NRS Luke 23:43 He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in
Paradise."
NRS John 5:24 Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent
me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from
death to life.
NRS John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who
believe in me, even though they die, will live,
NRS John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in
me. 2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it
were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to
myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
NRS 1 Corinthians 15:51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not
all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For
this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put
on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on
imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that
is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in
victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O
death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved, be
steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you
know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
So the Bible clearly indicates that there is life
after death. We are not completely sure whether that life is physical or
entirely spiritual, since Christ after the resurrection was both, walking through
walls and doors, appearing and yet ate meals and was touched and felt. But it is clear from the worldly arguments that Biblical proof does not fulfill the requirement of many as proof of the existence of something. Sadly I believe that this convicts us in our own belief strength. God intends that we accept that God is real and that what God tells us is also real and full of the authority that we need.
In an earlier discussions we used a method to
decipher whether or not something was true. That method is based on scientific logic in order to arrive at what the world determines is truth. Let us use this same method
tonight. Our measure of whether something is true was to first look for
historical or scientific evidence of that truth. Then we look at the
collaborating witness to that truth to determine whether or not something
happened. So let see what happens when we apply that to this topic.
First is there historical or scientific evidence
to life after death? Truth is we have little evidence as to whether or not there
is life after death and yet, we have the Law of Conservation. Why is this law
important? It says simply that energy cannot be created or lost, nothing comes
to be that does not already exist and nothing perishes. It can be changed but
it cannot be destroyed. Hmmmm. So if our human existence is a form of energy
and I think all of you would agree that we are, then we understand that we
cannot be created or destroyed. OK! If we cannot be created then we came from
something. The Bible again helps with this. We have two passages that we know
from Genesis that tell us that we are in fact created from something so that
passes the first test.
NRS Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.
NRS Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the
ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall
return."
And what then do we go to. The scriptures from the
early reading clearly indicate that we are going to be with Christ in a new
place called Heaven.
Still not convinced? Well let’s look to the second
test, collaborating evidence. If we Google life after death books there are 591
million hits. If we begin to look at those books what we see is book after book
listing people’s experiences in a place they call heaven. I had an Aunt Cora
who slipped into a coma when she was young. She came out of the coma and told
everyone until the day she died that she had been with Jesus and he told her
she would live be a certain age. She died the year when she said Jesus had told
her she would die. I had a great conversation with a Hospitalist in Farmville.
He said that his experience was so dramatic that he believed that there is a
heaven and a hell because of it. He said that he has been present at thousands
of deaths and that many smile, reach out to someone, some say names, some say
Jesus but all of the ones who seem to see something beyond us seem peaceful
except. The exception is that some see something that frightens them so much
that they cry out, Not there, oh please not there. What do you make of that? During the Sunday night discussion several people witnessed to the stories of seeing into a place of flowers, of peace and joy and being at the bedside of those who were passing into the next realm and their final words and actions which also lead witnesses to understand that there is something else beyond this physical life.
Still not convinced? Using a model for proving or disproving a theory certainly gives credibility to the fact that there is something beyond this physical life. Our Christian faith tells us that there is a heaven and a hell. What do you think?
