Beyond the grave
Notes
Transcript
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
a few years ago, I was contacted by a cousin who had experienced tremendous loss.
She asked me to speak on what happens after a believer dies.
because her son, daughter-in-law, and grand-baby were tragically taken in a terrible automobile accident.
I felt the Lord stirring my heart again — This time in a deeply personal way.
I began preparing to revisit this message,
Because now, my own family is facing the approaching end of my father’s life.
Grief has a way of changing how you read the Word.
It makes the promises of God either fade into the background, or burn with new and living light.
It’s one thing to preach about hope beyond the grave —
It’s another to cling to it when the shadow of death passes over your own house.
My prayer today is that God’s Word would pierce through the fog of sorrow and help us see clearly,
That for those who belong to Christ, death is not the end —
It is only the doorway into His presence.
In just the past few years, so many around us have been touched by loss.
The Johnson family said goodbye to their 82-year-old patriarch.
My dear aunt lost her second husband.
And not long ago, my family laid to rest our beloved matriarch.
And I know… many of you sitting here —
Or watching online — have also walked through seasons of loss.
Maybe you’ve buried a parent.
Maybe a spouse.
Maybe a child.
And if you haven’t yet, you will.
Because death, as the Scripture says, is the last enemy that faces us all.
So how do we answer the deep, aching questions of the heart?
What happens when a believer dies?
Where do they go?
What will they see?
Will they know us?
Will we ever see them again?
Let’s begin where all truth begins — in the inspired Word of God, through the apostle Paul.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
Paul says, “We do not sorrow as those who have no hope.”
He doesn’t say we don’t sorrow — he says we don’t sorrow like those without hope.
We cry, we grieve, we ache — but our grief is not hopeless.
It’s not empty.
It’s rooted in a living promise: That Jesus died and rose again!
That’s the foundation of our Christian hope.
Because if Jesus rose from the grave, then death has been defeated, not just for Him —
But for all who belong to Him.
In
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Jesus spoke directly to the fear of death:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father’s house are many mansions…
I go to prepare a place for you…
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also.”
Jesus was affirming life after death —
Not a dream,
not a myth,
not a metaphor —
But real life, — continued life.
When this earthly body stops breathing, the soul continues.
You and I are not just flesh and blood — we are eternal souls clothed in temporary bodies.
Death, then, is not a wall; it’s a doorway.
Now, I know that in our modern age —
in universities,
scientific institutions,
and the halls of political power —
The very idea of life after death is often mocked.
It’s called superstition, myth, or wishful thinking.
But even among the scientific and medical community, cracks are forming in that materialistic worldview.
Physicist Max Planck, the father of quantum theory, once said,
“I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness.”
(https://bigthink.com/words-of-wisdom/max-planck-i-regard-consciousness-as-fundamental/)
In other words — the mind, the soul, the awareness — these are not byproducts of the body;
They are primary realities.
And when the body dies, that consciousness — that spirit — does not vanish.
Modern medicine has even documented thousands of near-death experiences —
cases where people were declared clinically dead,
yet later described vivid awareness, conversation, and even memories of things occurring around them.
A large-scale study from the University of Southampton found evidence that consciousness can persist even when the brain has stopped.
These aren’t Christians preaching sermons —
These are scientists forced to confront a truth too great to explain: that death is not the end for mankind.
Even the ancient philosophers — Socrates, Plato, Aristotle — believed the soul was immortal.
Why? Because God has written eternity on the human heart.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
“He has set eternity in their hearts.”
Throughout history, nearly every civilization has believed in an afterlife.
The Egyptians called it Aaru.
The Vikings spoke of Valhalla.
The Greeks imagined Elysium.
The Native Americans dreamed of the Happy Hunting Ground.
There is something deep within us all that knows — this world is not all there is.
But we, as followers of Christ, have a name for that place too.
We call it Heaven — because that’s where God is.
Jesus said in
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Heaven is not just a destination; it’s the home of the Father —
The dwelling of God.
It’s paradise, not because of streets of gold or mansions of glory,
But because Jesus is there.
Now, some say all religions lead to God.
And in a way, they do — but not in the way they mean.
All roads lead to the throne of God, but only one road —
The narrow road through Jesus Christ — leads to Him in grace and triumph.
The others lead to Him in judgment and condemnation.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Every soul will stand before God.
Every knee will bow.
Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The question is not whether we’ll see Him —
The question is how we’ll see Him.
Will we see Him as Judge, or as Savior?
So what happens the moment a believer dies?
Some believe in term called “soul sleep,”
That the soul rests in unconsciousness until the final judgment.
Others believe in purgatory, a place of purification before heaven.
But the Bible paints a different picture — a far more glorious one.
Heaven is not bound by our dimensions of time and space.
Time is a created property of this universe.
Einstein’s theory of relativity hinted at that — but
God declared it first.
He said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”
Time exists here, but in heaven, there is no clock.
Everything in God’s presence is NOW.
That’s why Jesus could say to the thief on the cross:
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Not tomorrow.
Not after a long sleep.
Today.
And when Stephen was stoned, he saw heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ready to receive him.
That’s what happens when a believer dies.
In an instant — quicker than the blink of an eye —
The soul departs the body and is welcomed into the arms of Jesus.
Paul said,
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
One question I always get is
Will We Recognize One Another?
Yes, we will.
Our souls carry our identity.
The body returns to dust, but the soul remains whole —
Aware,
personal,
recognizable.
When Moses and Elijah appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples recognized them — men they had never met.
So yes, we will know and recognize those we loved.
But here’s the beauty — we’ll know them without the scars of sin or pain.
Every deformity, every sickness, every limitation of this life will be gone.
The deaf will hear.
The blind will see.
The weary will rest.
The broken will be whole.
We will be clothed in incorruptible glory, transformed “in the twinkling of an eye.”
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
And I imagine that when you step into glory and see your loved ones again, they’ll look more like themselves than you’ve ever seen them before —
Radiant, whole, and perfectly alive in Christ.
The harder question is, What About Those Who Don’t Believe?
That’s a hard question, and it should be.
The Bible is painfully clear: those who reject Christ will face judgment.
But listen to what Revelation says about those who belong to Him:
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
That means that in heaven, sorrow itself will cease to exist.
The things that could bring us grief — even memories of loss — will be gone, replaced by the fullness of God’s joy.
Every void will be filled by His presence.
Every heartache healed in His love.
As per What we will Do in Heaven?
Some people think heaven will be sitting on clouds, strumming harps.
But heaven is far more glorious and active than that.
Heaven is a place of
purpose,
discovery,
joy,
worship,
and fellowship.
It is a real place for real people who serve a real Savior.
We will worship,
we will reign,
we will explore,
we will rejoice.
And best of all — we will see His face.
They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
There will be no more fear, no more dread, no more decay.
Only life — pure, full, unending.
So as we face the reality of death —
whether it’s the passing of a friend,
a family member,
or even the looming loss of someone dear,
As I face now with my father — we remember this:
Death is not the end.
It is the beginning of eternity with Jesus Christ.
Paul said it best:
“I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.”
We have hope.
A living hope.
A resurrected hope.
And when that great and awesome day comes —
whether it’s your turn, or the turn of someone you love — remember this truth:
As Jesus stood waiting to receive Stephen…
He will be waiting to receive you.
And He was also there, when He received your loved one,
who has already gone on to be with Him in eternity
Amen.
