“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27
You finish surfing the net, you pack up your stuff and walk outside. You’re crossing the road and a truck runs a red light and kills you. What happens next?
It’s the ETERNAL question. Is there life after death? Are we destined for dust, reincarnation or an eternity in Heaven or Hell? Those seem to be the options.
If you leave this computer and die – what happens to you? Do you know? Are you sure? Are you ready to say goodbye? If God is there waiting to judge you – do you know what you’ll say? If you’ve spent a lifetime ignoring him you better have a convincing argument ready.
There are plenty of people who claim to know. Some describe white lights. Some say your life flashes before your eyes. Australian media mogul Kerry Packer famously declared nothing happened after he was clinically dead for four minutes. Others with near death experiences disagree with him. Four minutes of “clinical death” is obviously not “final death” the death that Hebrews 9 promises – the one followed by judgement. You only live once. You only die once. What happens then?
It’d be great if we could talk to someone really dead – someone who’s been truly dead who has comes back. In person – not through a medium. An eyewitness. Someone with first hand experience.
The Bible teaches that Jesus did this. Died and came back. That he was dead for three days. That’s more than 2000 years longer than Kerry Packer has been dead. The Bible mentions that more 500 people saw Jesus after he came back.
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:18
The Bible has some pretty scary things to say about death. Judgement is empty without the threat of condemnation and punishment. Judgement without punishment is a joke. Some people will be condemned. Worse still, some people are already condemned and only death is keeping them from the judgement of God. They “Stand condemned already”.
The good news is that not all are condemned. Jesus also said:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall 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 3:17
Believing means putting your trust in Jesus to rescue you from the condemnation. It’s getting serious with God. Faith in Christ is the only way to assurance that you’re not condemned. No other religion makes promises about the afterlife with such conviction.
It’s easy to dismiss this. It’s easy to say “that’s your opinion” and close this page. But what happens if you’re wrong? What happens if you die tomorrow?
If we accept Jesus as our God and Saviour, seeking His forgiveness, He grants to us eternal life. If we reject Him, we face His judgement. What will you do?
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