Several years ago, I received an urgent call to visit a dying man in the hospital. I didnt know Ray well, but I knew him well enough to know he was paying a high price for his hard living. Though hed make peace with God through Christ, his liver was in conflict with his body.
When his ex-wife phoned me, she was standing at his bedside. Ray, she explained, was knocking at . Though I hurried, he entered it minutes before I arrived. The hospital room had a “just happened” feel to it. The ex-wife saw me enter and looked up. With eyes and words, she explained, “He just left.”
Ray silently slipped out. Departed. One moment here. The next moment ⦠where? He passed, not away, but on. Yet on to where? And in what form? To what place? And, once there, what did he see? We so desire to know.
Who in your life “just left?” When the breathing of your spouse ceased, the beating heart in your womb stopped, or the beep of your grandmothers monitor became a flat-lined tone, what happened in that moment?
And to you in yours? Barring the return of Christ, you will have one ⦠a last breath, a final pulse. And ⦠then what? What will we be after we die? What will happen? Answers vary.
Nothing, some people say. We will decay and or disintegrate. Death is a dead end. Our works and reputation might survive, but not us.
Or, we become part of the universe. Eternity absorbs us like a lake absorbs a raindrop. We return to what we were before we were what we are⦠we return to the cosmic consciousness of the universe.
Christianity, on the other hand, posits a new, startling idea. “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54 NIV). According to the promise of the empty tomb, my friend Ray awoke in a world so wondrously better than this one that it would take God himself to convince Ray to return to earth.
This is the Christian hope. This hope is verified by the Easter miracle, that stunning moment we . Do you know this miracle?
It was Sunday morning after the Friday execution. The sky was dark. The disciples had scattered. And the Roman executioner was wondering about breakfast or work or his next day off. But he was not wondering about the fellow he had nailed to a cross and pierced with a spear. Jesus was dead and buried. Yesterdays news. Right?
Wrong.
“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are , who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (Matt. 28:2-6 NIV)
And out he marched, the cadaver-turned-king, with the mask of death in one hand and the keys of heaven in the other. He has risen!
We know what happened to Christ when he died. What happens to those who believe him?
Simple, because the tomb is empty, the promise of Christ is not. If you trust Christ with your life, he will take care of you in death.
When you die, your spirit will immediately enter the presence of God. You will enjoy conscious fellowship with the heavenly Father and with those who have gone before. Your body will join you later. We believe this is true because of scriptures like this one: “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8 NIV).
When Rays ex-wife asked me what happened to him, I could rightly say, “He is away from his body and at home with the Lord.”
Have you made this the hope for your life? If not, doesnt it make sense that you do so? Doesnt it make sense that you know your destination?
Travelers do. Ive engaged in dozens of airplane conversations in my life. When Ive asked, “Where are you headed?” people always ha
