Monday, August 5, 2024

What happens when we die? Statistics don’t lie—none of us will make it out alive. Because of the certainty that death will come to each of us, it makes sense to spend some time considering what our afterlife might look like. We could get some information from Jesus. He’s the only one I know who lived, was put to death, buried, and then came back to life. This is what he told us:

John 14:6
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

This is a very exclusive claim: Jesus is the only way to the Father. But just as no one can come to the Father but through him, anyone can come to the Father through Jesus. Jesus is not limiting our opportunity in this statement. He is clarifying the question that haunts us.

If we believe that all good people go to heaven, then how good is good enough? There are no grades or percentages! How awful would it be if you missed heaven by one percentage point, or you lacked one more good deed? God would be a monster if he set the game up without telling us the rules to win! Our souls will spend eternity somewhere. Jesus describes two outcomes.

Those who believe in Jesus will pass into eternal life in God’s presence.

John 5:24
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”

Those who do not put their faith in Jesus will spend a godless eternity. Many people joke about spending eternity in hell, partying with their friends. But there will be no friends and no partying, only a desperate sense of separation from the one who makes all things good. The one who created us to love and serve him by loving and serving the people he has put in our lives.

The bottom line: Your life today will determine your eternity. And what you decide to do about Jesus today will impact your life forever.

Questions:
What choice have you made about Jesus? Do you know where you will spend eternity?

Next Steps:
Read this quote written by former atheist C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity. Discuss it with a Group or a friend, or reflect on it in your journal:

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.… You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

We welcome your questions! Please attend GrowthTrack, and let us discuss any doubts you have about following Jesus. Our pastors and Prayer Team members are also happy to help.

Prayer:
Gracious Father, thank you for sending your Son to teach me about your love. It is amazing that you would offer such a precious sacrifice in my place so I could be restored to a loving relationship with you, the most holy God. Help me to live with confidence in the peaceful light of your love each day as I trust you now and through all eternity. In your beautiful name I pray, amen.

Series Theme Verse:

Hebrews 3:14
For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

This post was written by Lauri White, a regular contributor to the LivingItOut Devotional.