The Word for today:
John 11:1-27
Mark this: John 11:25 --
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Over the next three days, we will be in Bethany--with Jesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We will be considering questions about life, death, and resurrection which are prompted by Lazarus' story.
Today, Stand in the Rain will answer a question which Sheri asked us via Facebook--
Hi, Mr. P.--
I was wondering what views your Church has about the After Life. I love learning what different churches think about this.
Hi, Sheri !--
I do not in any way want to come off sounding like a wise guy, but it's important for you to know that...
I don't know what views my church has, because I don't believe in church.
I believe in Jesus Christ--the one found in the Bible. He's a lot different than the one I thought he was before I read his self-description in scripture. I'd heard about him from movies and from preachers and popes. But the Jesus of the Bible is not the Jesus of popular culture or even the Jesus proclaimed from many pulpits.
The Biblical afterlife, the one you and I and everyone will participate in, will be a matter of those who are either--
a. in a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ; or
b. separated from relationship with God by sins that have not been dealt with at the cross of Jesus Christ.
The Bible does not teach cessation of existence. 'Life' in scripture means relationship with God. When John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will have eternal life--the emphasis should not be on the word 'ETERNAL.'
Because all of us--those saved when Jesus Christ took the punishment for their sins upon himself; or the unsaved who take the punishment upon themselves--all of us have eternity, with or without God.
What Christ did at the cross is give us LIFE--he restored our relationship with God which had been broken by sin.
So LIFE--this life or the afterlife--does not consist of merely breath or consciousness. Life consists of relationship with God.
Heaven, then, isn't a place. Heaven is a relationship. Heaven is a person.
The Kingdom of God is not a place but a person. The Kingdom of God is the King.
Heaven, then, is Jesus.
Those without Christ--who have not restored their relationship with God through the forgiveness of their sins by faith in the work of Christ at the cross--will continue in consciousness, but separated from God by their sins. They have eternity, but not life--because they have not God.
So, in a nutshell:
The Bible teaches that--
a. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12).
b. Heaven is to be with God--a relationship, more than a "place."
Hell is to be without God--a lack of relationship, more than a "place."
c. Heaven, because of God's presence and the eradication of sin, will be delight upon exponentially multiplied delight.
d. Hell, because God's presence is withdrawn, will descend into the horrific consequences of self-centeredness and pride.
*************
I don't know, Sheri, where your relationship with God stands. If at any time you want to restore the relationship, then by faith--belief and trust--receive forgiveness through Christ.
Faith in Christ means that you let him pay the wages of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23).
Without him, we pay the wages of sin ourselves.
We invite God in through a short prayer, like the one found here--
http://www.lockportalliance.org/next_step/make_a_decision.htm
God bless you and keep you,
Franklyn
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