I am tired of reading the news, article after article, report after report, cable discussion after cable discussion, where everything has focused solely on how not to get the virus. Yes, yes, yes, we all must social distance, wear a mask, wash hands, use antibacterial lotion on our ears, noses, etc…etc…etc. But I have not found one really solid article written out there in the cyberworld that helps us think through the real possibility if I do catch COVID19 and I die.
What happens next?
Should we not hope for and expect just as much vivid detail about the moment after I die as the excruciating details we have been hearing ad nauseam on what the symptoms are if I have it and how to avoid and fight it? Why don’t the people who are obsessed with talking about COVID19 in life ever consider its implications after death?
Well, I have been studying the topic of “exploring the mysteries of life beyond the grave” for a number of years now because I want to help people have a successful and healthy recovery after they die. I think eternal wellbeing is important. I know it is a bit of an obscure interest to have, but I have been doing the math for over thirty years now and it turns out eternity lasts a really long time. Of course, life on earth is important, I am not denying that, but after sitting down and doing the calculations I have determined that the kind of life you are to live beyond the grave matters because it lasts forever. Don’t you think?
I know, I know, people want to live on earth as long as they can, that is a very noble endeavor. It is one I am currently pursuing. But don’t focus only on this terrestrial plane because from my research I have found that the life beyond the grave never ends.
This topic has not been merely idle daydreaming and speculation for me because I have found the writings of a top-notch expert in this area, a person top in his field. And we all know how important it is to rely on the experts, that is all we have been told these days is to stay-put, shut-up and listen to the professionals. So I have done my best to find someone who has actually experienced death and has beaten it. And to me, that makes him a definite expert in eternal matters. So what does he have to say to the COVID19 victim?
WHEN A PERSON STOPS BREATHING, WHAT’S NEXT?
If the heart stops beating and a patient can’t breathe anymore, medically speaking, what then happens? Of course a person dies and is ruled deceased, but is that it? More precisely, does the pain stop? Does the person become a non-person? Should a person be worried? Here are some of my findings:
OBSERVATION ONE: Future pain is determined by your future placement.
Daniel 12:2 makes it very clear, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The prophet received words from God that there are two paths after death: everlasting life or everlasting shame and contempt. What we will see is that both of these places offer a different physical sensation and emotional experience. So let’s delve into it a bit further.
OBSERVATION TWO: Here is what happens the moment after death.
Jesus told a story in the book of Luke 16:22-23 about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man lived a selfish, greedy life, completely ignoring God and shunned his responsibility to love others. Lazarus loved God but was not well compensated for it in this life, he died poor and alone. Not much of a story for the poor lad, and then they both died at the same time. Both the rich and poor die the same way. Watch what happens next, “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.”
Two points need to be made: (1) The moment you close your eyes on this side of the grave, you will open them immediately somewhere else. The places are determined by what you have done in this life. (2) Either physical pleasure or pain will be instantly felt. Jesus says the rich man’s outcome placed him in torment. So the pain he felt in death only intensified in the next life. For Lazarus, he landed at Abraham’s side, a place of paradise as Jesus says (Luke 23:43).
OBSERVATION THREE: Pleasure or pain is the result of your choice, not by the intensity of the COVID19, heart condition, or any other physical ailment earth had to offer.
Pain in the afterlife comes from doing nothing with the Son in this life. John 3:18 is very clear on this when Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” The clear teaching from the afterlife expert declares that we are all born in sin because we are tainted with the guilt of Adam. The remedy for sin has been revealed by Jesus on the cross, his blood is the vaccine or the antidote offered to make a person whole. If A person chooses not to believe this they are refusing the antidote, so therefore, they remain in sin. And a sinful person cannot stand in the presence of God, as a result, they are cast out of his presence forever. This is where pain comes from.
Paradise comes from accepting the Son. If I believe in Jesus and accept his payment for my sin, I am set free from my sin. Romans 5:15-17 is very clear about this. Jesus came in to make up for Adam’s failure, and now he gives me the opportunity to live under his care and love. If I chose Jesus I receive all the rewards that come with him. Psalm 16:11 says there are eternal pleasures at his right hand. So Jesus sums up the choice very clearly in John 5:24 that belief brings a person into sharing the life of Jesus without condemnation.
OBSERVATION FOUR: Once you die, your choice cannot be changed.
Two issues come into play on this point: (1) People will not get in eternity what they didn’t want in temporal life. (2) They will not be able to bluff the one who can read minds. First of all Isaiah 26:10 says something terrifying, “But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regarde the majesty of the Lord.” So even if God was to offer people his grace in the afterlife, they would not want it. Since they rejected it on earth, it also means that they would not want this same grace in heaven. Grace is the only place where we find joy. Secondly, it will be too late to change your mind when you enter the afterlife. Hebrews 9:27 says that when you die you instantly enter judgment. So that means once you are dead you can’t change your lot. And then the real devastating news is found in Matthew 7:21-23, if Jesus wasn’t your friend on earth that relationship won’t magically change in heaven. Listen to what Jesus, the expert says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
OBSERVATION FIVE: How bad will the pain be in the afterlife if you refuse the antidote in this life?
In Luke, Jesus describes the results of rejection as torment. And he uses a comparison in Matthew 5:29, it is quite a terrible prognosis, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” The implications are pretty clear: (1) Fire is the word to describe the pain. So it will be acute and immediate. (2) It has a moral quality to it, you are guilty. So it is deserved acute pain. That is why Isaiah 66:24 hints at the idea of perpetual loathsomeness.
MY HUMBLE ADVICE FOR WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE A PERSONAL COVID19 DEATH (OR ANY DEATH FOR THAT MATTER)
Make sure you are well prepared ahead of time for it. Listen to the expert’s advice, ““I am the resurrection and the life.Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Those who listen to the experts are sure to believe this. Right?
