. I knew that when I died that was not the end.
So, what happens when you die? If you are a Christian, then it is as though you have fallen asleep. Like the thief on the cross in our text you will go immediately to be with Christ in heaven, and on the last day, your body and soul will be reunited, and renewed and you will live in the new heavens and the new earth forever. The billionaire owner of Tesla and Twitter, Elon Musk, tweeted ‘I don’t want to live forever’. And it’s not just the richest man in the world who thinks that. Recently I spoke to some teenagers who had exactly the same thought. But they do that because they are really saying that they don’t want to live this life forever. In heaven it’s a whole different life, in a wholly renewed world. I don’t know what that will be like. I cannot describe it – but I do know that it will be a million times better than the most beautiful thing you have ever experienced on earth. (See number 26 for the question is heaven boring?).
But not everyone goes to heaven. There are those who do not want to be with God – and so he grants them their desire. After the day of judgement, they go to the place that is without God – Hell. It is the exact opposite of heaven. A place – not of fun and a good time with your mates – but a place of loneliness, darkness, isolation and pain. AC/DC not only sang about a Highway to Hell, they also sang that Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be. But Hell is. There could be no worse place.
When you or I die, we will go to either heaven or hell. Jesus put it very simply to another philosopher/teacher, Nicodemus; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17). Why would you refuse him? Why would you choose heaven over hell?
Consider: Are you, like most normal human beings, scared of death? Why? Does the idea of the eternal frighten you? Where would you like to go when you die? Heaven or Hell? Why not accept Jesus’s offer of eternal life?
Recommended Further Reading:
What Happens When I Die? – Marcus Nodder
What Happens When We Die? – Chris Morphew
Prayer: O Lord Jesus, this is such a serious, strange and solemn subject. Sometimes it hurts us to think about it. Help us to look to you. Give us understanding. Save us from Hell, deliver us from death and bring us to live with you forever. Amen.
SEEK 26 – Is Heaven Boring?