The Cracked Acorn: The Question

What Comes Next For Me When I Die? Many go through life, day after day, year after year until they die, and they may never have thought about it or thought to ask.

The following may help: you are not finished when you die…Many think they are incarnated into some other being…or are taken into the universal consciousness…or some even think they are annihilated….they just cease to exist anymore. They are just like Rover, they are dead all over.

Speaking of Rover, some do not think Rover is dead all over. When people get into their fantasy world thinking, they imagine Rover is in heaven. In fact, there is a movie titled All Dogs Go To Heaven. Maybe you have seen it.

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21 (NRSV)…I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from the dust and turn to dust again. Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?

Sadly, animals, from dogs to elephants to ants…die. And like the animals, we die, too. And the bodies of both return to the dust. But, the wisest man who ever walked the earth (except Jesus Christ, of course) was not because he went to Harvard or was born an Einstein, but because God gave the wisdom to him… to Solomon, as a gift. But, notice he says as for what is left after they die…there is a difference…the dog and the elephant and the ant, as well as all animals when they die, their spirit goes down into the earth, but not human beings, it ascends up. He says later in the same book, in chapter 12:7…the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. But notice how he says who can know?! We cannot, except God tell us. And He says the spirit returns to God.

Revelation 14:13 – Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne (God), and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” — Revelation 20:12-15

If you are in the Lord, you will be at rest. And your name is in the book of life. Rev. 3:5 Jesus says…The one who conquers…will never have his name blotted out of the Book of Life. (preacher remarks from years ago)