Proof of Life after Death

QUESTION: Is there proof of life after death?

ANSWER:

Is there proof of life after death? The experience that we call life encompasses so much and is tenaciously embraced by every human being. It seems unfathomable that this wonder could ever cease, since everything in the living experience suggests that it must go on. Memories, legacies, and classical creative works lend to this notion. Enormous efforts - both medical and social - are exerted to maintain and prolong life so that humans are healthier, mentally and physically, and to ensure that the environment is safe and stable to accommodate the living.

But eventually all living creatures die, despite any and all efforts. Believers in a vast majority of religions subscribe to an after-life existence and an actual place where the eternal soul may reside. Preparations are made in the present for the future state, and to secure a good location. Grief at the loss of those dear to us provokes within us a longing, "Is this the end? Will I never see my loved one again?"

But is there any real proof of life after death? The Bible speaks to this topic. Psalms 19:1 declares, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." The truths of God and His creation and the laws that govern man are revealed in the things that He made. Consider the seasons of the year. In the fall a slow, inevitable process begins that ends in the dormancy of all vegetation and plant life. By the time the first snow of winter falls the trees are barren of their leaves, the flowers have withered, losing their petals, the grass has faded. The birds have closed their hymnals and gone away. This gray pallor lingers over the earth for several months. But then, an amazing thing happens. The eagerly expected onset of a new season begins. The flowers again sprout petals, the stark green blades of grass break through the previously frozen ground and, miraculously, leaves appear on the trees. The mornings resound anew with the sweet chorus of birds. Spring is here. Life becomes active again.

There can be no more glorious and obvious manifestation and indication of the phenomenon of life than what is thus witnessed every year after the dead of winter. If however, we also believe that the Word of God is infallible then we have further evidence of life after death based upon the words of Jesus Himself in John 5:24-29: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned."

Christians firmly believe in eternal life; it is the hope of our salvation. We are assured that if we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and submitted our present life to Him, then we will enter into everlasting life after we die; the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance of this life. Ephesians 1:13b-14 says, "…you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory."

The glorious resurrection of plants and vegetation year after year has shown us definitively that there is life after death. What is the responsibility of all humans in light of this? How we live our life in the present will determine the "quality" of life after death. In Genesis 2:7 God breathed life into newly created man. In Ezekiel 37:5, God promised to breathe life into the lifeless bones in the valley. It is God who is the author of life, present and future. It is the imperative of all humans to give their lives to Him.