© 2014 by Tom Boynton (editing by Kathy Boynton)
“He’s in a better place now.” “He’s gone to his reward.” “She’s now one of our angels in Heaven.” “She’s been released from her painful disease.” Statements like these abound after the death of a loved one. Seldom do you hear suggestions that the deceased is now enduring eternal torment. Every social or religious group seeks to paint the passing of its adherents in glowing terms.
Scripture, however, is much more discriminating. God’s Word, the Bible, has much to say about the final state awaiting most of humanity. Let’s look, briefly, at some of those statements.
God’s Word declares that most do not end up in “a better place.” It says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:13-15). Those “ravening wolves” are often clergy members who give followers false assurance of “a better place.” Even though their hearts have not been changed, and they are not really following Christ, they are trusting their clergy to broker Christ’s righteousness to them. Scripture describes their lost eternity in bleak and foreboding terms as a place “…Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44,46,48). It says that “…the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night…” (Revelation 14:11). They will be, “…cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12).
Next time you hear someone say, of a loved one, “He’s in a better place now,” ask yourself, “Was he (or she) a true follower of Christ? Did that individual come to Christ, in repentance, asking to be forgiven, and delivered from sin and spiritual death? Was there evidence of a new heart of commitment to Christ in that person’s life?”
Christ, who is God the Son, offered Himself as a blood sacrifice to save sinners. He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” (John 10:27).
Do you?
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