After Death Then What?

Spring seemed like it was coming and then suddenly winter made another stand. We probably should have known better given the gentle winter we have had. Nonetheless winter's relapse surprised us.

Death in the midst of life, while expected in one sense, always seems to surprise us. Last time I wrote about the reality that we all face, facing death. I'd like to continue that thought process using the Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 32. So what happens after death? The chapter continues, "...but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them:..."

This clause is in contrast to the first part which reminds us that our bodies which are made from the "dust" or the elements of this material world die and decay back to their constituent elemental properties. Is that all we are? This clause reminds us that no, there is another part of us that we are all aware. The "inner" man, the conscious part, that part that really animates our body and experiences the world we live in through its senses. It's that part that never really seems to age though it grows in understanding, knowledge, and experience. We all know this intuitively. Materialists attempt to deny it but we know there is something more to life. We want meaning. We believe in immaterial things like good & evil, truth & falsehood, love & hatred, justice & injustice. We yearn for eternity because we were made for it. All of us want meaning. We want our lives to mean something to someone and to ourselves.

The point of this section is that our spiritual part returns to God at death. He is the one in control. He renders some decision about our eternal state. This is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 12:7, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it." Our actions in the body, our thoughts, our loves fit into this. God considers all these things and renders a verdict. Death teaches us that we are accountable. We are not just "here" for a while as an accident or chance occurrence. We know we are not self created. We didn't pick our parents, our family, our nationality, our time of existence. Life teaches us that we are not really in full control. Things happen to us. Death reminds us that God is in control and we will give an account.

After death then what? That is the concern of the gospel in Jesus Christ. The question is whether you are alone in death before God or whether you are "in" Christ by faith in his atoning work. Will God see your soul by yourself with all your sins or will he see you in Christ Jesus in his righteousness. The point is at death, God will render a verdict. You and I will return to God who gave us life. Has He given you eternal life?