When Life Comes To An End...

Have you ever wondered what happens to us after we take our last breath?
Do we have a soul that remain alive after we die?
Do we come back, reincarnate, until perfection we reach?
Is there nothing after death as we return to the dust?

When asked, most hope that loved ones gone before are watching over us to bring comfort amidst our loss. You may personally know someone who holds this belief but does someone go to heaven, simply because they are loved by another? How can we know for sure that what we hope for will come true?

Does everyone go to heaven or do good people get there, while bad people burn in hell? Think for a moment about that…
Would you like to live in a heaven without love, forgiveness, restoration, peace, a place that continues on with all the sadness and despair that we experience here on earth?

Do bad actions bring consequences or will everyone be in heaven as we’ve been together on earth?
Is our destination determined by the way we live before we take our last breath?

If everyone is in heaven and some continued to live for themselves, undisciplined while others continued striving for good, what would be the point of heaven?

Such big questions but we all know the kind of heaven we’d like to live in! How can we know for sure?

Every answer to life here on earth and beyond can be found in the Bible! Read on if you want to be free from fear…

First things first:
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul! Genesis 2:7

Man became a living soul

The person is a soul. God breathed life into us.

God says:
for all souls are mine to judge—fathers and sons alike—and my rule is this: It is for a man’s own sins that he will die.
Ezekiel.18:4

SOS – save our souls
Death brings silence,

Dead people can’t praise God—
not a word to be heard from those buried in the ground.
But we bless God, oh yes—
we bless him now, we bless him always!
Hallelujah! Ps 115:17
There is no consciousness in the grave

Seize Life!
Still, anyone selected out for life has hope, for, as they say, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” The living at least know something, even if it’s only that they’re going to die. But the dead know nothing and get nothing. They’re a minus that no one remembers. Their loves, their hates, yes, even their dreams, are long gone. There’s not a trace of them left in the affairs of this earth. Eccl 9:5

Lived one is up in paradise… no truth in that.

God hates death, the loss of consciousness.

In a deep sleep?

Jesus agrees with this in John 11: about Lazarus

Do we sleep in the grave until Jesus returns?

Death is sleep where we rest in peace , waiting in hope until.we wake up.

If We Die, Will We Live Again?
“We’re all adrift in the same boat:
too few days, too many troubles.
We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt,
transient as the shadow of a cloud.
Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps?
Why even bother hauling me into court?
There’s nothing much to us to start with;
how do you expect us to amount to anything?
Mortals have a limited life span.
You’ve already decided how long we’ll live—
you set the boundary and no one can cross it.
So why not give us a break? Ease up!
Even ditchdiggers get occasional days off.
For a tree there is always hope.
Chop it down and it still has a chance—
its roots can put out fresh sprouts.
Even if its roots are old and gnarled,
its stump long dormant,
At the first whiff of water it comes to life,
buds and grows like a sapling.
But men and women? They die and stay dead.
They breathe their last, and that’s it.
Like lakes and rivers that have dried up,
parched reminders of what once was,
So mortals lie down and never get up,
never wake up again—never.
Why don’t you just bury me alive,
get me out of the way until your anger cools?
But don’t leave me there!
Set a date when you’ll see me again.
If we humans die, will we live again? That’s my question.
All through these difficult days I keep hoping,
waiting for the final change—for resurrection!
Homesick with longing for the creature you made,
you’ll call—and I’ll answer!
You’ll watch over every step I take,
but you won’t keep track of my missteps.
My sins will be stuffed in a sack
and thrown into the sea—sunk in deep ocean. Job 14:11-12
until the heavens are no more

And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 – The Message (MSG)

Jesus will return… And the dead in Christ will rise first

John 5:28-29 The Message (MSG)
“Don’t act so surprised at all this. The time is coming when everyone dead and buried will hear his voice. Those who have lived the right way will walk out into a resurrection Life; those who have lived the wrong way, into a resurrection Judgment. John 5:28-29"

People who have taken God at His Word have no fear of death. In fact, they look forward to reconciliation with loved ones who have gone before. Fear of death has been replaced with expectation and a peace that makes no ‘sense’ when someone crosses over! Why is that?

Time for contemplation, come and sit with me a while

As we live life for our pleasure, going out in style.
What if death came with no warning, no way to reconcile?

All the choices we’ve been making so irrelevant now?
As fears overtake us about what will happen now?

Would lost opportunities now dominate our thoughts?
Or confident in knowing we’ve done just what we ought?

For we know not when our days are up with so much more to do

Life will go on when for the last time you leave the stage
Where will begin your next page?

This will be life-changing if you accept what Jesus offers so it’s worth telling your friends about. Please share this with those you love and help to bring hope and light to someone else’s world!
2021 Elaine Costin – Capturing Sunrise / Blog