I Thessalonians 4:14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
“Dad had an amazing send-off. All of the family was together with him and he died peacefully last night around 9:30. The good vibes that he put out during his lifetime came back to take him up.” These are the words of Bob Hope’s daughter Linda, the day after his death.
So, what’s your version of what happens to you after death? Is it that if you’ve put enough good vibes out there, they’ll come back to take you up? Or maybe, you believe that you haven’t done very many bad things and you’ve never done anything illegal, so you’ve earned a place in heaven.
It is strange, and particularly sad, how many people think that their loved ones who’ve passed away are going to go to heaven. I call this the marshmallow gospel; it’s nice and fluffy but there is absolutely no value to it. Death is tragic and I understand that people don’t want to think about the eternal fate of their loved one’s soul while dealing with the separation from their physical presence, but we must deal realistically with the questions of life and death.
Whenever I hear someone share their beliefs, the question that comes to mind is, “So what happens to you after death?” This is a question so many people just want to avoid. They choose to live their life in ignorance so that they don’t have to answer the tough questions. Where did I come from? Am I just a product of a random coupling of molecules? Is there a creator?
I think the last question is so difficult to answer because no one wants to deal with the consequences of the affirmative. If there is a God, we automatically become socially responsible, in some way, to live under the rule of that creator. If there isn’t a God or if we just don’t think about it, we are free to live as we please. Such blind ignorance!
On the other side of that, many people say that they believe there is a God but their understanding of Him ends there. If we do not deal with the questions of our eternal fate, we are relying on our hope to put us where we want to be. We hope that our relative makes it to heaven. We hope that we will go to heaven and have a peaceful afterlife.
The reality is that we were either formed by random chance or created by God. If we were formed by chance, eternity ends when our bodies turn back into dust and our spirit dies. If we were created, we are automatically responsible to seek out who that creator is and live under the facts of what we find out.
So my question to you today is where did you come from and where are you going? If you don’t know the answer, I dare you to read the Scripture and find out. If you do know, I dare you to ask your family and friends that same question.
These are questions that we all must come to terms with. God has given us the Scripture and the Holy Spirit to show us the answers and to make us sure of our eternity. Find out the answers so that, at the end of your life your family will not say that the good vibes are coming back to take you up.