November 3, 2016

If anyone doesn’t believe in God, is there life after death?

A man is convinced he is dead. His wife and kids are exasperated. They keep telling him he’s not dead. But he continues to insist he’s dead.

They try telling him, “Look, you’re not dead; you’re walking and talking and breathing; how can you be dead?” But he continues to insist he is dead.

The family finally takes him to a doctor. The doctor pulls out some medical books to demonstrate to the man that dead men do not bleed. He takes him to the mortuary and pricks the fingers of the corpses with a needle to emphasize the point. After some time, the man admits that dead men do not bleed.

The doctor then takes the man’s hand and a needle and pokes the end of his finger. The man starts bleeding. He looks at his finger and says, “What do you know? DEAD MEN DO BLEED!”

We too can choose to obstinately believe what we wish irrespective of the evidence. This makes it very challenging to consider evidence objectively. Even if we don’t consider the external evidence, eternity is set in our hearts and there is a deep longing for it. Sometimes we kill the longing, yet it tugs at our heart strings given an opportunity.

What about our longings for justice? We know that most often justice in not served in this life. There are those who have cheated, stolen, indulged in vile behavior and even abuse but die without getting their just dues. If this life is all that there is, our sense of outrage at injustice in misplaced. Some will anyway escape it – but there is life after death and judgment.

But now pause for a moment and ask yourself – am I really who I pretend to be? What about my greed, my jealousy, my bitterness, my lust,…..? Am I ready to receive my just dues too, especially when I consider my thought life and my imaginations? The Bible tells us that ‘all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard’. So what is the way out? Of course, we have to bear the punishment for it. But we will not be able to bear the punishment for our sins – it is eternal separation from God.

Now wait a minute – God has already done something to reach out to us – He has paid the price for my disobedience by the death of Jesus on the cross. He has taken my place in death so that I can share with him in his resurrection from the dead into eternal life. Dead men do not bleed and …. There is life after death. Eternal Joy for those who have been cleansed from their sin!

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