Louie Giglio - What Happens When You Die?
Interestingly, if you were to go and set on a journey right now to try to find truth and find meaning, and you determined that you were gonna go and search out every major religion and every path that there is on Earth, one thing that you would find in common on all those paths, and in all those religions is they all esteem Jesus. And when you come to that guy that they all esteem it's interesting because He attributes to Himself singularity and exclusivity. And he says about Himself, the one that they all admire says about Himself, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, No one comes to the Father, but by me".
And that sounds a little bit exclusive because it is a lot exclusive. But I feel okay in that exclusivity because that exclusivity is included in all the major religious thinking of the world to say, "That guy is a great guy. That guy is a prophet. That guy is an enlightened man, a Holy man, a moral teacher. That guy has got some kind of human divinity going on". So, according to everyone else, this guy is pretty amazing. Well, this guy claims of Himself, that He is the one who can help us answer the question, "What Happens When We Die"? And Jesus, as we're gonna see today, describes two outcomes. And more importantly for me, and more importantly for you, Jesus is gonna show us the vital way to determine which of those two outcomes is yours. And so, lets look at the words of Jesus.
John 5, it says in verse 24, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life and will not be condemned". There are the two outcomes. "He has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, the 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, the Son authority to judge because He is the Son of Man. "Do not be amazed at this," Jesus said, "For a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out".
So, there is a moment coming when every cemetery is gonna be emptied. Think about that. That's why we use that term, we've mentioned it before, cemetery, coming from the root word, "Dormitory," we're renting space there people. Because all the cemeteries are gonna be emptied at the sound of His voice. "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". Two outcomes, two paths. And Jesus is on Earth now, speaking words in red, to help us know that we can make the choice to decide our destiny.
John 3, a few pages back, the most famous passage, probably in words of Jesus, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him," in Jesus, "shall not perish but have eternal life". So, when we get into the weight of these two paths, it's good to know that we are being guided in the weight of these two paths by a God who is animated by love for you, and love for me. Such a great love that, "He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in the Son shall, not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him".
So, Jesus' mission on Earth, wasn't to condemn the world. And just a little footnote that we'll come back to, the reason that wasn't His mission to come to condemn the world is because the world was condemned when He got there. So, He didn't come to put condemnation on us, that had already happened by the fall. He came, it says, "So that the world might be saved through Him". So, His mission, is a different mission. It's not a condemnation mission, it is a rescue mission. And then in verse 18, "Whoever believes in Him," in Jesus, "is not condemned".
So, we're already under this condemnation, but a rescue mission arrives, and whoever believes in the rescue mission now is not condemned. But then, if you see the counter of that, "But whoever does not believe, stands condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son". Jesus, and we'll see this later today, is teaching us that they're two outcomes in death. And one of them is eternal life, which is an eternal relationship with God. And one of them is eternal death, which is an eternity, separated from the love of God. We call them Heaven and Hell. And those are the outcomes of what happens to us when we die.
And I know saying that, some person is gonna maybe respond and say, "Well, I don't really believe in Heaven, and I certainly don't believe in Hell". But I think all of us understand why there is Hell. Because God is perfect, and His standard is holiness. And it's not just a thing, it's His person, it's not just that His standard is righteousness, it's that He is righteous. It's not just that His standard is perfection, it's that He is perfect. It's not that His standard is holiness, it's that God Himself is Holy. And so, therefore there's a standard and a system that you and I have to navigate as we come to God.
And I think we probably all get that. Everyone in this room has got some kind of a moral understanding, and yes, maybe you wanna say to your friend, "Hey, you can believe what you wanna believe, I'm gonna believe what I wanna believe". And maybe in your mind, that's good enough for you. However, there's something higher than that in your estimation. Because if your friend decides that what is good for him, or what he feels is right, is it what you feel is right on a certain level? You're gonna say to your friend, "Hey, I appreciate that you feel that that's right, but there is a higher moral obligation that we have, and therefore that obligation trumps what you feel is right. So, I'm not really saying, you can't feel that's right, I'm just saying, you can't do that because you have to ascribe to this higher moral obligation".
Wouldn't you say that would probably be true of you? That everybody can believe what they want, but at some point, them believing what they want and acting out on what they believe that they want, has to come under a greater moral obligation. You see, we're in a predicament, people. And in a predicament, you need outside help. I was reading, not long ago about, a person was standing on a subway platform, true story, and someone pushed them on to the tracks, in front of the train. And when the person landed on the tracks, they were knocked unconscious, and so, they couldn't even like rally and try to make a move. And so, there they were unconscious, on these tracks, not long, the train is coming down the tracks, and how foolish would it have been for us to be standing above the tracks going, "Hey, get up! Hey, roll to the right! Go left"!
It would have been pointless to do that because, in this moment, they needed outside assistance. And that's where we were. That's where we were dead in our sins. We were needing outside assistance, and Jesus steps in. And He's giving us an offer today. Do you believe in this Jesus? This one who is applauded by every other religious way, but yet who claims for Himself, singularity and exclusivity. Do you believe in Him, in His words that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that you come to the Father only through Him?
Do you believe that He is the payment for our sin, that He is the one who allows us, through His death, and burial and resurrection, to become perfect, in the eyes of God, to be born again with a brand-new heart, to be able to stand before the God who is holy, and righteous, and perfect? Not because what we have done, but because of what He has done for us. Do you believe in Jesus? Not that He lived. Do you believe in Him that you've put the weight of your trust in Him to bring you to life? And if you do, you can answer this question with confidence today, what happens to you when you die? Well, I'm a believer in Jesus, so I know that what happen to me when I die, that I am seamlessly in the presence of Almighty God. Because I have been given, already, the gift of eternal life.
That's what Paul wrote. He says it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:6, "Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we're away from the Lord". "For we live by faith, not by sight". "We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord". This is where we get this phrase, "Away from the body, at home with the Lord". And what Paul is writing about here, is our person, our spirit, our soul, our consciousness, our essence. In death, your consciousness, your essence, your spirit, your you, not the flesh that carries you, but you as a believer in Jesus, are seamlessly now away from the body and present with the Lord.
I don't know if you have ever been with someone who took their last breath, but it is shocking how fast someone leaves this body. It is more than instantaneous. It is like warp speed, in one breath, they're gone. And you're staring at their body, fully cognizant of the reality that it is vacant, and they are gone. And what Paul is writing is that, in that moment, they are absent from the body, in an instant, and present with the Lord. This is what happens to you, who believe in Jesus, when you die. You are absent now from the body, present with the Lord. Why? Because you already believed in Him, and when you believed, you received eternal life.
So, you're not now absent from the body going, "I hope this works out okay". No, you're absent from the body, already possessing eternal life, already living eternal life. And that eternal life can't be bound by physical death. So, when the body dies, that spirit just moves right, seamlessly into the presence of God. Now, what happens to the body? Well, the body is raised up with Christ in the resurrection. We see that in a few places in the scripture as well. 1 Corinthians 15, "But someone will ask, 'How are the dead raised?' 'With what kind of body will they come?'" Then down to verse 52, "Listen, I tell you a mystery, we will not all sleep, but we will be changed".
Now, Paul's writing to those who have believed. "We will be changed, for the perishable," this, "must clothe itself, with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality". "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: death has been swallowed up in victory". And then at another place, we see this, in 1 Thessalonians 4, "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus, those who have fallen asleep in Him".
According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. "For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command and a voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first". This is what Jesus was talking about in John 5. "After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words".
Philippians 3:21, that "In Heaven, Christ will transform our lowly bodies," this, "so that they will be like His glorious body". So, in the end, at the call of God, with the last trumpet of God, we're already spiritually with God, but now, our bodies are raised to join us in the air, and to be transformed in that moment, into a heavenly body. You and your new heavenly body, reunited for eternity with God. And that can happen out of a grave, it can happen if your body was destroyed in a fire, or in some tragic accident, or some circumstance, it can happen if you were cremated. Somebody say, "You shouldn't be cremated 'cause you know, we're all supposed to rise together".
Look, God spoke the universe into existence, He can go find every single bit of the ashes of your cremated body, wherever they may be, in the wind, in the ocean, or wherever they have gone, reunite them in His miraculous power to a body that is made new and glorious, will join you forever with Him. What happens when you die? You are seamlessly in the presence of God if you're alive in Christ. And your body is gonna decay and rest for a minute, but it's coming back to glory also. But there's another path, and that path is just as real. And Jesus speaks about it quite a lot. In fact, interestingly, Jesus teaches about Hell more than He teaches about Heaven.
That's what you do when you're God incarnate, walking on planet Earth, speaking words of red, on a mission to seek and to save the lost. You do talk about Heaven, but you make sure people understand that you're there because of Hell. In one place Jesus was talking, in Luke 16, and He told a story, He said:
"There was a rich man, who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony, in this fire.' But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime, you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he's comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor could anyone cross over from there to us.' He answered, 'Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' And Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 'No, Father Abraham,' he said, 'But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' And then Jesus said to him, or Jesus telling the story, says, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead'".
I think Jesus was forecasting, right it was gonna be possible that even if He died, was buried, and was miraculously raised from the dead on the third day, some people would still not believe in Him. Even though someone came back from the dead to proclaim to them how to choose the path of eternal life. Matthew 25, He was telling another parable, "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the Angles with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the people, one from another as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something eat. I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes, you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' And the righteous will answer, 'Lord, when did we do all these things? and He'll say to them, 'Whenever you did this...'"
Down to verse 40, "'To one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.' And then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart form me you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry you gave me nothing to eat, thirsty, nothing to drink, stranger, you didn't invite me in, needed clothes, you didn't clothe me, sick and in prison, you didn't come look after me.' And they also will answer, 'Lord, when do we any of these things?' And He'll say, 'Truly, I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then, they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous, to eternal life".
Back to Jesus' words, "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 what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned". Jesus is showing us the other way. If you listen to Jesus, He describes two ways. And in the middle, He puts a gift on the table. And would this not be our eternal destiny, the biggest storyline of humanity, would this not be the biggest storyline of our humanity? Wouldn't this be the thing talked about around every table? Wouldn't somehow that's become a part of the conversation of every single day? Would this not be front and center and preeminent in every relationship that we had?
A coworker or a bystander, or a neighbor or a family member, or a friend, or a workout partner? Would this not be the storyline? Why isn't this every headline, on every paper, in every day? Why isn't this the top hit on the news feed every single day? There's a 100% mortality rate on Earth. There's an offer of eternal life with the perfect God, through the death of His Son. There's also the possibility of a tragic eternity without God. But there's a gift on the table today. Click here! There's a gift on the table today. See the attachment. There's a gift on the table today. Swipe for more information. There's a gift on the table today.
Why isn't this the talk of humanity? Instead, we are all preoccupied by things that don't last. I pray that, that we don't prepare for everything we need to live, and not prepare to die. The takeaways are simple and clear, number one, your eternal state is decided long before you take your last breath. Jesus' words in John 3:16, "Whoever believes in Him has eternal life. Whoever does not believe in Him, stands condemned already". Why? "'Cause they we condemned before I got here. They were condemned the moment that they stepped into sin, the moment that they joined a humanity that is fallen.
The moment that they rebelled against the ways of God, the heart of God, the character of God. The moment that they fell short of perfection, they were already, now under the highest moral code that there is, which is, sin causes you to die spiritually," so that when you die physically, you are dead eternally. They we already there, Jesus said, "when I got here". And you're already there right now. "If you have not put the weight of your trust," according to Jesus, not according to me. If you've not put the weight of your trust in the person of Jesus, the finished work of Jesus, for your forgiveness, salvation, and a right-standing with God, you're under condemnation, right now.
So, if you took your last breath, you don't have to worry what's gonna happen then. No, you're already there. And if you put your faith in Jesus, you're already alive, so you don't have to worry as you're going in that instantaneous, seamless moment, into a meeting with God what the outcome is gonna be. If your faith is in Jesus you know what the outcome is gonna be. And if your faith is not in Jesus, based on this moment today, you also know what your outcome is going to be. There are no scales that weigh, there is no digital readout after all the inputs are made. There is no angel at the gate. There is no Peter seeing if he recognizes you.
The only question is, has your name been written in the Book of Life? And if it's there, it's there. And it if it's not, it's not. I think the second major takeaway, and this might be a bigger word for another day, is that God doesn't send people to Hell. People always say, "How can a good God send someone to Hell"? The good God doesn't send people to Hell, the good God sends His Son to Earth to save people from Hell. And it's not God who sends people to Hell, it's people's sin that sends people to Hell. Jesus said, "You're going to Hell, which was prepared for the Devil and His Angels, not for you". Wasn't made for you? God isn't sending you to Hell, He's sending you a message today. Don't go to Hell. Believe.