WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?
This is a question that everybody asks at some point of life. While death is inevitable, no one wants to die and wishes to live beyond death. The very fact that we ask that question indicates that there is the possibility of life after death. It was CS Lewis who said, ‘the very fact that we have hunger indicates that there is something called food’. Being hungry would not be real without food, though it is also important to understand that being hungry does not guarantee that you will get food. Likewise, the longing for life after death does indicate the fact that it exists, though it doesn’t become a guaranteed reality.
If the body dies, it has to be the non-physical component of us that lives on. This means that as humans we have a physical and non-physical component. It is not difficult to look within us and see that there are many aspects of being human that belong to the category of the soul or the spirit- the non-physical. Even though scientists try to convince us with unproven data that the brain is the seat of all there is, it is more intuitive to conclude that we have a soul (including the mind, conscience, emotions and our will) that is separate from and seamlessly interacts with the physical neuronal wiring within our brains.
The next question that arises is, ‘which is more important- the body or the soul?’ Do we think of ourselves as ‘body having a soul within’ or ‘soul wrapped by a body’? Most people think of being human as the former because it is the body that is visible and more tangible. The soul is hidden, yet if we care look deeper, we would easily conclude that it is the soul that leads the body. It is our mind, emotion, conscience, and will, that determine how our bodies respond. Also, if our body is to be done away with at death, with our souls that live on, should not our souls be considered more important?
What happens to our souls when we die? Near death experiences (NDE) of people who were presumed dead, but came back to life are insightful in giving us a glimpse of what happens to our souls after death. Neurosurgeon, Eben Alexander’s, ‘Proof of Heaven’ is one such account among many others. And when we compare these accounts with what different religions offer in terms of the reality beyond death, it almost exclusively correlates with the biblical account of the afterlife. The nature of God as One of infinite love, the reality of spiritual beings without physical bodies, the exaltedness of Christ above all else in the spiritual realm, and the possibility of the afterlife being dependent on one’s response to Christ’s offer of salvation on the cross, all come alive on these accounts.
What good is it if a man gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? The words of Jesus are worthy of closer examination, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).
