What is it Like After this Life?

I'll be honest, when I was younger I never thought about this. I figured there is nothing I could do about it. Early on in my life, I knew God was in control and figured whatever he had in mind wasn't going to change anyway. Working on the here and now was what I focused on thinking I could sort the rest of it out after I died. Knowing God and the relationship we have with Him, pleasing Him, was what I wanted to focus on.

The hope we have in Christ is crucial.

There is a lot of evil in this world. If we don't think about God's entire plan we can get overwhelmed by it. Take a somber walk through a cemetery and read tombstones. Loved ones lost at various stages in their lives. Quite simply this life makes no sense if the Bible is not true and God is not absolute. The pain of losing grandparents, parents, spouses, children, and friends makes no sense if the ground is the end of a human being. Living for this world and any pleasure one could squeeze out of it would be the logical way to live. This is worshipping self and why God can't get in the way.

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope." 1 Thessalonians 4:13

The Bible is true and God is absolute. There is a lot of evil in this world, but God has a plan. God wants us to be with Him and sent Yeshua to come and die for us. We have hope as it says in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope."

So what will life be like when we are with God?

Our hope for eternal life is what gives hope in a world that only offers death. What is eternal life going to be like then? What makes it something to hope for? I have found that Revelation 21 tells us a lot. This is after anyone that has chosen destruction and has been judged, Satan is gone.

Revelation 21 starts out like this, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God" (1-3). Wow. God will dwell with man?! This is what Sukkot is preparing us for! God will be dwelling with us!

I am looking forward to what verse four tells us as I think of things that have happened in this world, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” In the presence of God, our tears will be wiped away! We will either understand why we had to go through the tough parts of this life or simply not care anymore. More likely we will see the reasons for our struggles, and for the grace and forgiveness in our poor judgments. The end result is glorifying God!

"And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb." Revelation 21:23

Revelation 21 goes on about God making all things new. There will be no more evil. This is where John does his best to describe what he sees at this time and writes of the streets of Gold.

"But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." Revelation 21:27

This is something to get excited about. When you are feeling discouraged and are not thinking about hope only believers have, pray and read Revelation 21. This is why the world as we know it can only make sense, it is broken and God eventually fixes it for those who believe.

I hope this has encouraged you. May God bless you.