Today, we tackle the ultimate God Question “What Happens When I Die?” It is an incredibly important question, but a lot of people just try to ignore the fact that we’re all going to die. However, death is not just the end.
Death really is the beginning of another existence that will continue forever. No matter what difficulty or pain you experience in this life, no matter how bad or how long it lasts, it will be over in 100 years or less. Eternity will never be over, it continues on forever and ever. So we’d better have an understanding of where we’re going to live for eternity. It’s a lot more important than many of the things we spend our time on in this life.
NIV Ecclesiastes 3:11 [God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. There’s something in every human being’s heart that wants to live forever, that wants to enjoy life for more than 70-80 years. People spend billions trying to look and feel young, yet nothing can stop the reality of death. Death comes to the rich and the poor, to the powerful and the weak, to the smart and the no so smart. Today, there is a big interest in life after death.
Near death experiences are recounted in many places. A near death experience is generally when someone is close to dying and they go through some sort of out-of-body experience and then are revived. Now most near death experiences we hear about seem beautiful, yet research shows that at least half of these experiences have to do with hell, rather than heaven. Most people think they are going to heaven, yet Jesus tells us that most people are going to hell. NIV Matthew 7:13-14 For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. The road to destruction in eternity is wide and many people are on that road. The road that leads to eternal life is narrow and only a few find it. Far too many people assume they are on the right road, when they are headed straight for an eternal train wreck.
The horrors of hell are far worse than anything you could imagine. The wonders of heaven are far better than anything you could imagine. Why worry about eternity now? Because your view of eternity will shape your life today. Likewise, the choices you make in this life will determine your eternal destiny.
To hear more about this topic, listen to my June 24, 2007 message entitled What Happens When I Die?