Skip to main content

Eternity Now!

Life after death has always fascinated humankind. For example, “Christian Book Distributors”, an online bookstore, has more than 2813 books on its website that have to do with heaven, hell or life after death. From the Egyptians with their pyramids and mummies, to all the movies and books that our culture produces, we want to know what is to come.

1 Corinthians 15 gives us some answers, sort of anyway. In this chapter, we are told that life after death is real (verses 20-28). We are assured that our physical death will not be the end of us and that our Spirits will live on. “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (verses 51-52).

Now, the Bible does not answer all our questions about death. For example, it never tells us where heaven will be, what our new heavenly bodies will look like, or even exactly what we will be doing in heaven. In fact, the Bible’s discussion of life after death has less to do with “curiosity” and answering all of our questions as it does with “motivation”. When the Biblical writers think about eternity, they see it as a reason to live a different kind of life here.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (verse 58).

Old time preachers used to say, “Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people”. In other words, this is our time to get ready.

“One day I am going to die and most of what preoccupies me and drains me will recede into nothingness. But the dead in Christ will rise” – John Ortberg.

If we are living in God’s kingdom now, we will continue to live in that kingdom in eternity.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Terrible Trade

            I used to have a Wayne Gretzky rookie card.               However, when I was 12 years old I did not like Wayne Gretzky, so I traded the card to my brother.   A few years ago, I remembered that incident, so I went looking for the card. Sure enough, there is was in a box in my mom’s basement.   Now here is the thing:   even in bad shape, Gretzky rookie cards sell for around $250.   Needless to say, that was not a good trade on my part.   I simply did not recognize what I had and so I traded away something valuable for something with almost no value at all.             With that in mind, notice how the letter to the Galatians starts: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which...

Don’t Be a Tourist

                  From the moment that God told Abraham to leave his home and follow him (Genesis 12:1-3), God’s people have understood that they are on a journey.                 That being true, the essential question becomes, “How are you making that journey?”   T here are two options: You can be a tourist or you can be a pilgrim.                   Tourists leave their real life behind for a little while so that they can visit another place.   Generally, they travel in groups and do not mix much with the local people.   They hit the highlights of various regions, but they do not really experience what it is like to live in that part of t...

A Good Funeral

As I write this article, it is Monday morning and I am getting ready to go to a funeral. As I think about the day ahead, I am not anticipating a sad day. There will be sadness in it, some tears will be shed for sure, but this will be a day of celebration. For as long as I have known them, and for many years before that, George and his wife Doris have been faithful followers of Christ. Their faith was not just something that they talked about or something that they had in name only. Rather, it was something that influenced how they lived, what they valued and how they saw their entire lives. George was not a very vocal man, but he was influential. His home was always open to anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay. In fact, that is how I first met them. When I was an intern, preaching in the town of Wawota , I stayed with George and Doris. When our Bible camp needed a place to go for a hayride, George and Doris were the first ...