The After Life and The Life After Death

In the last month, we have experienced the passing of Linda’s mom and our daughter-in-law, Danielle’s grandmother.  Linda’s mom passed away on St Patrick’s day and Danielle’s gramma this past Monday.  The funeral is today, Good Friday. Both ladies knew the Lord as their Savior.   Linda’s mom was 88 and had been in an Alzheimer’s care facility for the past six years, slowly passing in front of our eyes.  Her passing was a welcome blessing as she had prayed that she might die.  Danielle’s gramma was a vibrant 80, still very much enjoying life. We sat next to her every Sunday in our Milan church, most recently when we went back to Michigan for Linda’s mom’s funeral.  We, chatted at our granddaughter, Gracie’s ball game the previous Friday.  Her passing was a surprise and not welcomed, but received in God’s grace.  Life will be different with these two ladies gone. This all leads me to share some thoughts with you.

This week is known as the Passion Week, during which we commemorate the death burial and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  When we reflect on Jesus’s life and death, we usually think of His life, death, suffering and resurrection as preparation for our “after life” or eternity.  And certainly, He did; but He also prepared us the “life after death”, the life we must live after a loved one dies. Life goes on.  There is work to be done, kids going to school, meals to be prepared.  The hardest hit is usually the spouse.  Linda’s parents were married almost 71 years and Danielle’s grandparents over 60 years.  Now the husbands are alone, for the first time in their life, no parents back home. The house is empty.  We prepare ourselves poorly for “life after death”.

However, Jesus spent most of His ministry dealing with just that, preparing us for life after His death.  If you read the gospels, all of His sermons dealt with this life.  His prayers centered around this life.  In fact, His last message to His disciples addressed this expressly.  

Only the Gospel writer, John records this message and prayer.  Most Christians don’t even know that this message was spoken after the last supper, after Jesus predicting Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial.  If you ask the average Christian to quote any passages from Jesus’ sermons, most will quote from the sermon on the mount.  If you ask for the most quoted prayer, it would be the Lord’s prayer.  If you ask for His longest prayer, most won’t know it or even where it is.  If you ask what was His last sermon, most won’t be able to identify it.  Most don’t remember when Jesus prayed for Himself. If you ask for the prayer specifically for us and His disciples, most won’t know it.  Once I quote it, most will remember the first part; most will not recall the entire message and prayer.  Far fewer of us will have internalized this prayer and live in the entirety of it daily.  It starts in John 14 and goes through the 17^th chapter; where upon Jesus entered the garden of Gethsemane to pray alone.

His message begins:

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  KJV

The Common English translation says:

My Father's house has room to spare.

The Holman Christian Standard says:

In My Father's house are many dwelling places; 

In the Latin Vulgate, the word means: a traveler's resting place. The Greek word is related to the verb “meno” , meaning remain or stay, which occurs 40 times in John. 

We often think of it as a mansion as in the southern gospel song, I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop.  Do we really think Jesus was building houses for us?  We sing it. Talk like it. Read the entire sermon.  Jesus talks about “knowing the Father”, praying in the name of Jesus, of doing the works that he did and greater works, keeping His Word, receiving the Holy Spirit, abiding in Him and His words abiding in us.

Jesus prays that we may be one with the Father just as He is one with the FATHER.

Jesus was not talking about houses for our bodies.  He was talking about dwelling places, resting places for our hearts, our minds and our spirits.  It is the same place that the psalmist in Psalm 91 says:

The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.

I encourage you to re-read John 14-17 sometime during this weekend.  Read it in a couple different versions.  Read it, realizing that Jesus was speaking to you, about you and praying for you, the last night of His life on earth, His dying prayer was for you.  He has prepared a special place for us; but to occupy it, you must know Him and know His Word.  Without Him and without His Word, we are homeless and lost, physically and spiritually.  You may be saved but without abiding in Him and His Word, you will never experience the fullness of what Jesus suffered and died for.  He prepared us for “the after life” and “the life after”.  The life after we die, and the life we must live after our loved ones die and the life we now live in the light of His death, burial, resurrection and His imminent return.

I am including a link to John 14-17, in the “Message” paraphrase.  Hopefully if you click on it, it should come up on your computer.  The “Message” is not a translation; but one man’s paraphrase. Don’t read it as your only source but it will help you personalize the message and prayer of Jesus for you.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/msg/passage/?q=john+14;+john+15;+john+16;+john+17

He is risen!

ONE RING TO RULE THEM ALL

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

If you are a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, and the “Lord of the Rings”, you will recognize the above quote.  If not, it means nothing to you; however, I ask that you bear with me and continue reading.  Let me explain first of all, very briefly, the “One Ring”.  The “One Ring” was forged by the dark, evil, fallen lord Sauron at Mount Doom.  It was one of twenty magical rings.  Nineteen of the rings were made by elven-smiths.  The 19 rings were for the rulers of the various “people groups” of Middle earth.  They were intended to by Sauron to seduce the rulers to evil.  The “One Ring” had power over the 19, who were dependent on the “One Ring”. The wielders of the 19 could be controlled by the wielder of “The One”.  If “The One” was destroyed, the power of the 19 would fade.  With this limited information, even readers, not familiar with the “Lord of the Rings”, can easily see the allegorical potential within the “Lord of the Rings” book/movies.

Tolkien was a friend and contemporary of C.S. Lewis.  Tolkien was instrumental in C.S. Lewis’s journey back to his Christian faith.  Lewis had abandoned his faith after the death of his mother, becoming disillusioned by God’s failure to heal his mother.  They worked together at Oxford.  Both wrote fictional children’s books that are enjoyed by adults. C.S. Lewis wrote the the Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien wrote the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  These books, which now have been made into movies, are considered by many to be children fantasy that have a deeper allegorical theme.  C.S. intended his fantasy as an allegory of the Christian faith.  Tolkien never did, even though the fantasy was a fight between good and evil in the fictional “Middle Earth”. 

Fantasy books are not new.  They have been around since at least the 8^th century B.C.  The Iliad and Odyssey are probably the oldest even though they are written as poetry.  100’s of fantasy books have been written just in the last few years. The most popular examples are The Harry Potter series, the Marvel “books”/movies and the Star Wars books/movies.  The struggle between good and evil, “good warlock” vs “evil warlock”, good wizard vs evil wizard, good super heroes vs evil super villains is the common thread in all of these; as well as spiritism and supernatural ability.  

Recently, I went to the latest Star Wars movie with two of my grand daughters.  Four of the 5 previews were fantasy/super hero movies.   It is not my intent to debate the “good or bad’ about these books/movies.  I do, however, want to discuss the inward “spirit awareness” or “the search for God” that dwells in each of us that draws us to these books/movies.  We want heroes. We enjoy the struggle between good and evil.  We like to see good defeat evil in fantasy and real life.  We yearn for the supernatural.

Paul encountered this, when in Athens, he came upon their altar “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”

Paul wrote about it in Romans:

From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

It has never been more evident than in the New Age Movement and the spiritism/spiritualism religion of today.   

Paul tells the Corinthians:

The god of this age has blinded the minds of those who don't have faith so they couldn't see the light of the gospel that reveals Christ's glory.

He tells the Ephesians that they “once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” He then warns them:

we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places

Yet, in spite of this, It is sad to say that the “non-Christians” are more conscious of spiritual evil around us than most Christians. That is not to say that we deny it, but fail to recognize it when we see it. We fail to give credence to it.  We live in a world where satan is actively seeking to destroy the church, while the church primarily sits on the sidelines like spectators at some football game, ignoring their command to do battle against satan.  We know the final outcome and piously mouth the phrase, “God is in control, nothing happens without God’s will”.  Why pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?  Does God will “sin”.  Did He not tell us to “resist the devil”?  Did He not command us to “put on the whole armor of God”?  We ignore the warnings to the church in the only book of the Bible that has a specific blessing included in it’s introduction:

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Sadly, it is probably the least read book by the majority of Christianity.  It is the most controversial.  It is the most ignored.  It is viewed as allegorical by many.  Rarely taken literally.  When read, it reads more like a Tolkien fantasy novel.  Hollywood has made 100’s of fantasy movies, but none are more violent than what is written in the book.  None are scarier.  None visualize the struggle between good and evil clearer.  None more relevant.  The thing that sets this book apart from all other fantasy books, is that it is NOT fantasy.  It is real. It is happening.  It will continue to happen.

The Book of which I speak is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.  To me, it is the most exciting, inspiring book of the Bible.  I challenge you to read it, study it and take it to heart, and be blessed.  Good will prevail, good will win; BUT more than that, GOD HAS WON, Satan has lost.  Every man will have to decide.  Every man will kneel; either in worship, adoration and in eternal victory, or in submission, surrender, defeat and eternal hell.

Jesus Christ, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:6-11

 Let me close with my re-write of the quote that I started this blog with.  This is real, accurate and a matter of life or death:

One Lord to rule them all, One Savior to save them all,

One Spirit to bring them all, and in the heavens unite them all.

I pray that everyone, reading this, will join me, in joining with this Lord, Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

For J.R.R. Tolkien fans: