Sermon - What Happens When We Die?

What Happens When We Die?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

10/06/07

Introduction

When I was a University student I got some work during the summer break at the Dampier Salt mine at Lake McLeod north of Carnarvon. I was doing some basic lab work and data analysis for them. Normally they would get a Chemistry student to work for them in the lab, but this year they were doing some research on a problem they had with hardening salt crystals, and it involved a fair bit of data entry and analysis, which a maths and computing student was perhaps better suited for.

So into this laboratory I come as a non-Chemist, and I’m taught some basic lab techniques and set to work. Basically, my job was to test hundreds of samples of brine (salt water) to find their chemical composition, and then do all sorts of comparisons to chart patterns of combinations of elements to hardness of salt crystals. The hope was that the supervisors would be able to look at my graphs and charts and figure out how to fix the problem by adding or removing elements from the brine used on the salt pans.

The problem was that as I put together the analysis of the samples, there were no conclusive patterns that emerged. There didn’t seem to be an answer to the problem of why the crystals were setting harder than they used to.

I believed that the answer to the problem lied in the field of Physics more than Chemistry. I thought that the depth of the brine on the salt pans was probably the most critical factor to determining salt hardness. The problem was that I felt unqualified to raise my suggestion with the people in charge. I did my work in the lab and my office and I rarely spoke to any of the Chemists. I did not know what strategies they were using or anything about the investigation except that it wasn’t going well. I didn’t want to stick my nose in and make a fool of myself. So I told my idea to a lab assistant, who had a lot more experience than me and could take my idea to the people in charge. He just laughed at me and told me to mind my own business.

I never found out how long it took them to solve the problem, but I have since read a CSIRO report that shows that the depth of brine does indeed dramatically affect salt hardness.

Now at the moment you are all scratching your heads and thinking “what’s the point of this?”!

Today we are continuing our journey through the book of 1 Thessalonians, and we’re up to chapter 4, verses 13 to 18.

Listen to what verse 13 has to say…

^“13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.”

^

The subject that we are talking about today is that of life after death. What happens when a person dies? This is a subject that divides a lot of people. There are hundreds of different theories about what happens when a person dies. There are thousands of different people and groups with something to say on the subject. Yet according to the Bible, there is only true hope for life after death, there is only one truth on the subject, and all other opinions are in fact ignorance.

The problem is that there are many people who live in ignorance because they will only accept truth from certain sources, or they are only looking for truth in certain places. I read an article yesterday from the Atheist Foundation of Australia website by David Nicholls. I won’t bore you by addressing all of his claims, but I want to give you a taste of what he had to say:

“Fact Four: Religions do not represent any form of objective truth and therefore their “supernatural” element cannot be trusted to be at all factual.

Fact five: There is no concrete evidence or even an inkling of a suggestion of evidence that we live after we die…

The Universe is an entirely natural process and scientists have not detected one super-natural atom. That our imagination can lead us in directions guided by nothing but fantasy is no reason at all to accept the convenient doctrines of an eternal life.”

This author reminds me a little of the lab technician at Lake Macleod who laughed when I started to tell him my theory about salt. He seems to be only prepared to accept ideas that come from what he considers to be a purely scientific point of view. He has blocked out everything that does not fit within his narrow field of vision. From a biblical point of view, this makes him extremely ignorant, but from his own point of view he seems wise. Millions of people throughout history have witnessed things unexplained by science, are we to disregard their testimony? There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of accounts of people who have died and returned to life with amazing stories that defy the imagination of a non-functioning brain. Most importantly of all is the Biblical and historical record of the death and resurrection of Jesus. If returning from the dead were a crime, Jesus would be convicted in any court of law. The evidence is compelling. This last Easter I presented just some of the evidence that backs up our belief about the death and resurrection of Jesus. If you want more information about that just ask me and I’ll lend you some books on the subject! For David Nicholls to say that there is not even an inkling of a suggestion of evidence of life after death is quite astounding.

However it is not just people who deny life after death who are in ignorance. It is possible for people to have a completely wrong idea of what life after death entails. There are such things as delusions, there are people who have invented stories for fame or profit, there is such a thing even as demonic deception. Not everything that is said about the afterlife is true. Not every experience that people have claimed has actually happened. There is discernment that is necessary. We must not gullibly accept everything we hear. Things need to be tested to see if they have a ring of truth to them. If we want to have a genuine and sure hope, we must not be ignorant about life after death, we need to be confident that we know the truth.

Let’s read the full passage together:

^13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. ^14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ^15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ^16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ^17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ^18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

^14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

We are reminded that the whole foundation for our hope in life after death rests on the death and resurrection of Jesus. If that did not occur, then we are the ones who are deluded and living in false hope. But if we believe that Jesus died and rose again just as He promised; then it is only logical to believe that He will make good on His other promises also, including his promise of eternal life to us.

I want to stress that this passage is talking about the destiny of Christians who have died. It does not address the destiny of those who die without experiencing God’s salvation.

It is talking about people who have “fallen asleep” in Jesus – what does that actually mean?

This gets us onto the subject of “What is a human being?” In ancient times, the body was viewed as a housing for our real selves – the soul. The soul encompasses our identity, our intellect and our emotions. The Bible also describes us as having a spirit – a term closely related to soul, but deals more with our relationship to God. Someone who does not know God is “spiritually dead”, whereas someone who knows God is “spiritually alive” Soul and spirit both refer to the immaterial part of us, soul refers to our horizontal relationship (ourselves and others), spirit is refers to our vertical relationship (God). Is it possible for the soul-spirit to be separated from the body? Does a mind have any non-physical aspect, or can it only exist as a complex network of chemical and electrical processes in the brain?

Some Christians believe in something called “soul-sleep”, in which a person is basically unconscious in death until they are awakened by Jesus at the at His second coming to meet Him in the air. A similar view holds that the soul of a person cannot be separated from the body it is housed in, so when the body dies, the soul dies also. When Jesus returns, each person will be given a new body and new soul, but it will be a continuation in a sense of who they were in this life.

However the majority of Christians, including our own tradition as Churches of Christ, believe that the soul of a Christian actually remains conscious and enters in to the presence of Christ upon the death of our physical body.

When Jesus returns to Earth, these souls will be given new bodies which are like Christ’s own glorious body. At this time those Christians who are still alive will find that their bodies are changed, and they will rise to meet Jesus in the air also. This is described in the following verses:

^{15} According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ^16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ^17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ^

Now, those who were here last week will know that this passage was written to comfort the Thessalonians who were worried that Christians who died had missed out on the Kingdom of Heaven. If Paul wanted to reassure them about this, and if it is true that our souls depart to be in the presence of Christ straight away, why doesn’t he just say that? Why make it sound as though these people are trapped in the grave until the second coming?

These Thessalonians are looking forward to the Second Coming of Jesus, and their question is “Will Christians who have died miss out?” Paul simply answers “No, they won’t. In fact, any of us who happen to be alive at that time will hear the loud command and the sound of the trumpet, and we will see these people with their glorious new bodies as our own bodies are transformed, and we will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air.”

The question the Thessalonians seemed to be asking was relating to the second coming, not to what happens prior to then.

Our understanding of the soul entering into the presence of God immediately upon death is the most natural understanding of passages such as 2 Corinthians 5:6, which says:

“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.” The implication is that death for the Christian is actually a good thing, because it means that we are then taken home to be with the Lord. As long as we are alive, we are not with Christ. If the soul slept in death, we would be away from the Lord until His return, whether we are alive or dead.

^18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

The point of this section is that we might be encouraged. Remember, God does not want us to grieve like those who have no hope. Neither does He want us to live as people who have no hope. Neither does He want us to live as people who will not give an account.

The atheist David Nicholls concluded his article I referred to earlier with the following statement:

“Reaching a full potential of life before death is only afforded to those who reject the notion of life after death.”

I would actually reverse that statement.

I do understand where he is coming from. There are fanatics in this world who commit terrorist acts in the hope of gaining a harem of virgins and other types of rewards in the life to come. Those ideas about the afterlife are in fact ignorant.

But living in the light of eternity is the best way to live this life. Living a life of goodness that shines the love of God into this dark world is the best way to reach the full potential of life before death. Living with hope and confidence instead of fear is a great way to live life before death. Living with a sense of purpose and meaning is a great way to live life before death.

But when it all comes down to it, life before death is less than a drop in the bucket compared to life after death. To prepare for life after death is the best way to live life before death.