I previously wrote that my cousin’s daughter’s grandmother visited her after her grandmother had died. After passing away how did she know where her granddaughter was, who was asleep in bed? She woke here and told her that she was going to be with the Lord and to be a good girl—and she was gone. I have heard of others having similar incidences.  It wasn’t too long after that when Dr Moody in 1976 published his book entitled “Life after Life”.  After reading his book it gave me a different perspective in what happens when a person dies. 

I read an interview that Dr. Moody gave describing what people who have had a near death experience shared when they came back to life.

“They say they become aware of what’s described as a tunnel, a passageway, a portal, and they go into this tunnel, and when they come out, they come out into a very brilliant, warm, loving and accepting light. People at this point describe such amazing feelings of peace and comfort. In this light they say that relatives or friends of theirs who have already died seem to be there to meet them and to greet them and to help them through this transition. Another thing they’ll often tell us is that at this point they are met by some religious figure — Christians say Christ, Jews say God or an angel. They say in this setting that this being, in effect, asks them a question, and they all say that words can’t convey it — that communication in this position does not take place through words as you and I are now using, but rather in the form of an immediate awareness. The way they summarize this question, or try to put it into words, is they say that he asks, in effect, “What have you done with your life? How have you learned to love?” At this point, they say, they undergo a detailed review of everything they have ever done in their lives. This is displayed around them, they tell us, in the form of a full-color, three-dimensional panorama, and it involves every detail of their life, they say, from the point of their birth right up to the point of this close call with death.”

I wrote when I was in my teens a neighbor lady would describe things to my folks that were going to happen and they did.  One example: she told me I was going to be invited to go out of town to a party and I shouldn’t go.  Two weeks later I was invited to go to a skating party out of town.  I couldn’t this time.  On the way they were involved in a serious car accident.  She was continually seeing into the future and in most cases they happened as described. 

In the past few years more and more information has been given on paranormal experiences.  Ghost stories and haunted buildings are on TV and there are a number of movies describing paranormal situations. 

So what do we know happens after death?  Prior to the resurrection of Christ, when a person died under the Old Covenant, both believers and non-believers went to Sheol (Hell or Hades).  It was a temporary dwelling place for the soul.  Luke describes a story that Jesus told in Luke 16:19 -26.  The story concerned a rich man and Lazarus a beggar.  They both died and went to Sheol.  However, one went to Abraham’s bosom or Paradise and the other went to a “place of torment”.  The rich man who was in agony saw Lazarus standing beside Abraham.  He called out to Abraham and asked that he have pity on him and have Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water and cool the rich man’s tongue.  Abraham stated there was a great chasm between them and that he could not get to the place of torment from Paradise.  Meaning once you are in the place of torment you could not cross over.  Many believe the chasm between them was the Abyss or the Bottomless Pit where the most evil spirits are housed until the Antichrist will come.

The Bible is very clear about our ability to communicate once we die regardless whether we are a child of God or a non-believer.  Those who have had a near death experience all say that they were asked:  “What have you done with your life?”  I have read where some having a near-death-experience believe they had gone into hell and it changed their lives forever once they recovered.  Others tell of an experience that was so beautiful that it was indescribable. 

The Bible has described to me a place so exhilarating and exotic, where a number of relatives and friends are waiting to greet me and that it will be like a reunion.  My mother was one of ten children and we use to have a reunion with more than fifty relatives showing up.  That will be one of the many benefits of heaven. 

You cannot help but morn when a relative or friend passes on. It is human and normal.  However, should we not be grateful and pleased when a Christian dies that they are going to a far greater place than any of us could ever imagine?  More funerals should be times of celebration for the rewards that a believer will receive for having lived a holy life, putting God first in all things and loving others as ourselves.

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