What happens after death?

Most people do not like to think about death or talk about it.

Most people want to live forever (If it is a sickness and problem-free life) even though we know that physical death is part of our life cycle.
Not many can give an adequate answer to this important question, even though it is inevitable. From a human point of view, no one knows what happens beyond the grave.
We know this much: When a person dies his or her physical body is either buried or cremated. The ashes then become part of the dust of the earth. Beyond that, as human beings we have no knowledge about what happens.
Most people who believe in a purely materialistic world, think that there is no life after death.
Therefore from a human point of view no one knows whether there will be a REUNION of our loved ones or what happens after death.

However, from God's point of view I believe that one does not need to fear death but can be prepared to face it.

When I ask people, "What is the purpose of religion?" They usually reply, "To have peace of mind", "To make sure that I get to heaven when I die."

"HOW MUCH GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH"

Most religions teach that we must do good deeds if we want to get to heaven. If this is true, then the responsibility lies with each of us; in other words, if we fail to get to heaven, it's our fault. Yet, even if we do our best, there is no guarantee that we will get to heaven because, 'How much good is good enough?' remains unanswered. The Bible says that, "All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment" in God's sight.(Isaiah 64:6). In other words, we could never be good enough to satisfy God's prerequisite.

Also, as we search for answers that will give us the assurance, we must make sure that whoever makes promises about our eternal destiny is able to fulfill them.

Only an eternal God can fulfill eternal promises

It is important to note that only an Eternal God can make and fulfill eternal promises. Mortal man could make eternal promises, but he will not be able to fulfill them once he dies. But then, How do we distinguish God from man?

Let's look at an illustration to identify Petrol and water. As petrol is flammable, we could use,

Fire test to distinguish petrol from water Water will extinguish fire. Petrol will catch fire and explode. From this we could distinguish petrol from water. Similarly, how do we distinguish God and man?

Man is mortal and God is immortal. Therefore, we should use, The Immortality Test to distinguish God from Man The Christians' Bible says that,Jesus claimed to be God.

Jesus claimed the following:

John 10:30, "I and the Father (GOD) are one".
John 14:9, "He who has seen Me, has seen the Father".
John 11:25,26, "I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone, who believes in Me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in Me and shall never perish."

Of course it is possible for men to claim to be God, you say. Therefore we should apply the IMMORTALITY TEST on Jesus. So the next question is:

Did Jesus support His claims?

Yes indeed! One of the characteristics of God is, He has power over life and death.

We are told in the Bible that Jesus raised a man named Lazarus (John 11:40.
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me. 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!' 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go. 45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did."
a rabbi's daughter Matthew 9:18 "While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, 'My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.' 19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.
When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, 'Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.' And they ridiculed Him. 25 But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose."
and a widow's son all from the dead: Luke 7:11 "Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. 12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." 15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother."
Jesus proved that He has power over diseases, nature and demons. If you study the life and miracles of Jesus Christ, you will see that He also demonstrated power over diseases, nature and demons too. (Luke 17:11-19; Matthew 8:23-27; Luke 4:33-37).
About fifty years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus into heaven, He appeared to John in a vision and said, in Revelation 1:18, "I am the living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Hell)". By this He proved that He had conquered sin and death.
Read John Chapters 20–21 for a full account of the resurrection of Jesus.

If a man claims to be God and dies and never comes back to life again, he is but a dead man who has made empty promises.
Jesus conqured sin and death by rising up from the dead. Romans 1:4, "By being raised from the dead, He (JESUS) was proved to be the mighty Son of God, with the holy nature of God Himself." Immortality test has proved that Jesus is God.

As Jesus has proved to be the mighty Son of God, He could make and fulfill all His promises.
2 Corinthians 1:19-20, "Jesus Christ the Son of God isn't one to say "YES" when He means "NO", He always does exactly what He says. He carries out and fulfills all of God's promises no matter how many of them there are, and we have told every one how faithful He is, giving glory to His Name".

Therefore, we can fully trust Jesus Christ to fulfill all His future promises to us.

The Bible also says,

John 1:18, "No one has ever actually seen God, but, of course his only Son has, for He is the companion of the Father and has told us all about Him." If a man has not seen God, he is unqualified to tell us what God is like or how to get to heaven. If this is true, then no one is qualified to help us find God except Jesus!

You may be asking, "How can I make sure that I will go to heaven when I die?"