This is an age-old question that everyone asks at some point in their lives. This is even a question asked in the earliest dated book of the Old Testament. Job asked, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). Every worldview addresses this question. Every critical thinker asks this question. And every person that has faced his or her own mortality hopes that it is true.
Reasons We Believe There Is Life After Death:
Our first clue that there is life after death is that there is more to life than just ourselves, our circles of influence, and even our world. The universe shows us how small we are and gives a hint that there is something beyond ourselves. And the Bible tells us that there is life after death throughout. In Ecclesiastes 12:7, it states “The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Additionally, life after death (or eternal life) is part of the life of the resurrected Jesus. It is because of his resurrection that we know that there is indeed life after death. Paul invited his readers to hear the testimony of those who witnessed the living, resurrected Jesus (more than 500 people) in 1 Corinthians 15:6.
The connection between eternal life and the resurrected Jesus can be found in several more passages in the New Testament. In John 17:3, it states, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” And John writes again in 1 John 5:12, “Whoever has the Son has life.” And Jesus himself even told his disciples, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19).
These passages do not mean that everyone will spend eternity in heaven. In Daniel 12:2, we read that “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” Many have difficulty understanding why Christians, who teach love, also teach about hell. The most basic understanding of heaven and hell is that one (heaven) is a place to spend eternity with Jesus and the other (hell) is an eternity without Him.
God is a gentleman. He will give everyone an opportunity to have a relationship with Him, but not all want that relationship. For those that choose to be with Jesus here on earth, will spend eternity with him in heaven. He would never force those who did not want that relationship to be with him forever. For those who do not want a relationship with him on earth, they will not be with him in eternity – that’s hell.
There are unfortunate consequences for choosing a life without Jesus, however. Jesus is what provides the light in heaven, and the life, and everything else. If Jesus is not present, then there is no light, there is no life, and there is nothing else. In Acts 24:15, Paul states that “There will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” There are many passages that explain more about what hell is like: Revelation 20:10; Matthew 13:42; Matthew 25:46; etc.
In Ezekiel 33:11, God says that he has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” He desires all to turn back to him and experience abundant life now and eternal life (life after death) in the future. In fact, in John 3:16, it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
The only way to true life after death is through Jesus Christ. One must understand that God created everything perfect, but sin entered the world when man chose his own way over the way that God provided. But because the penalty for sin is death, Jesus came and lived without sin and died in our place to make it possible to have a relationship with God again. When He rose from the dead,it also provided a way for us to live forever; it provided life after death.
What Are The Implications If There Isn’t Life After Death?
We all live our lives for something or someone. Imagine a piece of tape on the wall going all the way around the room you’re sitting in right now. Picture yourself drawing a dot on the piece of tape. The dot represents our individual lives and the tape represents eternity. It isn’t a perfect analogy, but helps draw a picture of which one someone might want to live for.
Christians live looking forward to the tape (eternity and life after death). If we all live for the dot (the span of our single lives), then even if eternity exists outside of ourselves, we won’t impact eternity. But if we choose to focus on the tape (eternity and life beyond us), our eternal lives will be impacted even before we leave the dot (this temporary life).
If there is no life after death, then there is nothing to aim towards. It is a life void of hope because it is without purpose. What is the goal and purpose without life beyond this one? Making the decision to follow Jesus and have a life focused on eternity changes our perspective and gives us hope.
How Would That Impact How We Live Our Lives?
In 2 Corinthians 6:2, we read, “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.”
If you have not chosen yet to follow Jesus, but would like to do so, now is the time and the day. The decision gives hope for the future and beyond and provides a change in perspective towards life and towards death and towards life after death. It is simply a matter of acknowledgement of who God is and who we are in relation to Him and a determination or resolution to build a relationship with Him.
For those new to the faith and those who have been following a long time, discovering more about who God is and how he shows us to live is a matter of reading the Bible regularly and communicating with Him through prayer and worship. As that relationship grows, it develops perspectives that are in tune with Him and His will for the lives of those He created in His own image – us.
We can know that no matter what happens in this life, that there is hope in life after death where God will wipe away every tear, that there will be no more death, sorrow, pain, or suffering (Revelation 21:4). That we may have difficulty now, but that we can trust that God will deliver us to life with Him forever where all of this will pass away and He will make things right.
First published with Women in Apologetics.
