What Happens When We Die?

“For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:7-8 NLT)

According to Karl Albrecht Ph.D. the greatest fear we all share is death, but knowing Jesus can eliminate that fear and turn it, in some respects, into a longing, should help us see death in a whole new light. My sense is what we fear about death is the “unknown,” but if the curtain is raised and we’re given insight and understanding as to what to expect, what is there to fear, as long as we know Jesus intimately and personally?

For me, my concern isn’t death, but dying. I’ve watched many loved ones, friends, and others waste away, unaware they were even still alive. I’ve often heard said and even thought myself, why doesn’t the Lord just take them home? Life is precious and if the Lord allows someone to remain alive their life has a purpose. But how?

Especially if relationships have been strained and there hasn’t been a “meeting of the minds” over whatever has kept them apart, the one(s) left behind can wrestle with letting their loved one go, hoping and praying it will enable them to make amends or at least come to terms themselves, before death robs them of the opportunity.

At other times we suffer with guilt for not being the person we’d hoped to have been for the one who is dying, now realizing it’s too late. Time is no respecter of persons, so death can attack anyone at any time, regardless of age. It behooves us to set aside our personal hurts and make amends with anyone with whom we have an issue now, while there’s time.

According to Scripture when we die as a believer in Jesus, we will see as we’ve been seen, or, in other words, no one will have to explain anything to us. Everything, including the truth about our own lives, will become crystal clear. That’s why no one will make excuses for their sin, we’ll see clearly why we’re going to heaven or hell. That’s why there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Luke 13:28) as we agonize our fate in view of our current knowledge that we refused to see while living.

As believers we’ll be united with Christ or, if not a believer, separated from Him for all eternity. After death there will be no more chances to repent or make things right with the Lord. That’s why it’s just crazy to put off giving our lives to Jesus. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Once we leave this body, we’ll either be filled with peace and a deep sense of relief or filled with fear and a deep sense of guilt and regret. There’s nothing of which I have more certainty than that the Bible is true, Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be, and I have an eternal home in heaven with the Lord and with my loved ones who knew Jesus and have preceded me in death.

The beauty of knowing Jesus is that you don’t have to have a high IQ, but you do need to be smart enough to recognize that you can’t save yourself from your own sin. Satan and his devilish emissaries all have certainty also, not that they’ll go to heaven, but that they’ll be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity. I’m not the sharpest pencil in the box, but – hmmm, let’s see, heaven and all it’s bliss, peace, and eternal joy or agony, misery, loneliness, isolation, and eternal damnation.

I’m no rocket scientist, but that’s a no-brainer to me.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊