Life Here and to Eternity

Physical death does not extinguish life. Oftentimes, we think that once we die, life has ended. Yes, only the physical life in the flesh. The flesh is not immortal. The flesh has an expiration date. All of us, rich and poor, will face physical death one day. The flesh will one day cease to live and it will die and decay. But, this end of life on earth does not mean that our very life has ended. Our soul, which is what we call our life, is eternal. When the flesh dies, the soul does not die with it. This truth carries big and significant implications as to how precious our life is.

We are not to take life lightly because our life is not just about the time we spend here on earth. Whatever we do with our time now and how we live our life now have tremendous impact to our life in eternity. This means, then, that we should live with care because what we do now will affect how we will be in eternity.

We are very much concerned of physical death. Rightly so. But, has it ever occured to us how much more concerned should we be about our life after death? Others might argue and say, “Are you sure there is life after death?” Whatever opinions others have, I believe in the Bible as the truth. The Bible teaches that there is life after death and people who have placed their faith in Jesus and lived in repentance and obedience to Him shall inherit eternal life. Moreover, believers have this great hope in Jesus, that a day will come when they will be resurrected to glory.

“…having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”

– Acts 24:15 (WEB)

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

– 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 (WEB)

God is the God of the living. Life in eternity is real and so is the resurrection of the dead. We could take great comfort that though we had been distraught and in grief for loved ones and friends who had gone before us, we could still see them one day in the resurrection of the dead.

The resurrection of the dead was the concern of the Sadducees when they approached Jesus to ask Him if whose wife will the woman be in the resurrection after she became the wife of each of the seven brothers who died one after the other (v.28). This question came from the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (v.23). Jesus answered them that they were mistaken because they do not know the Scriptures and they do not know the power of God (v. 29-30). Who would think or believe that time that the Sadducees did not know the Scriptures? How could they not know when they studied the Scriptures? So, Jesus said,

“But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

– Matthew 22:31-32 (WEB)

Jesus then pointedly asked them, “Haven’t you read?” This silenced them because they have read it in the Scriptures but they never understood and they did not believe in the mighty power of God. Jesus plainly told them that the Scripture teaches there is resurrection of the dead and life in the resurrection will not be the same as we live our earthly life (v. 29-30). Jesus, furthermore, stressed that God IS the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that though they had died physically, they are still alive and existing. God is the God of the living.

What does this teach us?

1. There is life after death and there is resurrection from the dead. Do not limit or narrow our thinking to what we have here now. Be concerned of our future life in eternity because God will judge both the righteous and the unrigteous.

2. The resurrected life is not the same as how we live life on earth. Let us not liken life after death to the ways of life we have here on earth. In the resurrection, there is no marriage anymore. We will be like angels (Matthew 22:30). We will not become angels. We will have nature like that of the angels.

3. God is the God of the living. Let us not be too much concerned of physical death or of the dead because apart from physical death, we continue to exist. God looks at life and to the living — not only the physical life but also life in eternity. Be more concerned of the way of life we live now and be prepared for our life in eternity. We need to be concerned of this because one day we will be judged either for death in hell or eternal life with God.

“This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

– John 6:40 (WEB)

The flesh is physical, temporary, and corruptible but the soul is eternal. Fear God and surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you value your earthly life which is short and passing, then value your life too in eternity which is enduring and everlasting.