Job said, “If a man dies, will he live again?” (Job 14:14). This question is because Job has lost his ten children, he has lost all of his wealth and it looked like he might die because of all the sickness and suffering he was going through. There is no doubt that Job was grieving over the death of his children; any person who has lost a child knows very well what Job is going through. And there are the questions. Is it all over? Is it ended for them? Does life continue on? Is there life after death?
There is always that question when a person dies. Is it final? Does death mark the end of a person’s existence? Is death the final experience of life? Or, does he or she go on living? Is there another dimension where life continues?
When you are lying in the hospital bed and the life support systems are connected to your body, when every breath becomes a struggle and your lungs begin to fill with fluid, that is when the deepest questions of life come forth. This is when you start thinking about the deepest issues of life.
At this point you are no longer worried about who is going to buy that land or business that you wanted so badly. You are no longer worried about the price of peanuts, cotton or wheat. You are no longer concerned about what the cattle market is going to do in the next six months, or how many acres you will get to spray with your airplanes or ground rigs in the coming year. But the questions that come to your mind are “How can I get right with God? What must I do to have eternal life?
Jesus answered this question when Martha was upset with Him because He had not come as quickly as she had requested when her brother Lazarus became sick and died. Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again. Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
Have you ever considered how radical this statement is? If anyone would make such a radical statement in this day and age you would immediately pass it off as the ravings of a madman.
Because of who Jesus is, the miracles He performed, the life that He lived while He was on this earth and His resurrection from the dead, it is something we must take into consideration; because, you see, it is either true or false. He is, or He isn’t, telling the truth. This immediately separates all of us into one of two categories. Those who believe and say, “Yes Lord, I believe You are the resurrection and the life,” and those who do not believe it. Two categories: those who have a hope for eternal life with God, and those who have no hope for eternal life in the presence of God.
Maybe you have wondered if there is life after death? The Bible assures us that there is. It is amazing how many people say, “Well, I don’t believe that.” And they haven’t really thoroughly studied what the Bible says about life after death. They have decided that they do not want to believe what the Bible says without examining it for themselves.
I would challenge you to carefully and prayerfully read through the New Testament and thoroughly study the person of Jesus Christ, the work of Jesus Christ, and the claims of Jesus Christ. And after you do that and you say, “I do not believe what the Bible says” then I will respect your right not to believe. But if you just say, “Well, I do not believe what the Bible says” and you haven’t really studied it, then I cannot respect your decision-making processes at all. It is hard to make a rational decision without first studying all the aspects of a subject.
Eventually we will leave this earthly body we live in, but we have not died. That old body that we once lived in has died; but that is not the real you or me. The real you or me is spirit, soul and consciousness. And the important question is; after you have left this old body, where do you want to spend eternity?
Paul wrote, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Do you want a new body to live in for all eternity in the presence of God?
Jesus told Martha, “Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die”. Then He asked her a very important question. He said to Martha, “Do you believe this?” And that is the important question today. That is the question that determines whether or not you will live with Him, in His presence, and in His kingdom for all eternity. By living and believing in Jesus Christ we have the living hope of an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, reserved in heaven for us who are being kept by the power of God through our faith (cf. 1 Peter 1:3-4).
This is the question that people have to answer for themselves. No one can make this decision for you. You either believe or not. The choice you make about Jesus Christ has eternal consequences. This is the most important decision you will ever make while you live on this earth. Your eternal destiny will depend upon the choice you make about Jesus Christ.