Years ago I heard the compelling story of a young pastor whose son was very sick and not expected to live long. Night after night the pastor and his wife would put their boy to bed and say a prayer hoping for a miracle. One evening, the boy looked at his father and said, "Daddy, what does it feel like to die?"
The father struggled to speak a word. He said a quick prayer for courage, put his hand on the face of his child and said, "Son, it’s something like this. Night after night you go to sleep on the couch watching your favorite tv shows. You don’t know it, but I find you asleep and come and take you in my arms and place you in the room I built for you with my own hands." The young pastor could barely finish.
"And, son, one of these days........you are going to fall asleep here, but don’t be afraid. Jesus is going to come and pick you up and take you to a special room He has built just for you."
Jesus said, "I go and prepare a place FOR YOU." (John 14:1-6).
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 7:59 am
edited: for accuracy
j-fozzy
Years ago I heard the compelling story of a young pastor whose son was very sick and not expected to live long. Night after night the pastor and his wife would put their boy to bed and say a prayer hoping for a miracle. One evening, the boy looked at his father and said, "Daddy, what does it feel like to die?"
The father struggled to speak a word. He said a quick prayer for courage, put his hand on the face of his child and said, "Son, it’s something like this. Night after night you go to sleep on the couch watching your favorite tv shows. You don’t know it, but I find you asleep and come and take you in my arms and place you in the room I built for you with my own hands." The young pastor could barely finish.
"And, son, one of these days........you are going to fall asleep here, but don’t be afraid. Jesus is going to come and pick you up and take you to a special room He has built just for you."
Jesus said, "I go and prepare a place FOR YOU." (John 14:1-6).
Sentiments aside, we have to analyze this claim for its truthfulness in light of all scripture. Is John 14 talking about people entering the realm of the dead? or what happens at the resurrection (coming back to life, not dead anymore) when Jesus returns in the sky? The totality of scripture points to the latter (John 14 describing at resurrection, not death).
John 14:2-3 (NIV)
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Acts 1:10-11 (NIV)
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NIV)
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 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.
And the dead in Christ do not rise from the dead (back to life) until after the tribulation:
Revelation 20:4-6 (NIV)
4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They[a] had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Footnotes:
Revelation 20:4 Or God; I also saw those who
Jesus may be indwelling us now as the Holy Spirit, but all references to His return/coming back are about His physical manifestation in the clouds, in the skies, in the air. Ergo, the rooms are not a place we enter upon death, but upon either being alive at Jesus' return (and caught up into the air/clouds/sky) or being resurrected from the dead (and caught up in the air/clouds/sky) to meet him when he returns. Alive in either case. Not dead. No one is with the Lord forever until after the first resurrection.
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That said, as far as the title of the topic goes, "what does it feel like to die?": I, personally, don't know. Biblically, I don't think there is a description given by anyone who died and came back to life of what it felt like to die. Someone should have asked Lazarus, Dorcas, and the centurion's daughter, etc (all the cases, Old Testament and New Testament alike, of a person coming back to life), what dying felt like. I guess it's not that important if scripture didn't bother to document a resurrected person's description of what that process, those final moments of dying—going from living to dead—felt like.
What happens after dying, however, we are told: scripture says the angels (not Jesus) come to take us away.
Luke 16:22 (NIV)
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
And, at that point, we're in the realm of the dead, waiting to be resurrected, thinking and speaking—it's not a comfortable wait for everyone. In the following, the rich man is begging Abraham to send Lazarus to his (the rich man's) living family to serve as warning:
Luke 16:27-31 (NIV)
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Ergo, they're dead, and waiting to be raised from the dead, back to life. None of them have been raised from the dead yet. This is the overwhelming message of scripture. Where people get another idea, seemingly, is when they read Paul's epistle to the Phillipians which says,
Philippians 1:23-24 (NIV)
23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
But Paul also talks about waiting for the resurrection and how none of us long to die but instead have our bodies swallowed up by life (transformed at his return, from mortal to immortal), dressed in the new clothes (new body) without getting naked/unclothed (dying) first. So, death is not what Paul is looking forward to either. He is looking forward to the resurrection which is when he will be with Christ forever.
2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (NIV)
5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
We may be aware of Jesus/God in death, but we're not living forever with Jesus when we die. To live forever with Jesus, we must be alive in a body, whether that means you're alive at the moment he returned and transformed you to be immortal, then and there, or he raised you back from the dead, back to life in an immortal body. When Jesus returns in the clouds is when we get to live with him forever. Until then, the ones who come to get us when we die are the angels. The angels take us into the realm of the dead to wait for our resurrection.
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edits:
edited changes: to clarify and add this: despite being aware of Jesus in death,* (I failed to convey that we were aware of Him in death), Still, He's not the one who comes to get us when we die, the angels do. We live with Jesus forever after the resurrection from death.
cristobela Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:44 am
j-fozzy
Awww, it is an incredibly sweet story. Thank you so much for sharing!
cristobela
Yes, I understand that we must be careful and stay as true to God's Word as possible. When I first saw your post in reply to j-fozzy, I felt a little annoyed. I thought, This story was so moving for him and me, and here you come crashing it down! Then, I read your post and allowed reason to drive my mind instead of emotions. I understood that the compelling story wasn't biblically accurate. I appreciate j-fozzy sharing the adorable, yet sad story, however. I also appreciate you for your post.
Have I ever told you that when I read Bible verses, like the ones you shared in your post, they make me shiver and my eyes blur with tears? In a good way, of course! It's just so powerful and makes me feel every emotion imaginable. No other written words, whether quotes, novels, or poems, make a rainbow out of my emotions like the Bible!!! The verses you shared made me feel longing, joy, and excitement. But reasoning, too. The Bible makes me think.
Just a random, rambling post. xd
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 8:07 am
The Evil Froot Loop
[Yes, I understand that we must be careful and stay as true to God's Word as possible. When I first saw your post in reply to j-fozzy, I felt a little annoyed. I thought, This story was so moving for him and me, and here you come crashing it down! Then, I read your post and allowed reason to drive my mind instead of emotions. I understood that the compelling story wasn't biblically accurate. I appreciate j-fozzy sharing the adorable, yet sad story, however. I also appreciate you for your post.
Have I ever told you that when I read Bible verses, like the ones you shared in your post, they make me shiver and my eyes blur with tears? In a good way, of course! It's just so powerful and makes me feel every emotion imaginable. No other written words, whether quotes, novels, or poems, make a rainbow out of my emotions like the Bible!!! The verses you shared made me feel longing, joy, and excitement. But reasoning, too. The Bible makes me think.
Just a random, rambling post. xd
That's what makes the bible so worth defending. There's nothing more thrilling and comforting than the truth. heart I was moved by the story as well, at first, but ultimately all thoughts must submit to Christ / the Word of God.
Prior to becoming familiar with the bible, emotions misled me very easily; trusting the bible has been an anchor and a shield against deception, including deception going around in his name. Even slight deviations from the truth hurt the bible's credibility. And we need to guard against it. So, I hope j-fozzy does not take this personally.
The Word is a sword we cannot afford to put down, even if it gets painful to wield it. Swords cut. It may not feel good to take down the enemy (lies/untruths) in others and in ourselves, but it's for our own well-being (and the well-being of others) that we must wield that sword.
I'm glad this brought blessing to you and helped you see the glory of God's word ^-^ Pathos may have its place (compassion moves us to help the hurting and needy), but the Logos is what keeps us safe from deception. We must have both in equal measure. A touching story can comfort in the moment, but what brings lasting comfort is the truth.
John 15:26 (KJV)
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
May the Father cause compassion and truth to grow in abundance in us all. emotion_bigheart
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