The Certainty of Eternal Life

Have you ever wondered why we even have to die in the first place? After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and disobeyed God, He barred them from the Tree of Life.

God didn’t want them to live forever in the state they were in. They had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and that brought sin into the human race. As a result, sin, like a disease, has spread to all of us.

The Bible tells us that “when Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Romans 5:12 NLT).

If Adam hadn’t sinned, we wouldn’t have died. If Adam hadn’t sinned, our bodies would not wear out. At the same time, if we had been in Adam’s shoes, we would have done the same thing. Why? Because we all have crossed the line.

Novelist William Boyd said, “We all want to be happy, and we are all going to die. . . . You might say these are the only two unchallengeably true facts that apply to every human being on this planet.”

All of us are getting older. It’s just the reality. We cannot stop the march of time. We cannot turn back the clock. Therefore, what happens to us when we die?

Jesus dealt with this question. He said, “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son” (John 5:25–26 NLT).

Before I was a Christian, I didn’t really have any faith to speak of. My belief as a sixteen-year-old kid was that I would cease to exist after death. And that terrified me. I thought, “How could it be that I could simply cease to exist?” Thinking about it kept me up at night. And one of the great things I experienced after I became a Christian was to realize there is life beyond the grave.

Death is not the end of existence. The real you is not this body you live in; it is your soul. It is your spirit that lives on after your body has gone.

History tells of the renowned atheist Voltaire, who was one of the most aggressive antagonists of the Christian faith. He did everything he could to undermine Christianity. But the nurse who attended him on his deathbed reportedly said that for all the wealth in Europe, she never would watch another atheist die.

In contrast, the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody said on his deathbed, “I see earth receding; Heaven is opening; God is calling me.”

You can die like Voltaire. Or, you can die like Moody. But there will be a future judgment. And if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, then you won’t be there.

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