Life After Death

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:17-27 ESV). Ancient Egyptians fervently believed in an afterlife. So much so that Egyptian burial rituals are the only custom familiar to most moderns. For thousands of years their misguided faith motivated them to build immense tombs with an ingenuity of design, as well as a cost in labor, money, and blood, that still astonishes people. Over the centuries the Egyptians prepared each other for eternity by mummifying countless people, animals, and even insects. Within a few centuries, Egypt had a critical excess of mummies reverently wrapped in joyful anticipation of the afterlife. With mummies showing up everywhere, later Egyptians got creative. Nineteenth century European travelers exploring Egypt sent home reports of household roofs thatched with mummies or ground mummies used for fertilizer. Hustling Egyptians sent mummies by the ton to Americans who used their linen wrappings to make paper. Even more bizarre, millions of mummies were used in place of scarce timber for Egypt's wood-burning locomotives--a far cry from the destiny that the original embalmers imagined for their beloved departed and a reminder of the fallacy of holding to a well-intentioned but baseless belief. Ancient Egyptians were right to believe there's life after death, but it's downhill from there. Almost every world religion, in fact, teaches that death is not the end. They go wrong, however, with their belief that we can prepare for eternity through our own efforts. Many current false religions, cults, and New Age philosophies offer elaborate schemes for achieving eternal life or for managing your reincarnation. The Bible teaches that there's only one way to gain eternal life, though, it's through believing that Jesus Christ gives eternal life to those who have faith in him. Life after death is real. What happens depends on your decisions now. Give your life by faith to Christ and the life you experience after death will be more than your mind can imagine!