Feb. 18, 2007  Epiphany 7 (Series C)
    
1 Cor. 15:35

LIFE AFTER DEATH

Introduction

Our theme today has to do with life after death. First, what happens to our body and soul after death? Second, why is life after death a source of joy and purpose? Third, how can we be sure there is life after death? Our text is 1 Corinthians 15:35:

 ‘How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?’

I  WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BODY AND SOUL AFTER DEATH?

First, what happens to our body and soul after we die? Ancient religions give different answers. The Egyptians believed the body was more important than the soul. They thought the body went to eternity the way it was.

That’s why they preserved the body. The embalming process took 40-70 days. The inside of the body was replaced with spices and preservatives. About one kilometer of thin linen strips was used to give the body that mummified effect.

The Egyptian king was also regarded as a god. He not only ruled on earth, but also in  the future life, in another realm. Thus his body was placed in a pyramid - to give the god/king the mightiest and most enduring tomb possible.

The people had to serve their god/king in the after-life. So to help them along the way food was placed in the tombs; also their tools of trade were placed near the body. The tools would be needed for service in their future life.

So to the ancient Egyptians, the soul didn't count; it was the body that was important for the future life. There was some sort of existence after death, but no talk of a glorious bodily resurrection.

The ancient Greeks, on the other hand, reversed things. They believed the soul was all important, but the body was of no value. Only the soul lived on into eternity. Even so, it had a rather shadowy existence. At death the body was left behind for good. Thus one could abuse the body, it didn’t matter. The soul was unaffected. The body merely housed the soul for a short time. That’s why many of the Greeks in Athens ridiculed St Paul when he talked about the resurrection of the body.

The Christians faith is that both body and soul are important. Both have a place in the life to come. The Bible alone gives us reliable information about the future life.

On the other hand, out of body experiences may be interesting but they don’t prove a thing. Take, for example, the experience of seven-year-old Katie. Her lifeless body was found floating face down in a swimming pool. She appeared dead. Yet three days later she recovered. She said that she was allowed to wander thru her own home. She was then taken to meet Jesus. Jesus asked if she wanted to see her family again. ‘Yes’, Katie replied. Then she awoke. There are many stories like this - of people who watch their own operations from the ceiling of the operating theater; who even follow nurses as they get equipment from other rooms.

We should not rely on these stories to show there is life after death. We should get our information from the Bible.

The Bible says that at death the body goes into the grave, but the soul goes to heaven or Hades, if one is not a Christian. Hades is a forerunner of hell.

St Paul the tentmaker likens our body  to a tent. At death the tent comes down. But the soul is taken to heaven to live with Jesus. Paul says that in death we are ‘away from the body and at home with the Lord’. In another place he says that he desires ‘to depart and be with Christ’ (Phil. 1:23). What departs? Certainly not the body, but the soul. As Jesus says to the thief on the cross, ‘Today you shall be with me in Paradise’ (Lk. 23:43).

The soul lives in heaven for a time without the body. Paul talks of the soul being naked. The point is, the soul needs to be clothed. This happens at the end of time when the body is raised from the dead and glorified. Body and soul come together and one’s being is complete again. We live, body and soul, in our heavenly house for ever. As Jesus says, ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms... I am going there to prepare a place for you’ (Jn. 14:2).

St Paul is so sure the body will be  raised that he can already see the glorified body in heaven, waiting to clothe the soul. He says, ‘Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven’, that is, our glorified body.

II  IS GOOD NEWS

Secondly, this certainty of life after death is good news. Our future is secure. This helps us to endure the troubles of life. Sickness, disease, injury, distress, trials and the death of a loved one all cause us sorrow. Also we do not want to die. Death comes as our enemy. It advances along with our age to weaken and finally to kill us.

But death is not life’s final answer. After death is life. Death will be swallowed up by joy. ‘We are more than conquerors thru him who loved us. For (nothing) will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (R. 8:35, 37-39).

So it happened that a woman’s husband died. She was sad but joyful. She said, ‘I miss my husband. But I think of it this way. For years I’d wait for him to come from work. Then we would eat and enjoy being together. All these years I waited for him to come home, and now he’s waiting for me to come home’.

Our future life gives us joy, hope, and purpose. Sin meant life’s purpose was lost. Jesus means life’s purpose is regained. Jesus died and rose to establish a relationship between us and our living God. As a result we want to please God. Pleasing God is our task on earth and will be our task in heaven. Paul says, ‘We make it our goal to please (God), whether we are at home in the body or away from it’.

So many people today have no purpose in life. It’s so sad. Can you imagine a duck that couldn’t swim; a dog that couldn’t bark; a cat that couldn’t purr? How frustrating. They would not be doing the things for which they were created. So people who do not please God are not doing those things for which they were created. No wonder there is so much frustration, unrest, unhappiness and aimlessness in the world today.

What about our life? Do we aim to please God, the God who sent his Son so we could have life forever in heaven? If our aim is to please God, we have a life filled with purpose, meaning, joy and hope. May God’s Holy Spirit enable us to please God.

III  HOW CAN WE BE SURE?

Third, how can we be sure there is life after death? How can we be sure we shall live with God in joy forever? How can we be sure there is life after death? We can be sure because of Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we put our trust in Jesus. We walk by faith in Jesus. We ‘live by faith, not by sight’. The risen Jesus will be with us in life and in death.

Jesus came to earth to open up the way to heaven. He raised the dead to life. He called out to a dead man, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up! (Lk. 7:14). He commanded Lazarus to come out of his tomb. Yes, he who raised the dead is also able to raise our bodies from the dead. He is able to take our souls to heaven.

Through Jesus death has lost its sting. Once a man got stung by hundreds of bees. About half his body was covered with 1,000 stingers. Each of these stingers was removed. None of these bees can sting again - they lost their sting. So death stung Jesus. He died. But in stinging Jesus, death lost its stinger. Yes, it can kill the body, but not the soul. And on the last day the body, too, will be raised to life. What a victory is ours. Believe it. It’s true.

God sends his Holy Spirit ‘as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come’. We know what a deposit is. We may want to take a trip somewhere. We pay a deposit to guarantee our place on the bus or plane or at the motel. So God has assured us he will take us to heaven. God has put down a deposit for us to reserve a place for us in heaven. That deposit is his Holy Spirit. Because we have received the Spirit we can be sure that God will also give us the gift of heaven. 

Conclusion

A little girl needed an operation. She was terrified at the prospect. To encourage her, the girl’s parents promised her something she had wanted for a long time - her very own kitten. The operation went well, but as the anesthetic was wearing off, the youngster was heard mumbling to herself, ‘This sure is a terrible way to get a cat!’

We have to die before we can receive eternal life in heaven. That, too, is a terrible way to receive it. But God’s Word holds out beautiful promises. After we die our soul goes to heaven; and on the last day our body will be raised and glorified. Pain and death will give way to joy. Because of Jesus’ own death and resurrection we can be sure of life after death.

We can learn from the early Christians. They believed in life after death. They had inscriptions like this written on their graves: ‘Paul lives; Jane lives; Peter lives; Sally lives’. Our faith ensures that this could be written on our grave stones too. Through Jesus our soul lives on after death; it is clothed by our new and glorious bodies on the last day.

Peter Kriewaldt