What is going to happen to you when you die? What is your picture of heaven? It is an interesting question to discuss. So many people believe in some form of afterlife or heaven. The beliefs however differ greatly. Some see it as a place of reward for all those who are good. Some see it as a place that everyone is going to, unless they were super evil, like Hitler, but almost everybody else automatically gets in. Some see it as the place in which they can live out every desire they have, and every whim or need is catered to. Some think of it as living on a giant cloud where you play a harp and sing all day. Some would rather live in denial and put off thinking about it or simply deny an afterlife all together.

Have you thought about what you believe?

If only there was a way to know. If someone could have died and come back to tell us. Someone trustworthy. Enter Jesus. See you and I and the rest of the world can have every opinion under the sun, but it does not count for much. It is all opinion unless it is based on some evidence. What does Jesus have to say about life after death? Jesus spoke about eternal life, something that He came to make a reality. He died to pay for our sins so that we could have access to the Father, not just when we die, but right now. What that means is that when our bodies die, we live on, but in a different location. In His prayer in John 17:3, Jesus declares that eternal life is knowing the one true God. I find that passage of scripture fascinating. Eternal life does not start after you die, but at the point that you start to know God. What that means is that eternal life is available now. An eternity in His presence. How many want that?

Do I want to spend eternity in His presence? That is not the most common description of heaven I hear, even though it is the one that Jesus puts forward. I have heard a lot of strange pictures of heaven, even from people who call themselves Christians. I hear some people looking forward to a selfish reality. A made-up reality. My house in heaven, my rewards in heaven, a time when I no longer work. A construct that reflects much of what non-believers think of the afterlife. One that they could be content with even if God Himself was not there. One that reflects the way they live now, but with more fun and less worry. One that reflects the already Godless day to day reality of their lives. Eternal life is knowing Him.

Do I pursue that now? If I don’t, what makes me think I will do that after I die?

C.S. Lewis writes a story in the Great Divorce in which all people are ultimately either moving closer to God or further away from Him. Over the span of eternity that makes a big difference. Some people are convinced that because they prayed a prayer, they now know God, yet their daily lives can remain apathetic to Him. Some people just simply do not want God. So, they move away from Him, they remain in rebellion as we all were and reject the gift of grace through Christ. They will spend an eternity moving further away from God and all that He is. He is love and light and truth and peace and He does not force anyone into His presence. The sad reality is that as people set their hearts on following their own way, creating new definitions for love and light and truth and peace they continue to move away from Him and into greater hate, darkness, deception, and anxiety. They get what they want, to be their own gods, to live separate from Him.

If I do not want Him now, what makes me think I will want Him in eternity?

This is something I recently felt challenged over. My idea of heaven can very easily reveal the idols of my heart. The things I place over and above Him. My prayer as you read this is that the Holy Spirit would guide you in the same way. Am I pursuing Him now as the primary focus of my life? If not, what path am I on? I want to be walking closer to Him every day because Jesus has made this possible.

Eternal life is knowing Him.