Death’s Dark Vale – Part 1

As of today, there are many of our family and friends who are facing a particular challenge from which there is no escape for any of us.

I’m talking about the valley of death that each of us must all too soon walk. Psalm 23:4. The subject is an unpopular one I fully realise and yet the mere certainty of it demands we confront the issue with all the honesty we can.

We get but one chance to be right about what and where we will be one minute after we die. Since we are the only ones that will bear the consequences of our belief about death, we simply cannot afford to be wrong.

When we become aware of the approaching curtain call of our lives, we are transported into a sort of neverland between the life we have been living with all its challenges, joys and pleasures and the inevitable, fast approaching moment that that life as we know it is about to change and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

For most of us when we think of our own death we do not have a clue as to the timing of the event. This makes it easier to fob it off or put in the too hard basket where we can examine it more closely down the track somewhere. This is especially true in a media driven society where life is painted as picture perfect in order to sell something. There is always a distraction in the more important NOW of life.

The problem is though that one day each one of us will wake up in the morning and unbeknown to us it will be the last day we spend in our earthly body. Hebrews 9:27. The upsetting thing is that that day could be today and is for many people.

So, what will happen on that day for you and for me?

To believe in what happens at the moment of death requires faith.

What is faith?

It’s the mechanism by which we believe something. It’s not good or bad in and of itself. It is the evidence of what we don’t see but we believe. Hebrews 11:1.

Faith is always based on something we have either read, listened to or experienced firsthand BEFORE it comes. Faith comes by hearing something given to us as fact. Romans 10:17.

For example, we may listen to a weather forecast which predicts rain tomorrow.

If we have a belief in the validity of the weather forecaster, we will prepare for rain tomorrow.

The key point here is how much we believe the forecaster.

If the forecaster has a very good past record of his predictions coming true our faith in his forecast is strong and we will prepare for rain tomorrow.

However, if that forecaster is more often wrong than right our faith in his forecast will be weak and we may not bother to prepare for rain tomorrow.

Now in order to increase our level of faith, we might seek other reliable sources of forecasting to strengthen our faith. For example, we might consult a barometer as well as listen to the forecast. If the barometer is dropping, we might consider the forecast for rain tomorrow much more likely and accordingly our faith in the forecast is stronger.

In this example, you can see that our faith is not what brings the rain or causes it not to rain. Our faith is simply the mechanism by which we believe the evidence presented to us, in this case, the forecaster and or the barometer.

If we completely trust those sources of evidence, our faith in their correctness helps us to properly prepare for rain tomorrow. Our faith tells us that based on all the evidence it will rain tomorrow. Romans 10:17.

So, in relation to death, what are we hearing that is the source of our faith?

Remember, where death is concerned every person, without exception has faith.

For example, the person who commits suicide may have faith in their own conviction that when they die in the body that is the absolute end of all existence for them. There is no conscious thought, no continuation of life, no one to answer to. This is also where the faith of the atheist is centred.

People who follow eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism may have faith in what they have heard that after their death they will be reincarnated as a different life form and that what they do now will determine that. They never know if they have done what it takes to progress up the ladder of life.

The Islamists may have faith in the teaching of the Koran that in akhirah (life after death) they will either go to heaven or hell based entirely on the deeds they perform here on earth while they are alive. No Islamist ever knows if he has done enough to “earn” his place in heaven or whether he will be cast into hell.

The new age, “god is the universe, the universe is god” adherents will have a drifting faith that is ever changing based on the latest popular trend ranging from be teachings of hundreds of unashamed occultist practices. One of the most dangerous and damnable new age practices is that of the medium and fortune teller or card reader. The ones who claim to speak to dead relatives are perhaps the most dangerous.  Equally dangerous are the accounts of near-death experiences or people with reports of what heaven was like after coming back from death. Those who place their faith in these people are placing their faith in what may be the most dangerous of all new age occult practices.

The faith of the Scientologist will be based on the teaching that each person is a spirit or “thetan” that has a mind and through the control of that mind through a thing called auditing a thetan can progress to ever higher life forms and that death is not a worry at all. Of course, the process of auditing is extremely costly which is why Scientology’s most ardent adherents are the very wealthy of the world.

Christian faith is based purely and completely on the bible which we believe is the infallible, eternal Word of God. John 3:15A true Christian does not place his faith in simply knowing God exists. We know that no matter how good we are we fall short of God’s glory. Romans 3:23. We do not place our faith just owning a bible or going to church or giving to charity. As good as these things are they will not matter one spit in relation to our salvation. The Bible tells us that without believing and accepting God’s plan for our eternity we will be lost forever. According to the Bible after that moment that we pass from life in this body to the death of this body we either be in perfect relationship with God forever or eternally separated from Him forever. John 3:18.

God’s plan for our eternity according to the Bible is that He sent His Son Christ Jesus to take on the form of humanity through the womb of a virgin, to live a sinless life (which none of us could possibly do), be crucified and die on a cross in Judea and rise from the dead on the third day signifying to every creature that he was God in the flesh.

Now of course it is entirely possible for the evidence we base our faith on to be a deception. History is littered with people who have suffered and died innocently because of deceptive evidence.

WHERE OUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE WE SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD TO PLACE OUR FAITH ON DECEPTIONS AND FALSE EVIDENCE.  There are no second chances on the other side of death’s doorway.

What is YOUR faith based on?

So, you can see that every person, whether they are fully aware of it or not, relies on faith when it comes to death and indeed when it comes to daily life also.

The big question that every person needs to ask themselves is, “What is the evidence that the thing I am basing my faith on and is it accurate, true and infallible?”

The thing I believe and place my faith in better be correct or I may be leaving myself open to a catastrophic shock one minute after my death! Hebrews 9:27.

Many people believe that they can’t possibly know the absolute truth about what they will be experiencing one minute after they die. This is a lie. 2 Corinthians 5:6 – 9.

Humans are supposed to know this, and every bit of evidence needed to be sure is readily and freely available to every person.

If you base your faith in the infallible Word of God (The Bible) you can know the truth and the truth will set you free. John 8:32.

It is not hidden or given only to the privileged few to meter out as they see fit. John 8:32. The only thing that will stop a person from finding and knowing the truth is their own determination NOT to find it. Jeremiah 5:21. You might ask, “What if that answer required something of me that I’m not prepared to give?” The answer of course is that you are completely free to either reject or accept any truth with which you are confronted. Of course, you alone must bear the consequences of that rejection. Mathew 11:28, Mathew 23:27, John 7:17.

So, how CAN we be sure that what we base our faith on is true and correct? Luke 21:23,  Mathew 24:35.

Well firstly, find the answer to the following question.

Does God really exist, and did He create all things including us? Genesis 1:1-36.

The correct answer to this question is fundamental to understanding death. It’s fundamental to understanding life also. Contrary to the belief of most people today, this question can easily be answered. We don’t need to look too deeply or have a PhD to know the answer. It is freely available to the smallest child or the most intelligent professor. Everything we see, feel, touch and smell will give us irrefutable evidence if we allow it to. The sense of right and wrong, good and evil and the force of love scream out the evidence to any person humble and honest enough to look.

The search could begin on this website by going here.

If we are satisfied that the evidence that God is real is beyond dispute, our faith in Him will rise. We will soon discover that our human knowledge and understanding is pathetically flawed when compared to His. Job 38. We begin, slowly at first, to trust Him more than we trust our own evaluation of any situation we may face, including death. Proverbs 3:5.

We begin to understand how the world fell into the evil that abounds today and how we can be immune to it even though we’re in the thick of it. Genesis 3.

We discover that He has left a written account of the way to His eternal glory which, despite thousands of years of intense attack cannot be found to contain a single error. Mathew 24:35, John 17:16-17.

We will discover that every human is living a death sentence and why. Genesis 3. We will also learn how God Himself loved each of us personally so much that He Himself paid a horrific price so that we could enjoy eternal, never ending joy with Him. Acts 2:14 – 21. He came to earth and took on humanity in the form of Jesus Christ. He lived the sinless life that we could never have lived and was crucified in the most horrific, torturous way possible and died so that our unrighteousness was paid for. Because He was sinless death could not hold Him and 3 days later He was resurrected from death and in so doing defeated death and the grave. Acts 2:14 – 21

We will understand that nothing we could ever do, no amount of tears, good works helping our fellow man, going to church or just being an all-around nice person could earn this eternal bliss. Isaiah 64:6.

Is Simply Believing in God Enough?

Even believing God exists is not enough!

We are told in James 2:19, “You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear.” Now, the demons are not saved yet they believe. It is easy to believe that God exists. What is required though is the belief and acceptance that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and that He was crucified and died and after 3 days was raised from the dead and in so doing He paid the price for our sin nature so that we might become sons of God. Isaiah 9:6 -7.

As righteous and as good as we think we are compared to some of our neighbours or to the worst people on earth our goodness is as filthy rags to a God who only knows perfection and perfect justice. Isaiah 64:6.

Our greatest discovery is that through the sacrifice made for our sin and rebellion against God, we can have eternal life. John 3:15-16.

Since we are beings with a free will it is totally our choice to accept this sacrifice that God has provided for us through His Son Jesus Christ. If we do accept that sacrifice we stand in God’s eyes in perfection, clothed in righteousness and washed as white as snow. Isaiah 1:18, Revelation 7:9. In other words, God is looking at us through that ultimate sacrifice for our sin. He does not see our failings and our rottenness He sees us as just and righteous because his justice has been fully satisfied and the price of that justice paid for in full.

This is the difference between all the world’s religions and Christianity.

Every religion on earth says, “You must Do, Do, Do.” Christianity says, “Done!” John 19:30.

A Christian is not a good person or a holier than thou superman who is better than others. A Christian is simply a person every bit as weak and fallible as anyone else but who has been made righteous by an act of sacrifice by someone else. He has taken on this state by his free will acceptance of God’s sacrifice by Christ Jesus that has cleansed him from sin and made him fit to stand before God as one of His children. John 3:15-16., Romans 8:14 – 16.

The Benefits

When we discover these things and receive the salvation for which such a huge price was paid, we begin a journey where God Himself, through the Holy Spirit who is part of God’s personality, indwells us and begins to teach us a completely new way of living. It’s slow at first as we are reluctant to let go of ourselves but every day we will learn to trust ourselves less and Him more. John 16:13, Romans 8:11.

We will still experience trials and tribulations and we will not be free of poor health and pain and suffering but we will have a new strength to endure them, even welcome them. 2 Corinthians 1:4 Romans 8;35.

If we will take the time now, in this life, to discover the destiny that we have in God,. then when our journey in this earthly realm ends and we walk through the inevitable door of death we will walk directly into a wonderous new life that defies human description. There we will meet our Savior face to face and forever be with Him. 1 John 3:2.

We will walk through worlds and dimensions impossible to imagine in our human mind. We will see colours, precious stones, vegetation and sights that even in eternity we will not see the end of. We will live outside time, there will be no aging, no sin, no pain, no sickness and no sorrow and above all no death. Revelation 21 & 22.

Can you imagine gold so pure it’s translucent, or rivers as clear as crystal, or trees that bear 12 kinds of fruit every month, or light brighter than the sun reflecting the most amazing colour ranges that we will gasp in awe at? We will rejoice with friends and family that have gone before us and who have accepted the salvation God offered them and we will never leave their presence again, but they will shine with God’s glory and radiate a love that is free of any jealous thought or impure human emotion. 1 John 3:2.

Our bodies will not be subject to time or space, and we will freely travel through unimagined dimensions and will continue making discoveries about God and His universe for all of eternity. We will be like our Lord. 1 John 3:2

Our one true responsibility is to ensure that while we are here in this earthly realm our faith, that we all have, is based on the truth. It is that faith that will be the substance of these truths that we hope for and the evidence of these truths that are as yet unseen. Hebrews 11:1.

For it is Grace that we are saved through that faith. Grace is God’s unmerited favour and it’s that Grace that saves us. It’s by the mechanism of faith that we believe it and even that faith is a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8

How inconceivably great is our God and His love for each of us. Will we reject Him and His love?

In the 2^nd part of this article, we will look at the steps that occur after our walk through the valley of death according to God’s Word, the Bible.