Is There Life After Death?
Page 2
While the most reliable textbook of life after death is the Bible, the greatest proof is Jesus Christ's own resurrection from death. He wasn't classified as merely "clinically dead" for a brief time. After dying on a Roman cross, he had been dead and in the grave for three days when he came back to life again.
Both the Jewish and Roman leaders hated Christianity. So all they had to do to destroy it forever was to find the body of Christ-which nobody ever did, for the Christian faith was established on the fact of his resurrection.
Christ's disciples were so convinced of his resurrection that each one gave his life for preaching that Christ had risen from the dead. They believed this because they had seen him killed, buried and resurrected for themselves.
The morning of his resurrection, Christ was seen by Mary Magdalene7 and women returning from the empty tomb.8 That same day he was seen by Peter,9 later by two of his followers on the road to Emmaus,10 and at night by the disciples.11 Eight days later he was seen again by the disciples12 and at the Lake of Tiberias by seven of the disciples including Peter, James, and John.13
On a Galilean mountain Jesus appeared to more than 500 of his followers at one time.14 He also appeared to his brother, James, who prior to Christ's resurrection totally rejected him as the Messiah.15 Perhaps one of the strongest evidences of the resurrection is this dramatic change in James, who became one of the chief leaders in the early Christian church.
At the Mount of Olives, on the day of his return to heaven, Christ was again seen by the eleven disciples, the brothers of Jesus and several women, including his mother.16 Later the ascended Christ appeared in a blinding light to Paul on the road to Damascus,17 to Stephen when he was being stoned to death,18 to Paul again in the Temple,19 and finally to John on the Isle of Patmos.20
I heard the doctors say that I was dead ...
everything was very black, except that,
way off from me, I could see this light.
In about A.D. 100 Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote in his Antiquities that Jesus "appeared to them alive on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him." Since Josephus was a Jew writing to please the Romans, this story would not have pleased them in the slightest. He would hardly have included it if it were false.21
Ancient men believed that there was life after death. Jesus Christ himself taught this and proved it by his own resurrection. Josephus, the Jewish historian, reported Christ's resurrection. And now modern science seems to confirm what the Bible has been teaching for several thousand years-that there is life after death.
The crucial point, however, is to be sure that we are personally ready for the life beyond. We can be by confessing our sinfulness to God, by acknowledging our need of God, and by responding to Christ's call and invitation to receive him as personal Lord and Savior. For help to do this, click on the Find and/or Know God button below.
God's Word says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."22
To make certain you have committed your life to Jesus Christ click on the Know God link at the bottom of this page.
1. Raymond A. Moody, Jr., Life After Life, p. 17. Mockingbird Books, Inc. Covington, GA 30209 Copyright 1975. Used by permission. 2. Ibid, P. 48. 3. Ibid, P. 47. 4. Ibid, P. 43. 5. Isaiah 26:19, Living Bible. 6. I Corinthians 15:51,53 (TLB). 7. John 20:14. 8. Matthew 28:9,10. 9. Luke 24:34. 10. Luke 24:13-33. 11. Luke 24:36-43. 12. John 20:26-28. 13. John 21:1-23. 14. I Corinthians 15:6. 15. I Corinthians 15:7. 16. Acts 1:9-14. 17. Acts 9:3-6. 18. Acts 7:55. 1 9. Acts 22:17-21,32:11. 20. Revelation 1:10-19,25. 21. Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p.194. Campus Crusade for Christ Intl. Inc., Arrowhead Springs, California. Copyright 1972. Used by permission. 22. John 3:16.
All articles on this website are written by
Richard (Dick) Innes unless otherwise stated.