The pain of losing someone who has died is incomparable. The loss, the separation, the finality of it wounds us. We are stricken for the rest of our lives to various degrees. The loss of a spouse, a child, a parent is especially difficult. What healing is there, or can be for so great a loss? Many wonder at such a time if death is the end of the person, or if there is some part that lives on?

The evidence is there, if you care to look for it. Many have reported similar stories of having died, whether from overdose, heart attack, on the operating table and have been brought back by medical intervention, and have seen that there is life after death. They report similar experiences, of having seen themselves from above, and going to either a place of incredible beauty and peace, or a place of terrible torment and fear. If we were to put the afterlife on trial, there would be ample evidence to prove its case.

The Bible corroborates this view of death. If you have not read the Bible, it is largely a history book. It is a history of God’s interaction with people, mainly his chosen people, the Israelites. Through it, we can learn much about the nature of our world and our life and death. Some interesting points from the Bible:

* God created the heavens and the earth. He owns the earth and everything in it. He has property rights to it.

* God makes the laws governing living in his earth.

* God made mankind to serve his own purposes. He said he made mankind to rule the earth, and to glorify God.

* One day God will destroy the earth and make a new heavens and a new earth.

* Mankind from the beginning has failed to obey God’s laws. This led to two major things: death, which is the punishment for disobeying God’s laws; and separation from God. (Disobeying God’s laws is known as sin. God defines what is sin.)

* God made a way for men to be reconciled to God.

It is helpful to view this world as a school. God has been leading mankind in stages. Early on in mankind’s history, he gave the law to teach us. This was given to the man Moses and brought to the world through the Israelites. It is the basic primer telling us good from evil, clean from unclean. The most basic of it is the 10 commandments, which tells us to love God and worship him along, and to not steal, murder, covet, etc.

As a child is told not to cross a busy road as a basic rule while he’s young, when he grows up and is able to understand more, he is able to cross the road later. So later as mankind grows, the law of Moses starts to pass away. To understand this more, it is helpful to know how men are reconciled to God.

A brief history of mankind’s interaction with God

The first man created was Adam, and from Adam was created a helper, Eve. God gave them anything in the Garden of Eden except one thing, they were not to eat from one tree. Adam and Eve at from the one forbidden tree, and death came to mankind. All of their descendants were cursed with death.

Mankind grew and became quite evil. Angels came down from heaven and took human wives, and mankind was defiled by this. God was sorry he made men, and decided to wipe them all out. But he found one that wasn’t corrupted in his generations (genetics), Noah, and saved him and his family out of the destruction of the genetically corrupted mankind. In doing this, he saved mankind. They would have soon become non man, and corrupt in every way if God had not intervened. God brought a flood on the world and destroyed all but Noah and his family.

Mankind expanded again and God chose a small group of people for himself and set them apart. They wrote down and kept the words of God, and documented men’s interaction with Him. They were the descendants of one obedient man: Abraham.

Mankind continued to sin. God gave Moses the law, which showed men how they could temporarily pay for their sin and be reconciled to God. Death is the only payment for sin. So the Israelites were able to give a sacrifice for their wrongdoing by offering to God an animal. This taught man that blood can pay for sin.

Israel continued to sin and God would punish them to try and bring them back in line. They were exiled from their country. Eventually they would repent and come back to him.

In all this, God attempted to teach mankind: do this, don’t do that and you will live. This is how to live a peaceful life. This will lead to death and destruction. God was slow to anger and patiently lead mankind though this learning process. But men are so hard headed, sometime it took some really painful lessons to get the message though to them.

Eventually, God brought the permanent payment for sin. God himself was born as a man. He lived a sinless life. During his life he taught us. He healed us. He set us free. His name was Jesus. As the Israelites sacrificed an animal to pay for sin temporarily, Jesus offered himself up as the ultimate sacrifice to pay for our sins. Animals had to be sacrificed daily, monthly, yearly but Jesus ended all that. He was God and his death on the cross paid for our sins, all of them for all time. Only the subsitutionary death of God himself could pay for all that sin. After being in the grave three days and three night, Jesus rose from the dead, signifying that God the Father accepted the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of mankind. Hundreds of witnesses interacted with Jesus after his resurrection. After a time, Jesus ascended to heaven and now sits next to God the Father.

For men to now be reconciled to God, they may accept Jesus’ sacrifice in their place. They make Jesus their Lord and repent for the sins they have committed. When they do this, they are given the third part of God, the Holy Spirit to live inside them and guide them.

So this brings me back to the law and its passing away. The law was perfect for what it was intended to accomplish. It was to teach men what is sin. But now God wanted men to learn more, go to the next step, and the next step is harder even than following the law. God wrote the law on his followers hearts, and asked them to follow the Spirit of God. For example, the law of Moses instructed the Israelites to be circumcised in the flesh. Following the Spirit requires men to be circumcised in the heart. The law said do not murder. Jesus took them into the circumcision of the heart by telling them that to even hate someone was equivalent to murder. The law was external, and of the flesh. Being led by the Spirit involves changing the thoughts and hearts of men.

In this Earth-Schoolroom, there is passing and failing. God warns that there aren’t many who pass. The way is narrow, and few there are that find it. To pass, one must be reconciled to God. To do this a person repents of their sins, asks God for forgiveness, puts their trust in Jesus and his sacrifice for them on the cross. When a person does this they are born again. They are given a new heart, and a new spirit. They must abide in Christ and let Him teach them, cleanse them. Jesus the Christ will lead a person step by step on how to live in a God-pleasing manner. Jesus will make amazing changes in the person. So being born again, abiding in Christ leads to passing the test of this world and going on to heaven. Failing to be reconciled to God in this way leads to death, which is everlasting torment in hell. God gave us free will to choose him or not. So the choice is yours.