THE AFTERLIFE

We as humans have always been curious, about the “afterlife”. To the ancient Egyptians, death was not the end of life but only the beginning of the next phase in one’s eternal journey. They believed that once the soul had successfully passed through judgement by the god Osirius, it went on to an eternal paradise, The Field of Reeds, where everything which had been lost at death was returned and one would truly live happily ever after. The ancient Egyptians prepared the bodies of their great pharaohs to live in the great beyond and entombed them in rooms full of treasures and food to take along. I do believe that they got it all wrong because archaeologists are digging their bodies up as well as their treasures, all of the time. That’s proof that you can’t take it with you. Theists generally believe some afterlife awaits them when they die. Atheists disbelieve in the existence of God. Agnostics believe that nothing is known or can be known about the existence of God. The Sadducee's were an ancient Jewish sect that generally believed that there was a God, but no afterlife. Many religions believe in the soul’s existence in another world and many believe in reincarnation. No one who has died, have ever been allowed to come back to provide us with any details about their “afterlife”. My belief and what I believe is not in an experimental stage. By faith, I believe in The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. I believe by faith that only Jesus can offer any concrete evidence to His children, that we will live forever. I have been very fortunate to have traveled almost all around the world and have seen some breathtaking views on this earth, but nothing on this earth, that I have seen can exceed anything that we could ever behold in heaven. According to Revelation 21 and 22, John tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The center point of our eternal home is the eternal city, the new Jerusalem. God spares no creativity and magnificence in creating this city. It has twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb written on them. The wall surrounding the city is made of jasper, and the city is made of the pure gold, as transparent as glass. The foundations of the walls, are each decorated with precious stones. There are twelve gates and every single one of them are made of pearls. Even the street in the city is made of pure gold. Truly heaven is exquisitely beautiful, and beyond anything that we could ever imagine. My Bible says that, in heaven, there is a pure river, and it is called “the water of life”. In the midst of the street, on both sides of the river, is “the tree of life”. There in heaven, we will be in God’s presence and we will see His face. We will have eternal joy. There will be no sun or moon because the glory of God will give us light and the Lamb is the lamp. There will be nothing impure allowed to be in heaven. So, where is heaven? Heaven is where God dwells, in all of His glory. Psalm 19:1 tells us that the heavens spoken about here is referred to the sky above us, the third heaven. Wherever heaven is, or will be, when I die, my “afterlife” will be in heaven, where my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is. This is what I believe and this is what I am standing on. This day and forever more. In the words of the song, “Well Done”, by Deitrick Haddon:

I just want to make it to heaven. I just want to make it in. I just want to cross that river. I want to be free from sin. I just want my name written. Written in the Lamb Book Life. When this life is over, I just want to hear Him say, WELL DONE, WELL DONE, WELL DONE! YOU CAN COME ON IN!