(Attention: this blog post contains spoiler alerts & highly important information)
Death is everywhere!
People are dying left and right.
It’s in the news, on social media and in our TV shows.
Series like “The Good Place” are trying to deal with death and the after life. People are sharing affectionate posts with their loved ones, because they realize they don’t know how long everyone will be around.
The fact that people are dying isn’t new at all. It’s been happening since the beginning of what we know, and it still does. Every day. Every minute. Every second of the day.
Yet somehow, and this perhaps due to the fast spread of information via social media, death seems to be more prevalent in the minds of the readers.
For me, I see death everywhere lately; and while I’m theoretically aware that it’s always happening, it is more on my mind lately. I guess similar to when you’re pregnant and now you notice all the pregnant women in your circle of friends, or you’re on a diet and now your mind focuses on all the diet posts and health programs; in the same sense it seems that posts about someone dying stand out to me more lately.
Kobe Bryant and his 13 year old daughter. A helicopter pilot. A coach. A mother and her daughter. Another coach, his wife and his daughter.
A major fire on highway I85, leaving two dead. A 31 year old woman and a man in his 40s.
A young couples baby boy. Another friends’ father. It doesn’t seem fair!
The list goes on and on. Death everywhere!
It is something we really should deal with and talk about, because it’s coming for all of us!
The Good Place!
The TV show, “The Good Place”, while funny and quite interesting in regards to morals, ethics and philosophy, still didn’t get it right. Theologically and even philosophically quite wrong actually.
For one, the conclusions of creating a new point system for people to be able to earn their way into the good place, leads to believe that it is indeed possible to do enough good to earn your way there; yet even mathematically speaking there would be a constant struggle between addition and subtraction, because who is to say that giving someone a cup of water is indeed worth 3 points? And not genuinely meaning what you say is negative 2? What about sins of omission? Not doing something you should have done? How often do you need to recycle until you’ve become good enough?
Furthermore, being good or bad isn’t just a matter of actions and words, but also intentions; and while the show does express that doing good with selfish intent isn’t really good, how can we measure how much integrity a person has? How many points does a genuinely kind heart get? And how do you measure that?
Supposedly the non-human “beings” were doing the measuring and scaling, but the problem is that they too are only creatures, created; not all powerful and all knowing. Many of them even demons! Evil with intent to torture.
How could what has been created itself, be a good judge of what the rest of creation
should really be like in order to be good enough?
And the idea that everyone had to go through afterlife after afterlife until they improved, is also very exhausting and quite hopeless.
Of course people would rather like to believe that they can don whatever they want
down here on earth, and work on improving in heaven, but doesn’t that contradict the
idea of the Good Place show, that we need death to appreciate life? If I can just do
better after death, and there is no element of pressure here and now, doesn’t that
take away from wanting to good here?
The judge in the tv show was quite human. Impressed by mortal man, into tv shows and country boys, not powerful enough to find the device needed to destroy the world. If our true judge, God Almighty, is THAT human and man-like, we are all royally screwed.
Lastly the concept of the good place being boring, because people could have whatever they wanted for eternity is also limited. While it does take darkness for us to see and appreciate light, and in the same sense a vacation must come to an end, for it to be a vacation; this understanding is based on our limited, mortal minds, who can only perceive things that have a beginning and an end.
Of course a heaven where you can do and have whatever you want, whenever you want it, would become boring after a long period of time, because there is noting left to do. Or so we think?
But that is because we only know time and space, and nothing beyond.
The Good place’s solution was to have a door people could go into when they were ready to go and basically be like the wave that goes back into the ocean where it
came from.
This too however is a human thought out concept. As mankind yes we do need to
have a choice for things to end, in order to appreciate things while they last. We need death to enjoy life; knowing things won’t last forever.
When it is time to go meet our Maker however, the One who made time and space, who says we will still be and think like humans? Who says we will still be overwhelmed by things that do not end? Who says we will still need limitations to appreciate the unlimited?
And most importantly, faith is only faith if it has an object. We don’t hope in hope. We have hope in something or someone. We have faith in someone.
When we go back home, we will be in the presence of the Maker of the Universe - Almighty God - Creator of All things.
He will be our objective and the object of our hope, faith and adoration.
Heaven isn’t some void where we have some divine Alexa catering to our every beck and call.
We will be at peace (which is what we all long for - as portrayed by the Good Place) in the presence of our essence and the One whose blue print we carry.
It will be something no eye has ever seen, nor ear has ever heard, and no human mind has ever conceived. Prepared for those who love God (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Everything in the Good Place was things that people’s minds had seen and things they had heard or imagined. Created by and for man.
Just wait until we get so see what GOD has in store!
You see, the conclusions drawn in the TV show “The Good place” break down at some point. The system, the points, the door. It all breaks down.
But what if told you there is another way?
What if there was a human, good enough, so good in fact, that he could go to the bad place on behalf of all humanity? To be tortured and suffer in everyone’s stead, so they can go to the good place?
What if He was the door to eternal peace that everyone longed to go through?
Heaven & Hell!
A very uncomfortable and wildly debated topic.
A topic for which I have many questions and very limited answers.
One thing I do believe: If the truth I chose to stand on is the Bible and I look to said Bible for answers, and to Jesus, who I believe to be THE Answer, then I can see that He taught more about hell than he did about heaven; and not only did He reference it, He described in detail. Therefore it is a subject I should take serious.
Pastor Rodney Friend told me a long time ago, when talking about heaven and hell, that he read hell was God responding with “okay” when a person doesn’t want to have anything to do with Him.
He can’t force us into a relationship with him and we have a choice to either say yes or no. Saying no means being separated from God. Not being where He is. That is hell!
Some people, including myself at times, argue that a lifetime of sins doesn’t warrant an eternity of damnation. Isn’t that unfair? A little bit much?
Isn’t it unfair to basically force someone into a relationship by making them follow you, lest they be damned for eternity.
While I believe God is so much greater than the limited dimension we live in and perceive, I will reference human logic to address that struggle:
If you want to be in a relationship with someone, but they decline your offer and turn down your attempts, would it be unfair of you to step away, accept their response and say “okay!”?
Isn’t separation/not being together, the natural, logical effect of separating? Can I really tell someone I don’t want to be with them, and yet want to be with them?
And if I don’t want to be with God, who made all things, and is everywhere, wouldn’t the logical consequence be that I will then be where He is not. His absence being hell, because God is love and he is holy and He is good; therefore naturally his absence means all things unholy, vile, evil and absent of love.
Romans 6:23 says “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I am hoping we can all agree that there need to be consequences for things. If someone kills another, he needs to be punished. He cannot continue walking around free, if he ended the life of someone else.
Sin leads to death. Our choices have consequences. And we have all sinned in one way or another.
But God is offering a free gift! It is free! Jesus dying in our stead came at no cost to us, but it cost Him everything.
Imagine you went to a store and tried shoplifting, and were caught in the act; and the shop owner paid the fine it cost for you not to have to go to jail, and then gave you the item you needed for free. Would you not take it? If he paid so you didn’t have to, wouldn’t you accept it?
Yet some have the audacity to say God is forcing us into a relationship with Him!?
For one, God is God! He cant be comprehended and He has the right to do whatever he wants. It’s time we humble ourselves and have some fear of God and remember who the creation versus the creator is.
But also, how can you claim God is forcing you into something, if He even gave you a free gift, to spare you from having to suffer what YOU got yourself into?
Instead of wages of sin, God offers us a free gift. Instead of death, He offers us life!
What now?
I don't have all the answers about death and the after life, but I believe that there is more.
If there is nothing, then all of this is pointless and depressing. There is no hope.
If there is, then it is important we find out what it is.
Many religions teach different things. The key difference is that they all teach some version of self-redemption, in which you - the limited mortal - must become good enough, free-of-ego enough, holy enough - to enter into eternity.
Only in Jesus is there a God who reverses the process and comes down to us! Taking the curse on Himself, facing death on our behalf and opening the DOOR to eternal life!
Why is this so important?
Because you are going to die! It’s coming! And I beg you - please be ready!
You can’t chance eternity!
Not when your soul is at stake!
May those who have ears, hear!
Jesus made a way! He is THE DOOR!
In His Love,
R. A. E.
Resources:
Pastor Rodney Friend
Pastor Michael Shreve - Sermon: “THE Door”
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