Part of building a biblical worldview is contemplating what will happen to us after we die. Will how we live today affect our eternal destiny? What we believe about eternity is a natural product of what we believe regarding the previous four worldview questions.
The Bad News
As we discovered so far on our worldview journey, God created us in his image so that we can relate to him as worshipers who draw life and wisdom from him and fulfill his purposes for us here on earth, which are to love him and other people, to be fruitful and multiply, and to take dominion over and care for creation. God provided all we need to live happy, productive, and fruitful lives in fellowship with and dependence upon him.
But that did not satisfy Adam and Eve. They were deceived and lured into choosing to be independent from God, which sadly introduced sin, sickness, bondage, death, the corruption of the creation, and the distortion of God’s wonderful plan. Adam’s enduring legacy was sin, death, and destruction, marring God’s entire creation. Satan usurped the authority delegated to mankind and ruled over us as a tyrant. The situation seemed hopeless (Ephesians 2:12) because no descendant of Adam is able to live up to God’s holy standards or achieve the righteousness that could bring eternal life and reward. (Romans 3:21-24) Instead, our sin earned (earns) for us the just sentence of death. (Romans 6:23) As a result, every person deserves a bleak and hopeless future, since at the Last Judgment we will all be found guilty of sin and rebellion against God and sentenced to the fires of hell.
Good News
The Good News is that God so loved his struggling creatures that he sent his Son, Jesus the Messiah, to save us from this horrible end. (John 3:16)
As the Second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), Jesus lived the way God intended for the first Adam, in complete reliance upon and obedience to God. Jesus willingly offered his life as God’s Lamb, taking the guilt and punishment for our sins and rebellion upon himself, so that we could be forgiven and our relationship with God restored. (John 1:29) When he rose again three days later, he emerged from the tomb as the glorious, victorious Lord. Anyone who believes the good news that Jesus died for our sins and is now the risen Lord, will receive forgiveness, eternal life, and restoration to a right relationship with God! (Romans 10:9-13)
Through the resurrection of Jesus, who is the Last Adam, God inaugurated a new covenant and a new edition of humanity. (Isaiah 53:10)
All those who believe and declare allegiance to Chrisdt are born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3), who lives within every believer as the internal fountain of life, the revealer of truth, and the one who inspires, assists, and empowers us to live for God. (John 7:37-39) This new generation of people are inwardly motivated to serve God, doing those things which bring joy to God’s heart and blessings to other people. (Philippians 2:13)
How Should We Then Live?
Jesus taught his followers that everyone lives and dies, after which there will be a resurrection and judgment, at which we will be rewarded or punished for what we believed and how we lived. (Luke 14:12-14, Matthew 25:31-36) Those who are born only once (physically, naturally) will die twice. They will die a physical death and one day be consigned to the Lake of Fire, which is called the “Second Death.” (Revelation 20:11-15)
Those who are born twice (physically and spiritually, through the new birth), will only die once – physically. Their eternal life and destiny are secure.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 (ESV)
Jesus taught us to live in such a way that will maximize our eternal reward. (Matthew 6:19-20)
If we truly believe Jesus’ teachings and the gospel, we will live accordingly. We will put what God values at the top of our own priority lists.
True believers will sacrifice what we cannot keep in order to gain that which we cannot lose.
We will lay aside sin and selfishness in order to pursue the things that bring God glory and honor. We will make the Great Commission our top priority, because others need to find out about this amazing offer from God called the gospel!
John the Apostle summed it up very well.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (ESV)
How we live reveals what we truly believe and value.
What will my life, values, priorities, choices, and actions say about me at the Last Judgment? A biblical worldview teaches us to live in the present with our eyes firmly fixed on the prize of eternal reward at the last judgment.
