There is life after death.

I have been trying to figure out how to write this post for a few weeks now. Death is not something that people generally enjoy to dwell upon so I was stumped as to how I could present it in a hopeful manner. A couple of things happened today to help me understand it myself and also communicate what it is I have come to know in part.

I have been meditating on Hebrews 11 for the past couple of weeks now. It is called "the chapter of faith" by many people and as I have read and considered it I have come to understand it more deeply as a chapter about hope in the face of death. As it says in the beginning, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. What have I hoped for? What is the promise that I have faith in that I do not see? I hope for a perfected life that is characterized by love and peace. The evidence of my hope is my desire to receive these better things and the full assurance that these better things will be given to me.

Why do I hope for these things? I hope because this life I have been given is subjected to futility. I wake up from unfulfilled sleep, go to work to a job that is never finished, seek praises of men who the next day withdraw them, earn money to buy things which do not last, fall in love with people who will die and eat only to be hungry again. It is all vanity. I entered naked into a world that is disappearing and will leave this life naked with nothing that I have worked for.

Yet, as for my sleepless nights, God's compassions never fail and are renewed every morning. As for my unfinished work, Christ finished His work on the cross and sat down to rest at the right hand of God. As for the praises of men, I have the praises of my Father in Heaven which never disappoint. As for money and that which does not last, the Lord is my portion forever. As for love that ends in death, Christ's love for me was forever perfected by His death. As for my hunger, the Lord is my bread of life. I have eaten and drunk of Him and will never hunger or thirst again. I was blind but now I see.

How is my sight evidence? Can I point to the things I see as a proof of something others don't know? Perhaps. I have an analogy that is the first of the two things that helped me to better understand death. Do you remember the Magic Eye stereogram books that came out years ago with all those 3D images you had to find in a jumble of of seemingly random colors? I hated those books because I could never find the images. It always seemed like others were able to pick them out with ease. Still, would it not have been absurd for me to demand proof that they were seeing the pictures? They would simply reply that they could see the image!

Death is much the same way. The world looks at it and sees a terrifying end to a confusing life and it dies for lack of a better promise. But those who believe look at the stereogram of death and can see the image of perfected life.

Death is very often abrupt and unexpected and happens to those who seemed to have their entire lives set before them. The death of my cousin's boyfriend of a year and a half was the second clarifying event for me today. My cousin just turned 18 this weekend and was unable to celebrate with her boyfriend because he was ejected from a car that his drunken friend was driving and died. I called my cousin's family up and shared some tears and consolation for their sudden loss. He had been like family to them. I pray to God that he is in Heaven with His Father now. I have found the song "Homesick" by Mercy Me to be good to listen to at times like these:



Also, "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin:



Lastly, "Carry you to Jesus" by Steven Curtis Chapman:



With Christ, death is simply a gateway for those who would love to be with God, the giver of life. The believer does not mourn as those who have no hope for he knows that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Death is the culmination of love for Christ died to save His children so that He could raise them up to live for eternity in the everlasting city of God. That is why I can quote these scriptures from Hebrews 11:

On Abraham's hope for his inheritance:

"¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

On Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham's deaths:

"¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises [on earth], but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth...¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."

On Moses' faith of better things to come:

"²⁴ By faith Moses...refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward."

I must admit that there is much that I am missing here. I can truly only say that this world was not worthy of Christ, but we were of great worth to Him and He came to this sad planet to save us in order that we would be worthy of a better world. He came to take us from a place of unnatural death in order to present us before God, holy and blameless, so that we might live in His city forever in natural life.