There are many opinions on this subject. Some people are sure they’ve had one or more previous lives. Others have had near-death experiences that show that everyone enters a good, bright place after they’ve died. The only one who really knows much about all this is the Creator Himself, and He has written a book where he hasn’t told us everything – but everything we need to know.
I’d like to mention a few things: All people are spiritual beings. We aren’t just a body, but have a soul or spirit inside of us. When our body dies, the spiritual part of us lives on. There are two ways out of life. One leads to God. The other one leads to what the Bible calls, among other things, destruction. Where you’ll end up when you die, is something you decide for yourself in this life. The most important thing isn’t how well you’ve lived your life, but whether or not you have accepted God’s offer of being saved. The punishment for sin is destruction. Forgiveness and a good life with God for all eternity, is something you receive by accepting Jesus as your personal saviour and lord.
God hasn’t told us very much about what destruction involves, and some of what the Bible says about it so scary people don’t like to talk about it much. We don’t know much about what eternal life with God is like either, but it is described in the Bible as the most wonderful place. War, sickness, sorrow and pain won’t exist there – there’s only room for righteousness, peace and joy. If we study things in more detail, we see that when a person dies, they won’t enter into all these things straight away. First, we will enter into something we can term a waiting room. Those who haven’t accepted Jesus will enter into the grave, and those who have accepted Jesus will enter into paradise.
God has already set aside a day, sometime in the future, when the great judgement will take place. God will judge every person for the choices they have made during their lives. If you’ve chosen to humble yourself and accept God’s mercy, you’re off the hook. Then you will be rewarded according to how you’ve used the abilities and opportunities God gave you. If you’ve chosen your pride and held onto your own way of living, punishment will await you.
What I’ve written now is enough to offend more than enough people. Even so, as a man of God I won’t keep from telling you how God wants to do it. I don’t want to scare anybody, but invite anyone who doesn’t know Jesus to surrender to him. You will receive back what you give to him a hundred times over. Your life will be the best it can be before death – and after!
