Life After Death

In my Sunday Morning Bible Study, we are studying John's Revelation. This is a fascinating book of the Bible. The apocalyptic symbolism jumps off the page and you can't help but wonder about what is to come for us as you read through these challenging chapters of text. We begin each class with prayer and by reading Revelation 1:1-8 (in fact, this would be a good time to pause for prayer and read this passage in your Bible). These eight verses serve as John's introduction to the entire book. The "revelatory unveiling" of Jesus Christ by God the Father! Basically, John is letting the reader know ahead of time that the following pages are going to be loaded with meaning and they all have their origin in Christ!

This past Sunday, after we read John's introduction to Revelation, I asked the class what John meant by the words in verse 5, "the firstborn from the dead (NIV)". What an intriguing reference to Jesus! Firstborn, as if the tomb gave birth to Him! This Easter Sunday reference screams the refrain "He is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!" It defines what we mean to say Jesus is resurrected from the dead. He lives. He was dead. He is dead no more. He will not die again. He lives forever. Life after death.

But what about others who had been raised back to life? What about the widow's son raised back to life by Elijah OR the Shunamite woman's son restored by Elisha OR Lazarus brought back by Jesus OR Eutycus by Paul. What about all of these people? Were they not raised from the dead? Absolutely! And what a beautiful foreshadowing of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the widow's son, the Shunamite's son, Lazarus, and Eutycus all died again. They had not been raised to new life, but to the same old life. So they, like us, await life after death.

When I say "life after death", I'm not talking about what happens when we die. That's not life; it's just plain death. Our body is reverently laid to rest in the grave or tomb while or soul "goes to be with Jesus" (Philippians 1:23). This is the very definition of the state of being dead. This is the exact opposite of life. Thus, it is not life after death. Yet we believe in Jesus Christ's resurrection. We celebrate it like we celebrate few other events! We actually dare to find hope in Jesus' life after death. We take comfort because Jesus lives! He is not dead! He is alive - body and soul together - ALIVE!

This is what awaits each of us who trust Jesus! Life after death is what our friends and loved ones who died in faith are looking forward to! They certainly are "in a better place" because they are with Jesus! But they know, just as you and I know, there's much more still to come! The living Jesus Christ will soon return to bring back life to those who are dead! Life after death! Life that will never end! Life no longer threatened by death! Jesus is the firstborn from the dead! The grave has already given birth to life for Jesus. In the same way, the graves of those with faith in Jesus will give birth to new life for the saints! We will have life after death! (For further reading, check out Romans 6!)