What About Eternity?
What Happens When We Die?by Shelley Soceka
Is there really life after death? How can I know for sure? What will heaven be like? How does God judge who is "in" and who is "out"? What if our eternal hope is just wishful thinking?
Losing someone close to us often triggers questions about eternity. Sometimes we doubt God's goodness or his power, or both. But Jesus isn't afraid of honest questions. His best friends had them. When Lazarus got sick and died, Jesus didn't come right away. Mary and Martha both knew that if Jesus had been there, their brother wouldn't have died. They couldn't understand why he didn't come or why he allowed such a tragedy to happen. Grieving and confused, their trust in Jesus was shaken.
It's in this context that Jesus makes an astonishing claim about himself. "I am the resurrection and the life," he tells Martha. "Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25). He gives Martha a chance to reclaim her faith in him as the Messiah, the Son of God. When Jesus encounters Mary, he is visibly upset, and weeps with her in her anguish. Jesus enters into her pain and the brokenness of her heart in the death of her brother.
At the tomb of Lazarus, he is "greatly disturbed" again. As Jesus stares at the cave with the stone rolled in front of it and his friend Lazarus wrapped up in graveclothes inside, perhaps he sees himself there shortly. Perhaps he weeps because he knows this is his mission, the only way to end forever the agony of people separated from their Creator-Father and each other. It was a high price to pay.
But Jesus always sees past the loss and the pain. He is focused on the glory of God. He knows that a walking, breathing Lazarus is irrefutable evidence for resurrection and a clear declaration of God's power over death. And as God raised Lazarus, so too will the Son of Man overcome death's chains. There is resurrection and life waiting for those who believe. We know that death is not a dead end. It is a doorway to the glory of God.
Still have questions? So do I. Here are a few more biblical passages that may help you understand eternity better:
• John 20, 21: Check out the testimonies of witnesses who saw Jesus alive after his death.
• 1 Corinthians 15: The reality of resurrection.
• 2 Corinthians 4:16--5:10: Things temporary versus things eternal.
• Psalm 62:5-8: Need some hope?
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: Listen for the trumpet.
• Revelation 21:1-8: Final rewards.
Read Helping Each Other Through Loss, by Jay Sivits.
Read Amy's Story . . . When There Are No Words: Taking Care of Yourself in Grief, by Amy Brooke.
Read Stages of Grief.
Shelley Soceka is Student Leadership journal's editorial assistant.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this article for educational purposes provided this permission notice, and the copyright notice below are preserved on all copies. Not to be reprinted in any other publication without permission. © 1997 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. All rights reserved. This article first appeared in the Winter 1997 issue of Student Leadership Journal®.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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