UNDERSTANDING: Beyond This Life
What really lies beyond Death? …..
There is one subject that very few people like to talk about. The brave person who dares to introduce it in conversation can receive the kind of look that says, “You’ve raised something I don’t want to discuss.” To many people it is not a pleasant matter. They are afraid of it, and for this reason they refrain from talking about it. The unpleasant subject is death.
Why are people afraid of death? What makes it, in the words of William Dyer, “the king of terrors, and the terror of kings”? There is an unknown element – and it is this that causes the fear. What, if anything, lies beyond the grave? Do the pleasures of life continue, or do we pass into oblivion? Instead of facing up to the fact of death, millions prefer to adopt the motto, “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die,” (1 Cor.15:32). They reason that since we are going to die (later, we hope, rather than sooner) we might as well enjoy living now and fill our lives with pleasures. Fear of the unknown is thus repressed and replaced with an obsession for material things.
How can we know what lies beyond the grave? Sometimes an individual will remark, “If only someone would come back and tell us.” Someone has! The Lord Jesus Christ died and came back to life again. He was seen on one occasion by a crowd of more than five hundred. (1) There could be no doubt that the same Man who had died upon a cross was walking on earth once more. He holds the keys of Death! (2) We must therefore listen to Him.
A PRESENT REALITY
The Bible states that “it is appointed unto men once to die,” (Heb.9:27). Even unbelievers accept this statement! For many, death is the only certain thing about life. It is an appointment that cannot be cancelled – and it is not always possible to postpone it either. As author John Blanchard has remarked, “Man can defy gravity, but not the grave.”
Death claims people across the whole world from all walks of life. Old and young, rich and poor, kings, presidents, paupers, and beggars all die. Both the intellectual and the ignorant die. Just visit a typical cemetery and take a look at the inscriptions found on tombstones and you will see what a comprehensive thing death is. Some enjoy a full life and die, like Isaac, “old and full of days” (3). Others die tragically and unexpectedly in accidents, while undergoing operations, or as victims of famine, war, or murder.
WHAT HAPPENS?
Have you ever been with someone as they died? It is strange to look at the dead body and to realize that only seconds before the person was still there. Every human being is tripartite and consists of spirit, soul, and body, (1 Thess.5:23). At the moment of death a separation takes place, with the soul and spirit leaving the body. The Bible tells us that the spirit returns to God who gave it. (4) The body is left behind. If the person had trusted Christ as Saviour, at the moment of death they go at once to be “with Christ; which is far better” (Phil.1:23). This is described as being “absent from the body …. present with the Lord” (2 Cor.5:8). The soul and spirit are not asleep in His presence. Those who pass into the glorious presence of the Lord are very much conscious of being there! It is the body that sleeps in death.
For unbelievers, what happens at the moment of death is very different. On one occasion our Lord Jesus Christ drew aside the curtain and revealed the condition of a rich man who had died without faith. The incident is recorded in Luke 16:19-31. We read of him after death being “in torments”, still having his memory, and being aware of the bliss of others who were saved and were in the Lord’s presence. He could not cross over to where they were, however, for “a great gulf” separates believers from unbelievers after death. It is “fixed”, and movement from one side to the other is impossible. The rich man knew that there could be no escape from the place of torment. For this reason it is pointless praying for the dead. The Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory is erroneous. Reformation of character cannot take place after death – and neither can salvation.
Believers, when they die, enter the presence of the Lord because they have been saved by His grace – not through any works of their own. (5) Unbelievers pass from this life into eternal torment from which there is no escape. The Bible calls this place Hades. (6)
RESURRECTION FOLLOWS
The Lord Jesus is described as “the first begotten of the dead” (Rev.1:5). Although He died, He was raised from the dead – never to die again. “Marvel not at this,” He said to those who were questioning His authority, “for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth” (John 5:28-29a). Just think of it – every person who has ever died will be raised! He who called Lazarus by name to come forth from the tomb (7) will one day raise all who have died. Some think that by having their bodies cremated they will prevent such a thing from ever happening. Nothing, however, will prevent resurrection from taking place. Even the sea will yield up the bodies that are hidden in its depths (Rev.20:13). This will not all happen at the same time. There will in fact be two resurrections, separated from each other by an interval of a thousand years.
The first resurrection (otherwise known as the resurrection of life) is the resurrection of believers only. It will take place when the Lord Jesus returns from heaven with a shout of command to claim His own (1 Thess.4:16). The bodies of all believers will be raised in a split second and be instantly transformed, as explained in 1 Corinthians 15:52. Each one will receive a body like Christ’s own glorious body, according to the working of His own mighty power (Phil.3:21). What a moment that will be! “We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn.3:2). The soul and spirit of each believer will be reunited with the body (now wonderfully remade) and will be like Christ for all eternity – living in a glorified, resurrection body. At that moment of resurrection living believers will also be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. They, together with those raised believers, will be taken to heaven to be with the Lord for ever.
The second resurrection is also known as the resurrection of damnation. (8) This is the resurrection of unbelievers. Revelation 20 describes this solemn moment (one thousand years after the first resurrection) when the bodies of the unbelieving dead are raised to stand before God. Appearing before His “great white throne” they are judged according to their works and, because their names were never recorded in the book of life, they are cast into the lake of fire (Rev.20:5a, 11-15). They have experienced the torment of Hades already in spirit. After their resurrection they go “into the furnace of fire” where there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mt.13:50).
The judgment of the Great White Throne is for unbelievers only. No true child of God will ever stand there. Instead, Paul tells us, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor.5:10) for our lives to be reviewed and our service for the Lord to be evaluated. Some will be rewarded for faithfulness; others will experience loss (1 Cor.3:12-15). This judgment, however, has nothing to do with salvation.
THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
Death casts its shadow over so much of life, but for the Christian it remains just that – a shadow. David in his beautiful and much-loved Psalm could declare,
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me” (Ps.23:4).
There is no need to be frightened of a shadow! It can be terrifying to meet a savage dog that growls and snarls menacingly, but the shadow of a dog cannot harm anyone. Notice, too, that in Psalm 23 David writes about walking through that valley. It is not a place where anyone stays; it is just a place of passage. However, there is something even more comforting to consider – and it is this fact: no believer will experience that valley alone. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who cares for His sheep. He has promised that He will never leave or forsake them, and He will be with them even if they do have to tread that “valley of the shadow”. Our triumphant Saviour has overcome death’s sting! (9) No longer is death to be feared for those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.
AFRAID OF DEATH
Are you afraid of death? Does a chill go through you when you think of the time when you will pass through “the valley of the shadow”? There is no need to fear if you are saved – but is Christ your Saviour? Willingly He came into this world to “taste death” for us (Heb.2:9) upon the cross. It is vital to trust Him for salvation if you have never done so, because He died for your sins. If He is your Saviour He will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb.13:5) – not even in the presence of death itself.
It is important to be ready for death because so often it comes unexpectedly. The true believer, however, waits not for death but for the coming of the Lord. Paul counted himself among the living at the Rapture (Christ’s coming for His own) when he referred to we “which are alive and remain” at that moment (1 Thess.4:17). Someone put it this way: “We are not looking for the undertaker but for the Up-taker” – the One who will take His people up to their heavenly Home. If you are a child of God, make the triumphant words of H.G. Spafford’s hymn your very own and rejoice in the prospect that awaits you:
“But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming, we wait;
The sky, not the grave, is our goal:
Oh, trump of the angel! oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope! Blessed rest of my soul!” (10)
END NOTES:- (1)1 Cor.15:6. (2)Rev.1:18. (3)Gen.35:29. (4)Eccl.12:7. (5)Eph.2:8. (6)Lk.16:23, NKJV. (7) Jn.11:43-44. (8) Jn.5:29. (9)1 Cor.15:55. (10)Hymn 274 in GOLDEN BELLS: When peace, like a river, attendeth my way.