Where will I go when I die
“WHERE WILL I GO WHEN I DIE?”
“WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME WHEN I DIE?”
Or, to say it another way,
“HOW CAN I KNOW FOR SURE THAT WHEN I DIE I WILL GO TO HEAVEN?”
These are life’s most important questions that need to be answered…because, one day, all of us will die!
What if you were to die today?
Are you prepared?
Are you right with God?
Many people have answers and opinions to these questions. Some say,
“If I live a good life, God will accept me.”
“If I give to the poor…”
“If I go to church…”
“If I am baptized…”
“If I pray five times a day…”
“If I am confirmed…”
“If I do good works…”
“If I do enough religious works…”
“If I keep certain religious rituals…”
“If I do all the religious duties that my denomination requires…”
“If my good works outweigh my bad, then God will accept me and I will go to heaven.”
When it comes to eternity and our eternal destination, we don’t want to rely on guessing, hoping, or our own opinion.
We need to know the truth!
God has given us His Word, the Bible, so that we can know Him, and we can know truth.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, (“inspiration” literally means – “God-breathed”) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
When it comes time for us to die, we want to make sure that we are right with God, so we will go to heaven and have everlasting (eternal) life.
Eternal life is life that you can receive now…and once you have it, it lasts forever! (Even when you die, you will keep on living!)
You don’t have to go through life guessing or hoping you have eternal life.
You can know for sure!
1 John 5:13 says – “…that you may KNOW that you have eternal life…”
To be made right with God and to have eternal life, you must first realize that you have a major problem.
All people have this problem…
The problem is SIN!
The Bible says that all people are sinners.
Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned…”
“WHERE DID SIN COME FROM?”
“WHY AM I A SINNER?”
The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 that, after God created everything, He placed Adam and Eve (the first human beings) in a perfect, beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden.
God originally created Adam and Eve perfect, good, and without sin. They had a perfect relationship with each other, and a perfect relationship with God.
They enjoyed fellowship with God.
God would visit with Adam and Eve.
God loved Adam and Eve so much that He did not create them as robots and force them to love, worship, and obey Him.
God gave them freedom to choose to love Him or not to love Him…to obey Him or not to obey Him.
God gave them a free will to choose.
The first couple could show and prove their love for God by obeying what God told them to do.
God told Adam and Eve that they could freely eat from all the trees in the garden except for one. There was one tree in the middle of the garden they were forbidden to eat called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Genesis 2:17
“…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis chapter 3 tells us that, in time, both Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and sinned against God by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
They became sinners.
And, in turn, when they had children, the children also inherited a sin nature from their parents.
Now, as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden, all of us are born with a sin nature.
We act upon that sin nature and do what we should not do, and don’t do what we are supposed to do.
Parents never have to teach children to lie, disobey, or fight with a brother or sister.
They do it naturally because they inherited a sin nature that goes back to Adam (Romans 5:12-20).
All people are sinners in three ways:
1. SIN NATURE
We are sinners by nature (we all have a sin nature).
2. COMMISSION
We are sinners by what we do wrong.
3. OMISSION
We are sinners by not doing what we are supposed to do.
Again, Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Many times in life, we compare ourselves to others. We do this to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.
We can always find people who are less moral than we are.
The end of Romans 3:23 says, we all, “…fall short of the glory of God.”
We are going to be compared to God…not others. We will be judged based on God’s perfect standard, which is Holy perfection…and we all fall short of that!
Romans 3:10-12
10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Isaiah 64:5-7
5 “…for we have sinned—In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved. 6But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
7And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities.”
Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death…”
As a result of our sin, we earn and deserve death.
The death the Bible refers to can be spiritual, physical, or eternal death.
The death of Romans 6:23 is referring to being eternally separated from God in the lake of fire, which is the “second death” spoken of in Revelation 20.
Revelation 20:11-15
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
The Bible is saying all human beings are sinners. All human beings deserve, as a result of their sin, to physically die one day and be separated from God in torment.
That torment is burning in the lake of fire which the Bible calls the “second death.”
This is a very serious problem.
This is very bad news for all people.
IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO CHANGE THIS? Yes
There is a way we can fix our sin problem, and be saved from spending an eternity in the Lake of Fire.
There is Good News!
The word “gospel” means “good news!”
The good news is that God loves you very much!
God desires to save you and to have a relationship with you.
2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
And in fact, God loves all the people of the world!
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world”- all the people of the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, (Jesus)
that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Romans 5:8
“But God demonstrates (showed or proved) His own love toward us,
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Despite our sin problem, God loves us, and has made a way in which we can be saved.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”
The heart of the gospel message is that God loves you…and He loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world, for the purpose of dying on the cross for your sin!
Jesus died for you!
Jesus died in your place!
Jesus died as a substitute for you!
The cross is the place where God’s justice and love intersect. Human beings deserve to die for their sin. God is holy and righteous and cannot allow sin to slide. As a just judge, God must always enforce that the death penalty must be paid for sin.
But God in His great love, mercy, and grace allowed an innocent substitute (Jesus) to die for us guilty sinners.
2 Corinthians 5:21
“For He (God the father) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (Jesus)”
Just like in the garden, when Adam and Eve sinned, God could have killed the first couple immediately, but God showed them His amazing love, mercy, and grace.
God did not accept Adam and Eve’s fig leaf covering. It was their effort to cover sin. God killed innocent animals in the place of guilty Adam and Eve.
With the skins of the innocent animals, God made acceptable coverings for Adam and Eve. This is the principle of substitution that we see throughout the Bible…the innocent dying in the place of the guilty.
When Jesus started His earthly ministry and came to John the Baptist to be baptized, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Jesus was the perfect sinless lamb!
Jesus was the sacrifice for all the sin of the world.
Jesus was our perfect sacrifice that paid for the sin of the world. That is why Jesus came.
He came to die on the cross for our sin.
While on the cross, He said, “It is finished!” which means, our sin debt is paid in full by Jesus’ blood.
Jesus died, was buried, and rose again.
As a result, God the Father offers salvation (or eternal life) as a gift to all the people of the world.
Salvation is a gift that is not something a person can buy or earn in any way…not even through religious works, rituals, duties, or denomination requirements.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Galatians 2:16
“…knowing that a man is not justified (or made right with God) by the works of the law (or by any good works, religious rituals or duties), but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified (made right with God) by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh (no human being) shall be justified (made right with God).”
IF WE CANNOT EARN OR WORK TO BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD, HOW CAN WE BE SAVED?
The Philippian jailor asked Paul the same question.
Acts 16:29-31
29 Then he (the Philippian Jailor) called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
SO HOW CAN WE BE MADE RIGHT WITH GOD?
By placing our faith (trust) in Christ, we can receive the free gift of salvation God offers in Jesus.
All the work of salvation was done by Jesus on the cross, and we must simply receive salvation by placing our faith in Jesus!
John 3:15-18
“…that whoever (anybody) believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish (die and go to hell) but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world (all the people) that He gave His only begotten Son (one unique special Son, Jesus), that whoever (anybody) believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish (will not die and go to hell), but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son (Jesus) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him (Jesus) might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (Jesus)”
John 1:12
“But as many as received Him, (Jesus) to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His (Jesus) name:”
Romans 10:13 – For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:9,10
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
The Bible says that today is the day of salvation, because we are never guaranteed a tomorrow.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK GOD TO SAVE YOU,
YOU CAN PRAY AND ASK HIM TODAY
Example prayer of salvation:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I know that I’m a sinner. I know that I deserve to die and go to hell for my sin. Father, please have mercy on me. Please forgive me. I believe that Jesus is God and that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He was buried and rose again. Father forgive me of all my sin. Lord, Jesus, come into my life and save me. The best I know how, I am trusting You for my salvation.
In Jesus’ name, Amen!
If you have placed your faith in Jesus, please let us know so we can pray for you.
Email us at: herefordbaptist316@gmail.com
More helpful scripture:
Acts 4:10-12
“ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (the name of Jesus)”
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.