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Seeing beyond Death’s Door
Life’s greatest certainty is death. We should prepare for it—and what lies beyond. Death is “the last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:26). But God “will swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8). Until then, death delivers believers into Christ’s presence. For the Christian, living forever with Jesus is far better than living in a fallen world (see Philippians 1:21-23).
Five months before he died, C. S. Lewis wrote to a woman who was fearing death, “There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. . . . Our Lord says to you ‘Peace, child, peace. Relax. Let go. . . . I will catch you.’”[*]
As wonderful as the present heaven (pre-resurrection) is, we’re told to look forward to our ultimate destination: the New Earth, where we’ll live forever with Jesus and each other as resurrected beings (2 Peter 3:13).
We can depend on Jesus to guide us through the dark valley of death (see Psalm 23:4). Be certain you are trusting him alone to save you. Then get excited about what Jesus has prepared for you on the other side of death’s door.
Remember, we don’t experience our highest peaks in this life. By far, the best is yet to be! This is Christ’s blood-bought promise: We really will live happily ever after!
[*] C. S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, October 22, 2014), 124.