Is There A Life After Death?
Afternoon In February...
The day is ending,
The night is descending;
The marsh is frozen,
The river dead.
Through clouds like ashes
The red sun flashes
On village windows
That glimmer red.
The snow recommences;
The buried fences
Mark no longer
The road o’er the plain;
The bell is pealing,
And every feeling
Within me responds
To the dismal knell;
Shadows are trailing,
My heart is bewailing
And tolling within
Like a funeral bell.
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Death is a mystery no one can explain. Let us now see what the great King Solomon has to say about death and try to find answer to this question.
King Solomon: "A wise person thinks about death, but a fool thinks only about having a good time."
One of the most profound things that disturbed Solomon was the inevitability of death. Even scientists find it difficult to define death. Is it when heart stops working or brain stops thinking? Whatever be the case death is inevitable. If anything is going to end, why do we give importance to everything? If we are all going to die, what is the purpose of life? And so he counsels us to visit a house of mourning. Going to a house of mourning is a terrible thing and that too if the deceased is young. Have you ever been to such houses? We have a lot of questions that run through our mind. We wonder, we ponder. Why did he die of that freak accident? Why did she have to die of Cancer at such a young age? Why did the whole family get wiped out? Is there a God?
Losing our loved one is a heavy blow to anyone. The pain caused is unexplainable. But it is natural. Every tree that is born has to die one day. Every flower that blooms withers. Every animal meets its end. Evening surely comes. There is always an end to everything. We all die. We are dust and ashes. We came from dust and we return to dust. Solomon could not equate reality with death. Life when lived to its fullness is so beautiful. Think of a birthday party. Think of a school day function. Think of the day, when you won a race. Oh! Life was colourful, vibrant and joyful. But when it comes to death, it is painful and unexplainable.
King Solomon: "For what advantage has the wise man over the fool?"
Death sets each human being at par. Rich and the poor die alike. The rich do not have any advantage over the poor when it comes to death. Sometimes the rich can postpone death but not elude it. Both the educated and the uneducated die. What happens to a ‘good man’ also happens to a ‘bad fellow’. Upper class or lower class, death is a sure commodity. Death also knows no bounds when it comes to age. Babies are born-dead. Some die late in their old age (second-childhood, as Shakespeare says). Many a time, death knocks unannounced. Sometimes it comes through diseases and at other times accidents and most normally at our later years of life. Since death is certain, what good is it in being wise, rich and influential?
King Solomon: "Who knows what is best for us? Who knows what will happen after we are gone?"
Solomon felt that he was totally powerless about the future. He knew the past and can learn from it. He lived in the present and was able to control it to some extent. Inspite of being a King, he was totally powerless to control the future.
King Solomon: "Who knows what happens to a person’s spirit? Who knows if a human’s spirit goes up to God while an animal’s spirit goes down into the ground?"
Another mystery that death throws at us is the after-life. Is there a life after death? Our bodies age, die and decay. But do we have an inner spirit or soul? Are we two entities – soul and body? Or are we three entities – spirit, soul and body? Or are we merely a single entity being – body or matter - myself alone? Who can answer these questions? Can a person who had tasted death explain? Is anyone like that? But sadly we die and we have not heard from anyone except the ONE. Solomon was perplexed about the after-life. He also wondered about the reality of Heaven. Whether Heaven existed and whether our spirits would go to Heaven? These were all the pressing questions in the heart of Solomon. He understood the difference between humans and animals. And so his questions multiplied.
The Fear of Death
Have you ever had the fear of death? Have you ever been close to death and wondered, “Am I facing the last moments of life?” If so, what were your thoughts? Did you fear? Yes! My friends, death is fearful. We think of our loved ones and pray to God, even if we do not believe in Him to extend our lives. We exercise regularly and are cautious about our health in order to live longer. We want to avoid death. We want to elude it. We have all kinds of medical insurance covers starting from common cold to more dangerous diseases because of our fear of death. On the other hand, few people develop a hatred towards life. They do not want to live. They want to die. Solomon too started hating life at one point of time.
Hating Life
King Solomon:"So I hated life"
History has shown us that many deep thinkers have killed themselves. Thinking shallow sometimes helps. Being an intellectual is sometimes a curse. Some people want to live and try to postpone death while others want to die ’cause they see no meaning in life. Most people in this world have developed their own meaning of life, most of which is a shallow one. But nevertheless, this keeps them going for some time.
"I want my children to have a secure future", "I have bought this house in an EMI and I need to work for another 15 years", "I need to climb up the ladder", "I am striving for this promotion", "I am planning to follow my passion" – All these are purposes of people. And it keeps us going
But Solomon thought still deep. "What next?"- He questioned and was perplexed. Many of us like Solomon, having reached relatively fair success or settlement in life would ponder, "What’s next?" or "Is that all?" or "Is this what I wanted?"
In order to think more clearly let us dig deeper into one of most profound statements of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ:"I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe this?"
Death is a big mystery. Scientists with all the medical advancements have tried their best to postpone death. But death can not be removed. The meaning of life becomes obsolete when we talk about death. All through our lives, we live thinking that we are going to live for many years. The sad reality is that death comes knocking at everyone’s doors. But the beautiful thing about death is that it can lead us to asking deeper questions about life. If there is no after life, then life becomes totally meaningless. But if there is an after life, it makes all the difference.
Note the following statements by prominent thinkers of this world:
Blaise pascal (French Mathematician) - "The immortality of the soul is something of such vital importance to us… All our actions and thoughts must follow such different paths, according to whether there is hope of eternal blessings or not. Thus our chief interest and chief duty is to seek enlightment on this subject."
Alfred Lord Tennyson (English Poet during Victorian age) - "If there is no immortality, I shall throw myself into the sea."
Henry Thomas Buckle (19th Century English Historian) - "If immortality be untrue, it matters little whether anything else be true or not."
Bismarck (Past Chancellor of German Empire) "Without the hope of an afterlife, this life is not even worth the effort of getting dressed in the morning."
Walter Issacson biographer of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc: - "I remember sitting in his backyard in his garden, one day, and he started talking about God. He [Jobs] said " Sometimes I believe in God, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s 50/50, maybe. But ever since I’ve had cancer, I’ve been thinking about it more, and I find myself believing a bit more, maybe it’s because I want to believe in an afterlife, that when you die, it doesn’t just all disappear. The wisdom you’ve accumulated, somehow it lives on." Then he paused for a second and said, "Yea, but sometimes, I think it’s just like an On-Off switch. Click. And you’re gone." And then he paused again and said, " And that’s why I don’t like putting On-Off switches on Apple devices."
But who can be more sure about after life? From where can we learn it? Can experience teach it? Has anyone come back from the dead? Does any world class university teach about this subject?
The answer to the above questions are found in Jesus Christ. He taught a lot about Heaven and Hell. He spoke more about the after-life. He spoke about the Kingdom of Heaven. He spoke about the unseen world. He spoke about the angels and the demons. And in the Bible verse mentioned at the begining of this chapter, He says that He is the resurrection and the life.
Resurrection means coming back to life again. Jesus again makes a bold claim that if we believe in Him, we shall not die. Can we believe Him? Can we believe His statements?
What did He mean by saying that we shall never die. In the beginning when God created Adam and Eve and kept them in the beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden amongst animals, He gave them only one command to obey – Not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. God expected man to obey Him in this one issue. Both man and woman were created to enjoy life in the garden and to commune with God Himself. He had also warned them that the day they would eat the forbidden fruit, they would surely die. But when they disobeyed God (sinned against God), they did not die a physical death, but the inner spirit which was in communion with God died. Humans forever lost the communion with the creator God. We were lost.
Jesus came to restore this lost relationship with God. He came to die on the cross once and for all to deal with the human disobedience (sin). By His death, now the relationship with God is restored. We only need to believe in the words of Jesus and accept that we are sinners both by birth and by our deeds. We inherited sin and we commit sin. And so by confessing that we are sinners and accepting Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins, we become ‘believers’ or ‘born again’.
When we believe in Jesus Christ, God accepts us as His children. We start to communicate with God. We have a new perspective to life. The Bible calls this as the ‘New Life.’ Our outer body may die and decay. But the inner spirit will return to God. It shall never die. We will live even after we die.
The Bible also talks about Heaven as the place where God lives. We would be in His presence forever. Hence we are left with the choice whether to believe Him or not. It is up to every human being.
Do you believe?