Is there an afterlife?

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Is there an afterlife? We're going to answer that question. You can also discover more on GotQuestions .org.

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The book of Job asks a question about the afterlife very simply. If a man dies, will he live again?

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Asking the question is easy, more difficult is finding someone to answer the question with authority and experience.

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Jesus Christ is the one person who can speak with real authority and first -hand experience concerning the afterlife.

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What gives him sole authority to speak of heaven is that he came from there. No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the

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Son of Man. The Lord Jesus presents us with three basic truths about the subject of life after death.

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There is an afterlife. When a person dies, there are two possible destinations to which he or she may go.

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There is one way to ensure a positive experience after death. First, Christ affirms there is an afterlife a number of times.

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For example, in an encounter with the Sadducees who denied the doctrine of the resurrection, Jesus said about the dead rising,

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Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him,

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I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the

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God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken. According to Jesus, those who had died centuries before were very much alive with God at that moment.

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In another passage, Jesus comforts his disciples, and us, by telling them of the afterlife.

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Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms.

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If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

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And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you also may be where I am.

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Jesus also speaks about the two different destinies that await in the afterlife. In the account of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus says,

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The time came when the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

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In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

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Note, there is no intermediate state for those who die. They go directly to their eternal destiny.

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Jesus also emphasized that what determines a person's eternal destination is whether or not he has faith in God's only begotten

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Son. The need for faith is clear. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only

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Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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For those who repent of their sin and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, the afterlife will consist of an eternity spent enjoying

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God. For those who reject Christ, however, the afterlife will be quite different.

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As the heaven -sent authority on the afterlife, Jesus warns us to choose wisely. Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.

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And many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

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Speaking about life after death, G .B. Hardy, a Canadian scientist, once said, I have only two questions to ask.

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One, has anyone ever defeated death? Two, did he make a way for me to do it also?

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The answer to both of Hardy's questions is yes. One person has both defeated death and provided a way for everyone who puts their trust in him to overcome it as well.

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No one who trusts in Jesus Christ needs to fear death, and we can rejoice in the

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Lord's salvation. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true.

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Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

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That answers the question, is there an afterlife? On our website, gotquestions .org, you'll find a deeper discussion and recommended resources.

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