Is There an Afterlife?預覽

One misconception people have about Christian afterlife is that heaven is for good people and hell is for bad people. And to be fair, Jesus does say in John 5:29, ‘those who have done good [will be raised] to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement.’ But Jesus also says in Mark 10:18 that, ‘no one is good.’

We tend to judge someone as good or bad by comparing them to other people. But when we compare with God’s standards of perfect love, unfailing wisdom and unflinching courage, everyone falls short. A world freed from suffering won’t be free from suffering long if the standards drop to include anyone who’ll reproduce sin and suffering (which is everyone who isn’t God).

Jesus is the judge who’ll raise some to eternal life and some to judgment, and His measure for goodness is God Himself. How can we hope to receive life rather than judgment?

The answer can’t be in us knuckling down and being better. We’ve already broken His laws, and we lack the self-control and discipline to perfectly reflect the character of God by our own willpower and effort. James talks about how it’s easier to tame wild beasts than it is to tame a human tongue, and how saltwater springs can’t produce freshwater. What we need, he says, is to be given wisdom from God that transforms the way we think and live. We need an ongoing connection with Jesus, the one whose voice gives us life.

Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to those who trust in Him, so they can have this ongoing life-giving connection. The Holy Spirit applies the death and resurrection of Jesus to Christians’ lives. This allows evil and sin to die with Jesus on the cross and replaces it with the life of Jesus, characterized by love. This experience has the power to transform us into people who will one day be free from the failings that create suffering and who are able to perfectly demonstrate the character of the loving God.

So, Christians don’t have a place in the resurrection as a reward for trying to behave themselves. They receive their place, because their sin has died with Jesus, and they’ve been turned into people who reflect His goodness.

How can the work of the Holy Spirit affect your hope for the afterlife? If you’re a Christian, how can you see the goodness of Jesus reflected in your growing character?

Thanks for completing this plan with us. If you want to keep thinking more about this question, check out the Discover Jesus podcast. If you want to explore other questions, keep an eye out for the other plans in this series: Who Was Jesus? Did Jesus Really Exist? What About Suffering? What’s My Purpose?