DEATH

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment… —Hebrews 9:27

People have all kinds of ideas about what happens after we die, but where do they get their information? http://thoughtcatalog.com/stephanie-casella/2015/08/20-people-on-what-they-think-happens-after-they-die/ They are just repeating something they have learned along the way. We better be sure about what happens after death because after we die there is no coming back to change our mind. Is the source we are depending on for our information reliable?

According to the verse above we are going to die one time and then judgment will follow. This is serious business and not a game. Are you ready to die? Someone has said “If you are not ready to die then you are not ready to live.” Knowing what happens after death frees us to live a life that God intended.

God’s Word is totally reliable. He tells us there are two places of judgment— one for those who have trusted Jesus and one for those who have not trusted Jesus. In II Corinthians 5:10 followers of Jesus are told “we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” Here Jesus is looking to acknowledge how we faithfully lived for Him. There is no condemnation here because Jesus already took that for us— “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Then we read in Revelation 20:11-15 of the judgment that will occur for those who do not know the Lord Jesus— “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

At what judgment will you be after you die? It is determined by whether you have truly trusted the Lord Jesus which will bear evidence by the way you now live. Jesus said “For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” May we be showing by words and deeds (James 2:14-26) that we truly love the Lord Jesus.

Dear Father, thank You that I do not have to wonder what will happen after death. Thank You that Jesus die for my sins and that I have life in Him—a life that will last forever. May I now live a life of gratitude in the Name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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