I was about 8 or 9 years old when Uncle Jack passed away. He wasn’t really my uncle, but in small towns in country Victoria that’s how it goes with close family friends. I can only describe him through the perceptions of a nine-year-old—kind, warm, encouraging. He called me “sport” and always spoke to me even though there were other adults in the room. I overheard him talking to my step-father one day, and his words have always stuck with me: “He could do anything he sets his mind to that kid, anything.” My chest expanded three inches on the spot.
The family had an open casket funeral for Uncle Jack, and I remember seeing his body and feeling awe-struck by how utterly devoid of his presence it was. It wasn’t like he was asleep; he was simply ... gone. The part that made him him was no longer there. It was like an empty shell.
The question I asked therefore was not, “why did he die?” but simply “where did he go?”
My step-father gave me a quizzical glance and put his hand on my shoulder, “he’s passed on son.”
“Yes, but where to?”
A few glances went around the room, and it dawned on me that my curiosity was mistimed. I was meant to be sad, but I wasn’t, not really. I was absolutely certain, looking at his body. that he wasn’t “dead”, just “gone somewhere else.”
Or rather, relocated.
The scene has stuck with me throughout the years on my journey through faith to atheism and back again. Strictly speaking, it probably kept me agnostic rather than full blown atheist. If in death something in us is relocated, then there’s somewhere else to which we go, and if that's the case, there's probably someone or something in charge of that place.
In my recent BLOG I shared a bit of my journey back to Christ through my daughter’s own curiosity about death, but here I want to answer a different question: what happens after we die?
Jesus was crucified along with two criminals. Whilst one was hurling abuse at him ("Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Luke 23:39); the other said simply: "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!" And Jesus replied, "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
The word 'pardes' in the Old Testament's language of Hebrew roughly meant 'garden'. Translated as 'park' (Ecc 2:5), 'forest' (Neh 2:8), and 'orchard' (Song of Solomon 4:13). In the Greek translation of the Old Testament used in Jesus' day (called The Septuagint) the word paradeisos was used for the Garden of Eden. So paradise was used as a euphemism for resting in God's presence.
Jesus told the criminal that it would be THAT DAY, that he would be in paradise, not some distant time in the future. The "you" being the part that survives death, the part of my Uncle Jack that was missing at his funeral. Jesus said it goes somewhere immediately, and not alone, but with him.
So for believers in Christ, death is simply a relocation to God's presence with Jesus.
The apostle Paul expected to be in Christ's presence immediately upon his death, and he considered the prospect better than life.
Writing from an Ephesian prison he says, "For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8). And in his letter to the Philippians: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour to me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." (Phil 1:21-24).
Paul did not expect to simply cease from existence; nor did he expect to be unconscious or delayed somehow from Christ.
Paul knew that Jesus' open arms immediately awaited him.
So after we die, whilst our bodies 'sleep', our disembodied consciousness is relocated to the presence of Jesus. I guess you could say, "we go to heaven."
But the way some talk about heaven can be quite misleading, because this is not the final stop.
This is life after death, but then there is (as N.T Wright calls it), "life after life after death." (Surprised By Hope - N.T Wright).
There is more to come. Something more that the simple phrase "going to heaven" can possibly contain.
You see, we do go to heaven, but only until heaven comes to earth.
But that doesn't do it justice either, because the concepts of heaven and earth are radically redefined in the final reality as New Creation.
The heart of the gospel is that through Jesus the whole world is being set right and ultimate justice will come. The final end-state will a merging together of heaven and earth into what the Bible calls "a new heaven and a new earth." New Creation. A reality that began with Jesus and grows as each new believer is welcomed into the family of God. As Paul states (2 Cor 5:17): "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come! The old has gone, the new is here!"
Even though we only in part experience that new creation reality in the present time, there will come a day when Jesus will bring this new reality in all its glorious fullness. A reality which he summarises as death being swallowed up in victory.
"The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality" (1 Cor 15:52-53).
Here's where we get to life after life after death.
When Jesus brings this ultimate New Creation our consciousness will again become embodied. Our bodies will be raised up, levelled up as it were, made anew - immortal, whole, an amalgamation of flesh and spirit: Humanity 2.0. Geared for immortal existence in God's presence.
Our final state is not some disembodied soul wandering about the clouds of heaven, it's both a physical and spiritual existence in the New Creation.
There the distinction between the physical and spiritual has disappeared, evil no longer exists, and we will dwell with God (and each other) forever.
This is the long-awaited for hope of the Old Testament, fulfilled in Christ: "Look! I am creating a new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!" (Isaiah 65:17-18).
And it is the final reality described in the final chapters of the Bible, as a long-awaited union between God and his beloved people.
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared... I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look! God's throne is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or dying or sorrow or pain. All these things are gone forever" (Rev 21:1, 3-4).
The New Creation is described in terms of perfection: a place where we will rest from our toil, in a perfect new earth, with perfect bodies in a world free of brokenness and sin.
Salvation then, is not just about us humans, it's about the whole creation.
It is a reality for which creation itself longs for. In Romans 8:21-22 Paul says, "creation itself will be set free from from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now."
What of those who opt out?
The Bible also talks about unbelievers being raised up and embodied in the final day, yet without having been made a new creation in Christ by accepting His atoning sacrifice on the cross, they will not be able to enter the New Creation. Without Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, they will face God's judgement on their own terms. The Bible uses many metaphors to try to describe the prospect of this reality, usually with words like hell, ghenna, the pit etc., but the idea is that of an existence without God - an honouring of the terms they've chosen to live by in this life. I tremble to think of such an experience. But if you were to ask most atheists the idea probably wouldn't bother them much, because they don't know God anyway (nor do they wish to).
But if the idea does bother you, consider this - Jesus opens his arms to you to offer the alternative.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:16-18).
So when life gets difficult, I remind myself of how temporary and fleeting our current life is.
One day we will live in perfect relationship with the world, with others, with God, and with ourselves.
We will meet God face to face and enjoy eternal fellowship with others.
I look forward to meeting Uncle Jack again and thanking him for his prophetic words over my life.
I look forward to endless possibilities, limitless knowledge, everlasting joy.
I look forward to enjoying the creation in all its freedom and fullness.
What do you look forward to? What will your eternal reality be?
The way I see it, you can either have more of the same if you live without Christ, or immeasurably more than you could think, ask or imagine if you live with Him.
Choose Jesus, choose life, choose New Creation, choose limitless possibilities.
As always though, it's just my two-bob worth.
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