Introduction: Ernie just wanted to go home. Nobody knows why he abandoned his family in the first place. Chris and Jennifer Trevino were cruising down a Texas highway at 60 miles-per-hour, out in some of the most barren territory on earth, when Ernie bailed out of the family truck without anybody noticing he was gone. Did the black-and-white tomcat lean the wrong way on a corner somewhere out there in the desert 600 miles west of his Victoria home? It’s possible. Did he instinctively lunge at a passing insect without realizing that he would come down beyond the bed of the Trevino’s moving truck? It’s anybody’s guess. By the time Ernie’s owners missed him, they were many miles down the road. "We ought to go back and look for him," they said, but it was dark by then, and they didn’t know where to start looking anyway. Imagine their astonishment when a week later the errant Ernie showed up at their Victoria home all bloody and scratched and footsore. Just how Ernie navigated that far through unfamiliar terrain, only God knows. Ernie’s worn claws and the sores on his feet convinced his veterinarian that the plucky cat had covered lots of rough real estate. Like everybody else who heard of Ernie’s trek, the vet was amazed that a cat could cover so much distance in so short a time. "But," he said, "I wouldn’t put anything past cats." With so many questions unanswered, one thing is clear. Ernie just wanted to go home. Have you ever felt like Ernie? All you want to do is go home. I’m not talking about going to your place of residence here in Antioch or Lake Villa. I’m thinking of the eternal home that God has prepared for you in heaven (See 2 Corinthians 5:8). In recent days, I’ve been thinking about heaven a lot. Many of you know that this past week, our family had to say our goodbyes to Laurie’s mother, Jeanne Rosing, as she died suddenly on Easter Sunday morning. It was bittersweet to say the least. The sorrow of not having had the opportunity to talk with her one last time and the knowledge that we will be separated for a while has taken an emotional toll on all of us. Yet there is joy as well. For Jeanne is now able to see her Savior face to face and for the first time in several years, she knows what it is to feel no pain.
In the wake of having celebrated the resurrection of Christ, I can think of no better subject to study than topic of "heaven." Over a period of four weeks, we will be looking at several issues related to our eternal home: Next week we’ll talk about what heaven will be like. Is it really a giant cube? Are the streets paved with gold? What about our resurrected bodies? The following Sunday, we’ll consider our relationships in heaven. Will we know others and remember our lives together on earth? What about our husbands, wives and children? What kind of relationship will we have with them? In the final message we’ll look at what we’ll be doing in heaven. Is it true, as most people think, that we’ll sit around singing hymns for the rest of eternity? Today, however, we’re going to address the topic that of necessity must come first, "What Happens When We Die?"
Background: Before we jump into in this topic, it would be helpful for you to understand what the Bible teaches about death. It speaks about three different kinds of death: Physical, spiritual and eternal death. Death, in the scriptures, always carries the notion of separation. Physical death brings physical separation from one another (See Job 14:10). Spiritual death results in spiritual separation from God (See Isaiah 59:2) and eternal death means that we will be eternally separated from God and those who dwell with Him in heaven (See Matthew 25:46). The first two are experienced by everyone, the only exceptions being Enoch and Elijah who did not die physically (See Hebrews 11:5; 2 Kings 2:11). In fact, with the further exception of those who will one day be taken up to be with Christ (See 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), we can say that both physical and spiritual death are conditions of human existence (See Genesis 3:19-22; Ephesians 2:1). However, Eternal death will not be universally experienced. The Bible tells us that those who place their trust in Christ for the salvation of their souls have everlasting life (See 1 John 5:11-13). Only those who reject God’s offering of Christ as payment for their sin will suffer eternal separation from God.
I. Why Must We Die? Death is not God’s punishment for Christians (See Romans 8:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:8). As I shared earlier, there is a precedent for God simply removing believers from the earth without facing death when we have completed our service to Him. So why do we have to die?
A. Because God has ordained it. In God’s wisdom, He has chosen not to apply the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work all at once. While we have been saved from the penalty of our sin (See Romans 6:23) and the power of sin (See Romans 6:6-7), God has not chosen to remove us from the presence of sin, but to wait until the final judgment. The last aspect of this fallen world that will be removed is death (See 1 Corinthians 15:26). Until that time, God has ordained that death will remain a reality in the lives of Christians.
B. Because God uses it. Death is the means God uses to complete our sanctification (See Hebrews 2:10: Philippians 3:10). As I shared in a previous series, sanctification is the process whereby God makes us holy. The hardship that God brings to us in life (this includes the ultimate challenge of facing our physical death) is for our good. It strengthens our faith and increases our ability to glorify Him (See Romans 5:3-5). God sovereignly allows us to go through suffering in order to make us holy, a process that will be completed when we go to be in the Lord’s presence. We would do well to heed the words of our Lord to the church in Smyrna...be faithful, even to the point of death (See Revelation 2:10). Illustration: John Piper, a well-known pastor from the Minneapolis area was recently diagnosed with cancer. He has written a brief article to others suffering from the same illness called, "Don’t Waste Your Cancer." One of his thoughts is: You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before! He continues, "Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are." What God accomplishes through hardship in this life, He completes when we enter into eternity.
II. When Will We Die? I have an answer for this question, but before we consider it, permit me to share a brief story. Several years ago, a despairing couple called me to their home to ask a question that had been weighing on them for some time. It seems that their two-year-old grandson had drowned in a very small pool on their patio while they were supposed to be watching him. As I sat in their living room, the father looked at me; his face drained of emotion, and asked the question that is even now on the tip of many of your tongues: "Was my grandson’s death an accident or God’s will?" HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER HIM? If you have had to face the untimely death of a loved one, I’m not sure if what I’m going to share will bring you comfort or not. That said, I want you to know that the Bible teaches we will all die at the appointed time that God has for us. There is a word for "time" in the New Testament called "kairos" which means, in certain contexts, "a fixed or definite timeframe." You see it in Romans 5:6 where we’re told that "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Contrast with John 8:20). On the four occasions when the phrase "appointed time" appears in the NIV translation of the New Testament, it is the same word. With each, the scholars are obviously making an interpretive decision based on the assumption that God has appointed a specific time for certain events to occur. The Apostle Paul would go so far as to say that God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will (See Ephesians 1:11). Wayne Grudem, the author of Systematic Theology, translates this passage as: ...according to the plan of Him "who continually brings about everything in the universe according to the counsel of His will." This statement doesn’t really leave a lot of wiggle room, does it? There isn’t anything that happens in this universe that isn’t first filtered through God’s divine will, not even a simple thing like a sparrow falling to the earth (See Matthew 10:29). To understand the will of God as it relates to death it helps to break it down into two categories. We find these in Deuteronomy 29:29.
A. There is God’s revealed will. There are certain aspects of God’s will that He wants us to know. These are plainly stated in the Word so that we can walk in obedience to His commands (See Matthew 28:20).
B. There is God’s concealed will. There are other aspects of God’s will of which we are not aware, so we pray "if the Lord wills (See James 4:15)." In these cases we find out what God is doing as events unfold. How many times have you had to go through a painful situation only to be able to look back and see the hand of God orchestrating everything for His glory (For an example see Genesis 50:20)? Application: No one but God knows when you will die, but I can assure you that your death, when it occurs, will be in accordance with His sovereign will and purposes. At my mother-in-laws funeral, I prayed that at least one person would be born again because of her testimony. Today I am pleased to inform you that a personal friend gave his life to Christ just as God had planned.
III. What Happens When We Die? While unbelievers immediately go to eternal punishment (See Luke 16:19-26), the souls of Christians are united with Christ in heaven (See 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Luke 23:43). The evidence overwhelmingly supports the notion that we will be in the presence of Christ. This negates two other theories.
A. Purgatory - Some people believe that there is a place where the souls of believers go to be further purified from sin until they are ready to be admitted into heaven. According to those who believe that purgatory is this place, the sufferings experienced there are given to God in substitute for the punishment for sins that believers should have received, but did not. Application: There is absolutely no Scriptural basis for this teaching! There is nothing that we can add to the work of Christ on our behalf...not our sufferings or our good works...that will count for anything in before a holy God (See Ephesians 2:8-9). We are saved by grace through faith!
B. Soul Sleep - Some believe that when Christians die they go into a state of unconscious existence until Christ returns at His second coming and raises them to eternal life. Along with the previous verses we only have to consider the transfiguration of Christ to realize that Moses and Elijah, though they had died hundreds of years before Jesus, were not asleep (See Matthew 17:1-3).
Conclusion: I am told that an Indiana cemetery has a tombstone (more than a hundred years old) which bears the following epitaph:
Pause Stranger, when you pass me by,
As you are now, so once was I
As I am now, so you will be,
So prepare for death and follow me.
An unknown passerby read those words and underneath scratched this reply:
To follow you I’m not content,
Until I know which way you went.
That’s not a bad response. Do you know today where you’ll spend eternity when you die?
