"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. "

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH? HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ABOUT WHAT THAT LIFE MIGHT BE LIKE? HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED FORWARD TO SUCH A NEW LIFE AFTER YOUR DEATH? HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW ONE GOES ABOUT ACHIEVING SUCH A LIFE AFTER DEATH? THE CHURCH HAS TAUGHT FOR CENTURIES THAT SUCH A LIFE IS WAITING FOR EACH OF US IN HEAVEN AND THAT THIS NEW LIFE IS ETERNAL.

THE BIBLE CONTAINS A NUMBER OF STATEMENTS BY JESUS, PAUL, AND OTHERS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH AND THAT PLACE CHRISTIANS CALL HEAVEN. JESUS HELPED US SOMEWHAT TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH AS HE COMFORTED HIS APOSTLES WITH THESE WORDS ABOUT HEAVEN. JESUS SAID, "IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE THERE ARE MANY ROOMS. I AM GOING THERE TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. AND IF I GO THERE AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU TO BE WITH ME THAT YOU MAY ALSO BE WHERE I AM." IN THIS WAY JESUS TOLD US THAT THERE IS A HEAVENLY PLACE WHERE WE GO AFTER DEATH.

JESUS GAVE US ANOTHER CLUE ABOUT HEAVEN AS HE WAS DYING ON THE CROSS. ONE OF THE CRIMINALS WHO WERE BEING CRUCIFIED BESIDE JESUS SAID TO JESUS, "JESUS, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM." JESUS ANSWERED HIM, "I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE." SO WITH THESE WORDS JESUS ASSURES US THAT THERE IS A HEAVEN AND THAT IT WILL BE A WONDERFUL PLACE-THAT IS A PARADISE.

THE APOSTLE PAUL TOLD US ABOUT OUR RESURRECTION BODIES. PAUL SAID THAT THESE SPIRITUAL BODIES WOULD BE IMPERISHABLE AND POWERFUL. PERHAPS THESE BODIES WILL BE ABLE TO DO SOME OF THE MARVELOUS AND WONDROUS THINGS THAT THE RESURRECTED CHRIST DID IN HIS RESURRECTION APPEARANCES.

IT SEEMS OBVIOUS TO ME THAT THE APOSTLE PAUL, IN THIS LATTER PART OF HIS LIFE, LONGS FOR A NEW LIFE WITH JESUS IN HEAVEN AS WE HEARD IN TODAY'S EPISTLE. PAUL SAID HERE, "I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION AND THE SHARING OF HIS SUFFERINGS BY BECOMING LIKE HIM IN HIS DEATH, IF SOMEHOW I MAY ATTAIN THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD."

PAUL ALSO EXPLAINS HERE WHAT A DIFFICULT TASK HE THINKS THIS WILL BE FOR HIM TO ATTAIN HIS GOAL WHEN HE SAID, "…BUT I PRESS ON TO MAKE IT MY OWN" AND "… I PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL FOR THE PRIZE OF THE HEAVENLY CALL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. "

JESUS, HOWEVER, SEEMS TO DISAGREE WITH PAUL ON THIS POINT OF THE DIFFICULTY OF REACHING HEAVEN. JESUS SAID, "MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT." THE PROPHET MICAH ALSO CONFIRMED THIS THOUGHT WHEN ANSWERING THE QUESTION OF WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU, AS FOLLOWS: "ONLY THIS, TO ACT JUSTLY, TO LOVE TENDERLY AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD."

'I SUSPECT, HOWEVER, THAT MANY LIKE PAUL BEGIN TO LONG FOR A HEAVENLY LIFE AS THE TRIALS AND BURDENS OF THEIR EARTHLY LIVES BEGINS TO WEAR THEM DOWN. I SUSPECT ALSO THAT MANY HERE BEGIN TO LONG FOR A NEW LIFE IN HEAVEN WHERE THERE IS NO PAIN OF SUFFERING WHEN THEIR HEALTH BEGINS TO FAIL IN THEIR OLD AGE.

LOOKING MORE CLOSELY AT THIS QUESTION OF LIFE AFTER DEATH FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, I THINK IT IS VERY INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THERE IS MUCH MODERN RESEARCH BEING DONE ON THIS SUBJECT. I HAVE RECENTLY READ A BOOK ENTITLED, "CONSCIOUSNESS AND SURVIVAL, AN INTERDISCIPLINARY INQUIRY INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF LIFE BEYOND BIOLOGICAL DEATH." THIS BOOK CONTAINS THE PUBLISHED PROCEEDINGS OF A SYMPOSIUM ON THIS SUBJECT HELD AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON, D. C. THE FOUR MAJOR POSSIBILITIES OF LIFE AFTER DEATH DISCUSSED IN THIS SYMPOSIUM WERE AS FOLLOWS:

THE FIRST WAS THE POSSIBILITY OF REINCARNATION WHERE THE SOUL REMAINS, WITH OR WITHOUT MEMORY. THE SOUL EMBARKS ON A LONG PILGRIMAGE, PERHAPS INVOLVING MANY LIVES, HOPING TO ACHIEVE NIRVANA.

THE SECOND WAS THE POSSIBILITY OF THE SOUL JOINING THE GREAT ONE. HERE DEATH MEANS THAT THE SOUL AND ITS ACCOMPANYING MEMORY JOIN THE GREAT ONE OR THE COSMOS. AND A PARTICULAR SOUL'S MEMORY SIMPLY IS AN ADD-ON TO THE SUM TOTAL OF MEMORY OR KNOWLEDGE OF THE COSMOS.

THE THIRD POSSIBILITY OF LIFE AFTER DEATH WAS OBLIVION. IT SEEMS THAT MANY DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS MAINTAIN THIS VIEW.

THE FOURTH POSSIBILITY WAS THE IDEA THAT THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL WITH ITS ACCOMPANYING MEMORY LIVES ON ETERNALLY. SOME VARIATION OF THIS VIEW HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY IDENTIFIED WITH CHRISTIANITY.

A MAJOR PLUS FOR ME IN THIS BOOK WERE THE FASCINATING DISCUSSIONS OF RESEARCH BEING DONE IN THE AREAS OF NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES, OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES, MEDIUMSHIP, MEMORIES OF PAST LIVES, AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY. OUT OF ALL OF THIS I CAME AWAY WITH THE FEELING THAT MUCH OF THIS RESEARCH SUPPORTS OUR CHRISTIAN BELIEFS THAT THERE IS A LIFE AFTER DEATH AND THAT THERE IS A PART OF OUR SELVES THAT LIVES ON AFTER DEATH.

HAVING SAID ALL OF THIS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH AND HEAVEN, I PROPOSE FOR OUR REFLECTION TODAY ANOTHER POSSIBILITY. AND THAT POSSIBILITY IS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER WE DIE TO BE IN HEAVEN.

I PROPOSE TO YOU THAT WE CAN EXPERIENCE HEAVEN EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES HERE ON EARTH. THIS CAN BE ESPECIALLY TRUE IF WE AGREE THAT WE ARE IN HEAVEN EVERY TIME WE FEEL THE JOY OF BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.

THIS CAN BE TRUE IF WE AGREE THAT WE ARE IN HEAVEN WHEN WE SEE THE SPIRIT OF GOD ACTING THROUGH US AND THROUGH OTHERS IN THE EVENTS OF OUR LIVES EACH DAY. THIS CAN BE TRUE IF WE SEE THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE BEAUTIFUL CREATION AND CREATURES AROUND US HERE ON EARTH. THIS CAN BE TRUE IF WE SEE THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN THE SKY, IN THE PLANETS, AND THE UNIVERSE BEYOND OUR EARTH. PERHAPS JESUS WAS TELLING US ABOUT THIS NEW POSSIBILITY WHEN HE SAID, "THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR AT HAND."

IN CLOSING I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU A POEM WRITTEN BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR. BAMBI GREEN, OUR ODB COORDINATOR, CALLED THIS POEM TO MY ATTENTION. FOR ME THIS POEM SUMS UP SO WELL THESE CLOSING THOUGHTS WITH A REFRESHING POINT OF VIEW.

HE WAS JUST A LITTLE BOY, ON A WEEK'S FIRST DAY.
HE WAS WANDERING HOME FROM SUNDAY SCHOOL, AND DAWDLING ON THE WAY.

HE SCUFFED HIS SHOES INTO THE GRASS; HE FOUND A CATERPILLAR.
HE FOUND A FLUFFY MILKWEED POD, AND BLEW OUT ALL THE "FILLER".

A BIRD'S NEST IN A TREE OVERHEAD, SO WISELY PLACED ON HIGH.
WAS JUST A WONDER THAT CAUGHT HIS EAGER EYE.

A NEIGHBOR WATCHED HIS ZIGZAG COURSE, AND HAILED HIM FROM THE LAWN;
ASKED HIM WHERE HE'D BEEN THAT DAY, AND WHAT WAS GOING ON.

"I'VE BEEN TO BIBLE SCHOOL," HE SAID AND TURNED A PIECE OF SOD.
HE PICKED UP A WIGGLY WORM REPLYING, "I'VE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT GOD."

"M'M VERY FINE WAY," THE NEIGHBOR SAID, "FOR A BOY TO SPEND HIS TIME."
"IF YOU'LL TELL ME WHERE GOD IS, I'LL GIVE YOU A BRAND NEW DIME."

QUICK AS A FLASH THE ANSWER CAME! NOR WERE HIS ACCENTS FAINT.
"I'LL GIVE YOU A DOLLAR, MISTER, IF YOU CAN TELL ME WHERE GOD AIN'T."

AMEN