Is there Life after Death?
- Bryan L. Ashpole
- Aug 5
- 3 min read
Retired pastor Art Schoonveld, writing at todaydevotional.com (December 17, 2020), asks the question, “Is there Life after Death?”
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” — John 11:25-26
Not long ago I had the privilege of preaching on this text at the funeral of a close relative. To some people, the claim of Jesus about life after death might sound like nonsense. They might well ask, “How could any intelligent person think that Jesus’ claim here is true? When people die, they don’t go on living.”
Their skepticism would make sense if it were just any of us making that claim. But the person speaking here is Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior. And he later backs up his claim by raising Martha’s dead brother back to life (John 11:38-44). Then, after Jesus himself was crucified, died, and was buried, he showed his power over death by rising from the dead to prove that he is “the resurrection and the life.” (See John 19-20.)
Through his birth, death, and resurrection the Lord Jesus assures us that there is life after death. The grave is not the end for those who die. Death is a stepping-stone into eternal life for everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior. The one condition is that we believe in him. The question Jesus asked Martha is a question that we have to answer as well, (“Do you believe this?”)
Do we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? The answer to this question will determine (where) we live after we die.
Lord Jesus, help us to believe that you are the resurrection and the life. Give us the assurance that you have overcome death for us. Amen.
Theologian and author (including The Holiness of God) RC Sproul, writing at learn.ligonier.org, makes this important point.
…Romans 1 tells us that all men know that God exists and will judge us for our conformity to His will as revealed in nature. The lack of justice in this present life along with humanity’s conscious knowledge of and denial of the God of the Bible produces all manner of false religions and claims about the afterlife. Even though false conceptions about life after death abound, by hoping for an afterlife, men affirm with Scripture that without a final judgment, life is meaningless and ethics are impossible.
Those apart from Christ falsely hope that they will enter into paradise. However, Christians can be sure that they will enter glory at their death. For we have the sure promise of Jesus (John 14:1-4) that He will one day bring all of His followers into His Father’s house. …Jesus’ resurrection guarantees the truthfulness of His words affirming that believers alone can expect to dwell with God forever after they die.
This Sunday, August 10, we will continue our series, “Life’s Big Questions!”, with the mystifying question, “Is there Life after Death?” Is this life on earth all there is? Or is there something that comes after? Please invite someone to join you in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday to both locations and would love to have you join us!
Coming Up: Chris & Lindsey Carter, AG missionaries to Japan, will be with us the following Sunday, August 17, at both the Adult Bible Class at 9:30am and the Worship Service at 10:35am. Please don’t miss it!
Everyone is invited to a Labor Day Potluck Lunch in the Fellowship Hall right after the 10:35am service on Sunday, August 31. Bring your favorite picnic foods to add to the table. It will be ono-licious!
Aloha ke Akua!