What Happens When We Die?

Life of the Church

Good morning everyone, it’s good to see you all here gathered together in worship.

I have a few announcements I’d like to mention from your bulletins as we begin this morning.

The men’s group will be meeting this evening at 6:30.

Our focus this month for Operation Christian Child is flashlights and batteries, tools, rope, and small fishing kits. You can leave those in the room across from Randal’s Sunday school room.

We’re also collecting paper products for Love INC. You can leave those either in the entrance to the sanctuary or in Randal’s Sunday school room.

The safety team will be meeting tomorrow night. If you’re a member of that team, please try to attend.

With summer Bible school approaching as well as the community revival, our playground and pavilion are in need of freshening up. The Building and Grounds team is asking for volunteers on Saturday, June 24, from 9-12, to pull some weeds and sling some paint. If you’re available, please come and help us out.

Harvey, do you have an announcement this morning?

Lastly, you may have heard that Brenda Johnson took another a couple days ago. She has a broken femur, and is at UVA. Please reach out to her and please pray for her and Danny as well. I know UVA has an e-card system where you can send cards to patients. Just Google “UVA e (dash) card” and follow some simple directions. And if you can’t figure that out, do what I do and ask Joanne.

Jesyka, do you have anything this morning?

Sue, do you have anything?

Opening Prayer

Father we are so thankful to gather in this place with you today, thankful for this family of believers who love you and love one another, thankful for this hour of quiet and peace in a world that knows only noise and discord. We ask that your presence be made known to us today. We ask that hearts and minds are opened, that lives are healed, and that your glory follows us. Be with us know as we lift up our voices, our prayers, our worries, and our fears to you, and let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you. For it’s in Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

Lord’s Supper

Today we honor Christ as the fulfillment of every desire as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. I’ll invite the deacons down front at this time.

Scripture teaches us that through Holy Communion, we connect with Christ not only in the memory of his death, but in the spiritual life he gives us. We have eternal life only with the life of Christ inside us.

I invite any who know Jesus as their Savior to participate.

(Bread)

Matthew writes that on the night of Jesus’s betrayal, he gathered his disciples in the very Upper Room where they would witness him resurrected. Each of the twelve were there.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

(Juice)

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” By him, we are made one with him. By his blood, we are made eternal. Amen.

Sermon

We’ve been spending the past weeks talking about the most frequently asked questions that people search for on the internet about God and the Christian faith. So far we’ve covered two of those — Why does God send people to hell? and Do we have free will, or does God determine everything?

Today we’re going to talk about something different. Today we’re going to talk about something happy, something absolutely fantastic, the greatest thing that will happen to you. Today we’re going to talk about death.

Strange thing to say, isn’t it? Because death has always been the one thing people fear most. It’s the great enemy. But it’s also the one thing that is guaranteed to happen to you unless Jesus comes back first. People go out of their way to avoid the thought of death. They think avoiding the thought of death is the key to happiness.

The Christian doesn’t want any of that. The last thing a Christian wants is to live this life in this world forever, because we know that there’s something infinitely better waiting a little further on. There’s a place where all of our deepest longings will be met, and that place is not in this world. It’s not in this life. Everyone understands that at some point in their life, regardless of what they believe. We all crave something that we look to this life to provide, only to find time and again that nothing in this life can. But C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

That says it about as good as it can be said. We’re not made for this world. We’re just passing through. It’s heaven we want. It’s going home. That’s our goal and our aim, to leave off the pain and suffering and weight of this world and exchange those things for eternal joy and peace and glory with Christ.

We look forward to heaven, so naturally we’re curious about what it’s going to be like there. Books about heaven sell in the millions. They can be entertaining and inspiring, but as Christians the Bible is our authority for Christian doctrine, including doctrine about the afterlife and heaven. So for true answers about what heaven is like, we need to turn there.

A lot of people think the Bible doesn’t really talk about heaven much. (that’s not true, by the way). But you would think that since everything in the Christian life is pointing to there, then whole books of the Bible would be devoted to what heaven’s like, and what we’re like in heaven, and what else is in heaven, and what we’ll do there.

That’s not the case though. What the Bible says about heaven is spread out in a lot of places. There are mentions instead of whole chapters, except for Revelation chapter 21. But that’s not a problem with the Bible, it’s a problem of the limits of the human mind and language.

Heaven is so completely different from this world that we don’t have any words to describe it. We can’t talk about what we’ve never experienced. So the main reason God chose not to give us more information about what’s waiting for us just ahead is because we’re so limited in what our minds can hold. Heaven is literally so wonderful that in this world, we just can’t stand it. But what we are given of heaven in the Bible is plenty, and we’re just going to touch on the very basics today.

The question we’re going to answer is, What happens when you as a Christian dies?

We’re going to be going all over the New Testament today, but I want to focus first on Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We’ll be reading verses 1-10:

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

And this is the word of the Lord.

I’m going to make you a little uncomfortable for a minute, but just hang in there and bear with me. I want you to think about your last breath. None of us know what sort of circumstances our last moments will be, but we all know that at some point (very far down the road, I’m sure), you’ll take your last breath. Your purpose on earth will finally be fulfilled. So what happens to you in that next moment, when you join all those who went before you in finally discovering the answer to the greatest mystery there is?

According to the Bible, if you are saved by Christ, the moment after your last breath, you are with him. Paul says if you are absent with the body, if your body is dead, then you are present with the Lord. You don’t die and simply go extinct. You don’t die and cease to exist until Christ comes again and resurrects the dead. You don’t die and go to sleep. You pass immediately from this world into a better one. Your final glimpse of this world is going to be followed by your first glimpse of Jesus.

In Luke 23 we see Jesus on the cross between two criminals. One of those criminals speaks evil of Jesus. The other asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus goes back to heaven. That’s all he does — he doesn’t ask Jesus to save him, doesn’t ask Jesus to forgive him, he just wants Jesus to remember him. And Jesus answers that criminal and says, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Not at the end of time. Not after a period of waiting. Today. The moment you breath your last breath on earth, you are instantly transferred directly into the presence of God, and there you will be forever.

Your body is designed to break down over time, but your soul is designed to live forever. Death is just the separation of those two parts of you. That’s what Paul says here. He writes in verse 1 that “this tent” — by tent he means our bodies, they’re temporary and easily taken down — “if this earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” The building from God and the house not made with hands is the resurrection body that God will give you. That will be your permanent eternal body for your soul.

Now verse 4 — “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened — not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” Paul’s saying it’s not that we want our body and soul separated. We want to be in that resurrection body that will never break down and fade, that perfect body that’s made for perfect souls. Paul would rather live until the second coming so that he’ll be immediately clothed in that resurrection body.

But then he says in verses 5 and 6 that he really can’t lose, because if he dies before Christ returns, he’ll be in the presence of the Lord. Death isn’t going to do anything but bring you even closer to Jesus — so close that you’ll be able to touch him and talk to him, so close that you’ll never again be away from him — and Paul says he’d rather be absent with the body and present with the Lord. In fact, in Philippians 1, Paul says that for the Christian, to die is gain. Because to die means heaven. It means a paradise where we enjoy the presence of God in complete peace and happiness while we wait for resurrection.

In just a few short paragraphs, that’s what happens when a Christian dies. Sometimes that death involves pain. Sometimes violence. Sometimes death is as easy as slipping into bed. But in any case and in every circumstance, the actual arrival of death for you is going to be a moment of pure peace, because you’re going home to the Lord.

But that passing from this life into the next is just the start of the things we often wonder about. They’re important things, but they’re also nagging because the Bible doesn’t come right out and give us the answers. So finding the answers means reading the Bible carefully and using both the mind and the imagination God gave us, while also understanding that the answers we come up with might not be exactly right. But if they’re not right, it just means the real answers are even better.

For example, here’s a question that gets asked a lot: What will we look like in heaven? If our bodies are still here and our souls are there, are we going to be able to tell each other apart?

The answer to that is absolutely we will. If you remember when we talked about the rich man and Lazarus a few weeks ago, the rich man lifted his eyes from hell and saw Abraham and Lazarus. He recognized them and knew who they were. Which is interesting, because of course the rich man would know what Lazarus looked like. He had known Lazarus during his time in the world. But the rich man should have no idea who Abraham was or looked like, because Abraham had lived and died centuries before.

There are other examples we can look to. God himself has no body. God is spirit. But the Bible records people who have visions of God, and in those visions God has some sort of heavenly body. When Jesus was transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John, Moses and Elijah appeared. The disciples had never seen those two men — like Abraham, Moses and Elijah had lived centuries before — but the disciples knew who they were. In heaven we may be away from our bodies, but our souls are uniquely us, and we will be able to recognize ones we never even knew in life, and be with one another.

That’s a very important point, because being able to recognize one another plays into another question — what are we going to do in heaven? That’s probably the first question most people ask. That’s how our society is built. The first question we ask someone we meet is, “What do you do?” But love never asks that question first, does it? The first question love asks isn’t, “What do you do?” it’s “Who are you?” And so much of heaven deals with answering that question.

The Bible isn’t clear on everything we’ll do in heaven, and again, that’s because so much of it is beyond our imagination. But scripture does speak to a few things, and it’s all around that question of “Who are you?”

First, heaven allows you to answer that question about yourself. You’re going to be able to look back on your life with the help of God’s own perfect understanding to appreciate every single experience you ever had, both good and bad. We spend our entire lives not understand who we are, why we do things we know we shouldn’t, and why we don’t do thing we know we should. Heaven solves that problem. With God’s help, you will finally know yourself completely.

And once you know yourself completely, you can know others the same way. The more time we spend on earth, the more we understand that heaven is a time for reunion. All of those friends and loved ones who have gone on before you will meet you again there. And just as with God’s help you’ll know completely the answer who who you are, you’ll also know completely who they are and who everyone is. It will be perfect unity. No more mistrust, no more disagreeing, no more shame and regret.

But heaven is more than a time for reunion. We just celebrated the Lord’s Supper. Jesus celebrated the first one with his disciples in Matthew 26. He also says in Matthew 26: “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

One of the things we will do in heaven is feast in celebration. It’ll be the greatest celebration that’s ever been thrown. You will be able to spend time with every believer who’s ever lived. Every ancestor you ever had. Every historical figure you ever wanted to meet. The heroes you had, the people you always wondered about, the ones you always wished you had met but never did.

And once you finally get the answer to who you really are, and to who everyone else really is, you can get to work answering the greatest question there is: Who is God?

Heaven is also a time of worship. One thing you can count on is that believers will worship in heaven. Turn with me very quickly to the book of Revelation, chapter 7. In Revelation 7, we have a picture of the worship that will happen around the throne of God, and keep in mind this is just one instance. This is just one worship service. Read with me verses 9-12:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

What an image that is. The worship in heaven will be the purest and sweetest worship you’ve ever experienced. People from every time, every nation, every language, all gathered around the throne. That’s one choir you’re going to definitely want to be a part of, and the best part is that you’ll be able to enjoy God’s presence without any sin.

Our worship in heaven is going to help us in answering the question of who God is. Every moment in heaven is a moment of discovery, and that also ties in with the third thing that heaven is — it’s also a time of service. That’s something we don’t often think about when we wonder what we’ll do in heaven. The Bible isn’t clear on how we’re going to serve, but it is clear that we will serve. That’s especially true when we get to the new earth in a little while. You are going to have a job in heaven. In your earthly life, no matter who you are, you have a purpose that no one else in history could fulfill. The same is going to be true of you in heaven.

But don’t worry, the work God has for you in heaven isn’t the same work you’re used to here. This isn’t boring work. This is joyful work. God’s going to give you an important task to do, and that task is going to use every one of your talents and everything you’re passionate about.

If you could have any job on earth, what would it be? Anything. Something that will completely fulfill you, something you love, something that wouldn’t seem like work at all. Chances are good that’s something along the lines of what God has waiting for you.

Let’s look at some other questions people have. Will we know everything in heaven? The short answer to that is no. We’ll be in heaven, but we’ll still be human, and humans don’t know everything. What’s great, though, is that we’ll have access to people who know a lot more than we do, and a God who actually does know everything.

And that ties into another question that’s really important: Will we get bored in heaven? Because forever’s a long time, isn’t it? If everything I’ve told you so far sounds boring, then I’ve really done a bad job with this sermon. How can all that be boring? We’re going to be doing and experiencing so much with so much else to do and experience that not even eternity is going to hold it all. In heaven, you will experience God. You will be with God, and you’ll spend forever learning about God. And guess what? Forever still won’t be long enough.

You’ll never learn everything about God. Because you’re finite, aren’t you? You had a beginning. At some point, you were conceived and your life began. But God had no beginning. He’s eternal, which means he was eternal before you were even born. And so even though you’ll have eternity to learn about God once you get to heaven, you will won’t ever learn everything about him because he existed for an eternity before you were born. You cannot be with God and be bored.

How big is heaven? The Bible doesn’t tell us, and let me tell you, I did a lot of reading from people a lot smarter than me who try to answer that question, and all I got was a headache. So I’ll answer it this way: heaven’s big enough to hold everybody and never be crowded, but small enough that no one ever gets lost or lonely.

Here’s a big one. I know some of you are sitting there wondering if I’m going to get to this one, because it’s as important as almost anything else — Is my dog is heaven? Is my cat in heaven?

My favorite episode of The Twilight Zone is about an old hillbilly named Hyder Simpson who dies trying to save his coon dog named Rip. Both of them find themselves on an old dirt road leading through the woods, and they come to a man standing by a gate, and the man says, “You can enter heaven, Mr. Simpson, but Rip has to stay out. There’s a heaven for dogs on down the road.”

Well Mr. Simpson doesn’t like that a but. He gets mad and says, “Any place that's too high-falutin' for Rip is too fancy for me,” and the two of them keep down walking eternity road.

Later, Mr. Simpson and Rip stop to rest and are met by a young man who introduces himself as an angel sent to find them and take them to heaven. When Mr. Simpson tells him what happened up the road, the angel tells him that gate is actually the entrance to Hell. The gatekeeper had stopped Rip from entering because Rip would have smelled the brimstone inside and warned Mr. Simpson that something was wrong. The angel says, "You see, Mr. Simpson, a man, will walk right into Hell with both eyes open. But even the Devil can't fool a dog!" The episode ends with both Rip and Mr. Simpson being led into heaven.

The Bible says there will be animals in the new heaven and new earth. When Jesus tells the criminal that today they’ll both be in paradise, that word paradise actually means a park. It’s a place where trees and flowers and animals live. I always think of Psalm 36:6 here: “Your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.”

From the very beginning, we were meant to have stewardship over the animals. We haven’t done a great job of that, I think, and we’ve certainly not fulfilled that divine plan on earth yet. So it seems perfectly right that a relationship with animals, especially your dog or cat, will be part of heaven.

Here’s an important one too: Are there levels of heaven? In other words, do some people get more of heaven than other people do? The answer to that question is actually yes. We’re saved by faith alone, not by works, but our good works still matter a great deal. Think of Christ saying to store up treasures in heaven instead of on earth. Think of how many times he says, “great will be your reward in heaven” if you do this or that. The more treasures you lay up in heaven, the more heaven you’ll experience.

Now this isn’t to say that anyone in heaven is going to miss out on anything. That’s not true. Think of it this way: think of yourself as an empty cup, and when you get to heaven, God completely fills your cup with his joy and peace. You’re so filled with joy and peace that it’s impossible for you to hold one drop more. You’re filled to the brim. But other people might have a bigger cup, and others more might have a smaller one. You’re all as happy as you possibly can be, but some are happier than others.

Sounds like a pretty good way to spend eternity, doesn’t it? But we’re not done quite yet, because the heaven you’re going to be in isn’t going to last forever. There’s one last thing to happen.

Turn with me to Revelation chapter 20. This is the end of the road. This is the completion of all time. Revelation 20, and we’ll read verses 11-15:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The judgment before the Great White Throne is the final act of God’s mercy and justice. When people die, those saved in Christ go to heaven to be with him. Those without Christ go to hell, or Hades. In those two places, everyone waits for this final judgment.

At some point known only to God, Christ will return to earth and bring you with him. Your soul will reunite with your body no matter what condition your body will be, whether it’s bones or ash or dust, and that body will be transformed into a resurrection body that will never fade, never weaken, and never be corrupted. The bodies of those in hell will also be raised, but they won’t receive new and perfect bodies. Then everyone, every person who has ever lived, will then stand before God to be judged. And let me say that again — it’s everybody, whether you’re a believer or not.

Look at verse 12. The dead, great and small, are there. The dead are judged by what’s written in the book of life. It’s not only the unbelievers, not just the unsaved, it’s the believers and the saved too. There at the throne of God, you’ll be judged according to what you did in life. Every single act, every thought, Jesus says even every idle word you speak will be judged. Every sin you’ve ever committed will be made public. That sounds kind of terrible, doesn’t it?

There’s a British actor named Stephen Fry. One of the most vocal and angry atheists out there. Someone asked him once what he would say to God if he could. He answered, “I’d say, ‘Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault? It’s not right, it’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain?’ That’s what I would say.”

I hate to break it to Stephen Fry, but he will never get the chance to ask that question. Because when he stands before the God of the universe, the Lord of all creation, he won’t be able to speak at all. The only thing he’ll be able to do is kneel. God’s justice will be so complete and absolute that Mr. Fry won’t have a single argument, and he will have no excuses. He’ll finally know the truth he spent his life denying, but it’ll be too late. That’s what hell is — hell is just knowing too late.

But there’s no need for you to be afraid, and there’s certainly no need for you to worry. Because remember, Paul says in Romans that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. By this point you might have spent a thousand years in heaven already. You’ve already been given the answer as to who you are, and who others are, and you’re discovering more and more about God every day. Those sins that will be made public, they’ve already been made public. They’re already forgiven. Those sins won’t shame you, they’ll just show how merciful God is.

As a believer, you won’t be standing at the throne of God to be punished. You’ve already been standing at the throne of God to worship him. You’ve already been in his presence. Jesus is right there beside you. You’re not going anywhere. The unbelievers, those who spent their lives denying and turning away from God, they will be judged for punishment.

But your life as one forgiven by Christ won’t be judged for punishment. You’ll be judged only for rewards. For you, all that’s being settled at the great white throne of God is the size of your cup, and for you to realize God’s glory and grace in your earthly life even more.

After that final judgment, the evil are cast into hell. Heaven and Earth are remade into the new heaven and the new Earth, places that are even more beautiful and glorious than heaven itself is now, and there you will live forever enjoying perfect life. We’ll be in perfect relationships with one another, with creation, and with God. We’ll exist without worry and sin and death. There will be nothing to hide or escape from. We’ll do work that fulfills us and celebrate like we never have before. We’ll eat and drink and laugh until our stomachs hurt, and every day will be new.

That’s what’s waiting for you just on ahead. That’s what God has promised if you just believe — believe in his words and in his son. And the very best thing is that whatever we think heaven is, it’s actually a whole lot better. “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love them.”

As a Christian, you are on a one-way trip to the new creation. Your life in this world is just a stop along the way to more joy and peace than you can ever think possible. Don’t forget that. Let it comfort you. When you look around and see all the hopelessness and sadness of this world and you’re tempted to throw your hands up and give in, think of what’s waiting for you. Put your hope in things that God says you might not be able to see today, but he promises will come to pass.

Whatever you’re called to endure right now, do it with an eye to eternity. To heaven, to the new earth, to that glorious body waiting for you. Because one day, that’s going to be your reality. And if you don’t have that assurance today but would like to find it, I invite you up here as we sing our closing hymn.

Let’s pray:

Father there is no greater love than Christ upon the cross, and there is no greater blessing and gift than eternal life with you. While we serve you here and build lives of purpose and meaning with Jesus as our foundation, let us never forget the joy and peace that is waiting for each of us. When life becomes difficult, let heaven be our comfort. When life becomes worrisome, let heaven be our comfort. When life becomes cold, let heaven warm our hearts. We are travelers through this place, Father, and as we pass through we pray that we leave behind the seeds of peace, and hope, and love for all. For it’s in Christ’s name we pray, Amen.