Have You Given Any Thought To Your Afterlife?

According to the Pew Research Center over 70 percent of Americans believe in a heaven, and over 60 percent believe in a hell. Whether you are a senior in your final quarter of life or a younger person, death is certain, be it by natural causes, a fatal accident, or terminal illness. Yet, it is a topic that is not talked about. I think that is because most people just assume they are going to heaven so it is nothing to be concerned about. However, the question is asked. “Can anyone really know what happens after this life?” There are many people, mainly Christians, who have assurance based upon the teachings of the Bible, that they are going to heaven. Others are not sure. But why would anyone not want to go to heaven? It is described in Revelation 21:4 as a place where God “will wipe away every tear from our eyes, death shall be no more, neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain,  for the former things have passed away.”

The following is a written account of a person who died in a tragic accident, saw heaven, but was brought back to life to tell about it. As I entered heaven, “joy pulsated through me as I looked around, and at that moment I became aware of a large group of people…As they rushed toward me, I didn’t see Jesus, but I did see people I had known [who] had died during my lifetime. Their presence seemed absolutely natural.” * “Conversely, I have had a few sincere people relate (understandably) very privately, that they had experienced a hellish torment at death.” **

Authors Kerry and Chris Shook write, “One moment after you die, you’ll experience the greatest celebration or the greatest separation ever. Heaven and hell are real places, and we have a choice of where we will spend eternity…God loves you so much that he died for you, but he let’s you choose whether or not you will love him back and desire to be with him for all eternity.” ***

What determines where a person goes after this life, based on his or her free will to choose? In John 11:25 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and anyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  Romans 10:9 says, ”If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Saved from what? From hell, and God’s soon coming judgment upon this world and the godless humanity that has chosen to not honor God, to suppress the truth, and exchanged the truth of God for a lie. (Romans 1:18-32).

It is not about religion, doing good works, or even going to church.  It is acceptance of Jesus Christ as your one and only personal Savior and inviting Him to have a personal relationship with you. 

* Don Piper, “90 Minutes in Heaven”, Revell Publishing, 2004, pages 38-39.

**Ibid, page 24

*** Kerry and Chris Shook, “One Month to Live”, Waterbrook Press, 2008, page 216