Life after death

Genesis 48; Job 14; Luke 1:39–80; 1 Corinthians 2

Today’s reading in Job expresses a common experience of those who grieve. This man’s emotions ran from total hopelessness to maybe there is hope. On the upside of feeling a tiny bit of hope, he said to God:

If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin; my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity. (Job 14:14–17)

He was thinking about himself, but this range of thinking happens for most people when the loss is someone loved. He may have wondered if his children would live again, and if God had covered their sin. He was looking for something to give him hope.

I’m incredibly thankful for the rest of Scripture that assures me that when Christians die, indeed we will live again. God showed His power to raise the dead when Elijah raised the widow’s son, and Elisha raised the Shunammite woman’s son. These stories are in 1 and 2 Kings. Jesus also raised Lazarus and a widow’s son. When Jesus died, the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had died were raised, coming out of their graves and appearing to many. Yet these examples were not about the afterlife. All these who were raised eventually went to death again . . .

 . . . except Jesus. Some might argue this, yet the Scripture argues back:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:12–26)

As I look at my sister’s photo and think about my parents, I also ‘see’ the face of Jesus — who died and rose again, who was seen alive by more than 500 people, who promised to return and who also said,

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1–4)

There are two kinds of knowing in the Bible. One is knowing by experience. The other is knowing by revelation, by faith; I just know because Jesus said so. It is this knowing that changes the sorrow of loss. It replaces that tragic sense of ‘this is the end’ to that glorious joy that knows ‘this is only the beginning.’ My loss is heaven’s gain is not a cliché; it is a release from self-pity and an introduction to hope, even excitement.

Eventually Job realized the grace of God is actual, a real thing and a total release from fear and hopelessness. For those who believe in Jesus, this grace is always present, also real and a release. Job finally said:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25–26)

And I know it too, not only for myself but for those ‘lost’ to death but alive in Him. My dear sister stands before the throne complete and one day I will join her. For now, I stand before the Cross with a joy that can hardly be contained. He is alive — and we are alive because of Him.