Beliefs about the Afterlife (xxvi)

"The hope of the righteous is gladness, 

But the expectation of the wicked perishes." 

(Prov. 10: 28)

As we near the completion of this series on the afterlife, what better climax than to speak of the Christian's hope in regard to the afterlife and to salvation from death? We have looked at what was the hope and expectation of several ancient peoples, such as the Egyptians and Greeks. We have also focused on what the ancient Hebrews believed about the afterlife as revealed in the old testament scriptures. We have also studied what both old and new testaments say about both the "intermediate state" of disembodied spirits as well as of the final embodied eternal state of both the righteous and the wicked. We have seen that saved people, since the death and resurrection of Christ, go to Heaven (or Paradise) and that unsaved people go to that side of Hades where there is torment. 

It seems to be the case that there are people who go to Heaven when they die and who expect to go there. It is also likely that some go to Heaven who are surprised when they entered Heaven. Likewise, it is probable that some go to Hell who are not surprised, who expected to go there. Likewise there are some who wake up in Hell and are indeed surprised. Hell is full of many people who expected to go to Heaven (or to the place where good people go). Many people expect to have no afterlife existence and so they are surprised to learn differently. Further, every religion on earth offers knowledge and salvation in the afterlife via their various religious prescriptions. 

The Hope of the Righteous

In the text Solomon speaks of "the hope of the righteous" being one of gladness, of hoping and expecting eternal life and happiness in Paradise in the next world. He contrasts the hope and expectation of the righteous with the hope and expectation of the wicked. The hope of the wicked "perishes," or comes to nothing, or is not realized. In another Proverb he reiterates, saying "When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of strong men perishes." (Prov. 11: 7) All hope for life on earth ends; So also all hope for pleasure in the afterlife. Job speaks similarly: "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, Though he may gain much, If God takes away his life? Will God hear his cry When trouble comes upon him?" (Job 27: 8-9 nkjv) There is no hope for Paradise in the afterlife for the hypocrite, nor for the wicked God rejecting sinner. It was fear of dying as a wicked unforgiven sinner that led Baalim the false prophet to exclaim: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" (Numb. 23: 10) Sadly and tragically, however, many die clinging to vain hopes about good in the afterlife, such as in

1) hoping that there is no judgment nor punishment of hell and that soul annihilation is true 

2) hoping that if there is a judgment to decide eternal fate, that one's good works will earn Heaven 

3) hoping that the punishment of the afterlife is temporary and remedial and not eternal 

4) hoping that one's religion grants pardon and eternal reward

This last group of people, as we saw in an earlier chapter, are described in Isaiah 28. 

"Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves...And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it." (vss. 15, 18)

These people were sure that they had clear sailing to Paradise after death because of their religious charms and participation in particular rites and ceremonies. Christians, however, believe that only through faith in Christ and in his redemptive work will anyone inherit eternal life and live in Paradise. To trust in any other god or in false religion, according to the bible, is to seal one's doom. The doom of all false religionists is well described in the above verses. They are surprised to suffer Hell (either when they go to Hell or when Hell comes to them). Why? Because they were convinced that their false religion, their "lies" and "falsehood" (concerning God and their relationship to him) safeguarded them from suffering Hell in the afterlife, and because they had taken mental "refuge" in their religious and philosophical errors, and because they had "hid" themselves (as for protection, as the witches do in their pentagram circles) in their false ideas about God and salvation. Isaiah speaks along the same lines when he quotes the oracle of LORD God. 

“Now I will rise,” says the LORD; “Now I will be exalted, Now I will lift Myself up. You shall conceive chaff, You shall bring forth stubble; Your breath, as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be like the burnings of lime; Like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire. Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done; And you who are near, acknowledge My might.” The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized ('surprised' kjv) the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” (Isa. 33: 10-14 nkjv)

Fearfulness in the nth degree will seize and surprise those who, like Dives, "lift up their eyes in torment" in the flames of either Hades or Gehenna, a place where they condemned are ever burning in the fires of perdition. Every heretic is shocked and stunned in the afterlife when he or she opens his or her eyes in Hell. Every cult member too will be surprised. Jesus speaks of this kind of surprise when he said:

"On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'" (Matthew 7:21-23)

The tenor and tone of the words "Lord, Lord" seem to be the speech and plea of one who is surprised, bewildered, excited, agitated, desperate, and gripped by terror. These people are truly surprised when they realize that they are not allowed entry into the kingdom of God and Paradise. Like the verses cited above, their "hope and expectation" for the afterlife is destroyed. It is not what they had anticipated.

We have already looked at several bible passages that affirm that the righteous (justified) go to Paradise when they die and have seen that since the resurrection of Christ all believers go to Heaven to be with Christ when they die. So we noticed how Christ said to the penitent believing thief who was crucified with Christ "amen I say unto you today you will be with me in Paradise." We also noticed Paul's words in II Cor. 5: 8 where he said "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." We also referred to the death of Stephen, who saw Christ standing on the right hand of God as he was being stoned to death, and Stephen saying "Lord Jesus receive my spirit." (Acts 7: 59) We also saw that Lazarus the handicapped beggar "died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom." (Luke 16: 22) This is the firm hope and expectation of saved people, of Christians. What a contrast with the vain false hopes of all other faiths and beliefs! Yes, let us "die the death of the righteous" and let our "last end be like his!" There is simply no comparison between the hope and expectation of Christians versus those who are not Christian. The apostle Paul expresses the hope and expectation of believers in Christ Jesus the Lord.

"For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you." (Phil. 1: 23-24)

These words remind us of that text we cited in earlier chapters where the Psalmist says - "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psa. 116: 15) 

Recall that we in previous chapters referred to Paul's words to Timothy: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." (II Tim. 4: 6)

This verse we looked at in a previous chapter and spoke of how death is a "departure," and noted how in this verse the word "departure" is from the Greek word "analysis" and carries the idea of being loosed from one's connection or moorings to this world and this life. It means to break things apart and death is the breaking apart of body and spirit (as we have also noted previously and noticed how James said that the body without the spirit is dead and how death is viewed as the spirit departing from the body). 

Paul describes the place he is going after his departure as going to be with Christ. To him and to the true believer in Jesus, this is Heaven. To be with Christ is Heaven. To be where the king is, is to be in the kingdom. When Stephen was dying as a martyr for Christ he was excited no doubt to see Christ and say "Lord Jesus receive my spirit." Christ is in Paradise, in Heaven, and seated on the right hand of God the Father. To go to be with him is to go to Paradise or Heaven. 

Hope + Expectation + Anticipation

The Greek NT word for "hope" is generally "elpis" and means, according to Strong, "to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation (abstractly or concretely) or confidence:—faith, hope."

Vines NT Words says:

"Hope (Noun and Verb), Hope (For): in the NT, "favorable and confident expectation" (contrast the Sept. in Isa 28:19, "an evil hope"). It has to do with the unseen and the future, Rom 8:24, 25...describes (a) the happy anticipation of good (the most frequent significance), e.g., Tts 1:2; 1Pe 1:21; (b) the ground upon which "hope" is based, Act 16:19; Col 1:27, "Christ in you the hope of glory;" (c) the object upon which the "hope" is fixed, e.g., 1Ti 1:1. Various phrases are used with the word "hope," in Paul's Epistles and speeches:"

The believer's hope is therefore not to be thought of as a mere fanciful "wish," one that has little likelihood of coming true. Further, the superiority of the hope and expectation of Christians is because, as the heading above says, it is based upon the word of God, and the teachings of Christ and his apostles. Further, the Christian's hope should always be thought of as necessarily including "expectation" and "anticipation." Also, hope cannot be divorced from faith. Though they may be distinguished, yet they cannot be separated. Notice these words of the apostle:

"For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation (apokaradokia) and my hope (elpis), that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death." (Phil. 1: 19-20)

The word apokaradokia is defined as: "a compound of κάρα kára (the head) and (in the sense of watching); intense anticipation:—earnest expectation." (Strong)

We may say that the new testament describes believers in Jesus and the gospel as they who have hope for the future, both for this life and for the life to come. This hope is for the second coming of Christ and for the new heavens and earth, yea, for eternal life, and may be described as "intense anticipation" and "earnest expectation." It is also described as "eagerly waiting." (Rom. 8: 19, 23; I Cor. 1: 7; Phil. 3: 20) In several of these passages the Greek word is apokaradokia, or apekdechomenoi, and they carry the ideas of hope, expectation, and eager anticipation. In Romans 8: 25 Paul says - "if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." (nkjv) The believer waits with excitement, like waiting for something that is pleasurable and rewarding. Paul also said - "we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith" (Gal. 5: 5); And, "To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." (Heb. 9: 28) 

All three of these passages speak of "eagerly waiting." (in nkjv) Further, the latter passage speaks of waiting for Christ to reappear, and not waiting for bliss. Christ has the preeminence. So Paul wanted to depart and be with Christ. That is first and foremost. Being with angels and saints, and enjoying bliss and pleasures, those things are looked for only as we look for Christ, being what we might call by products of being with Christ. He is the treasure. And, in the second passage we see Paul connect "faith" with the hope and with the eager waiting, saying we "eagerly wait for the hope by faith." Not only do they wait with eagerness, but they are described as "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation." (Rom. 12: 12) Happy in waiting! Like a father waiting for his first child to be born from the labor pains of his wife. Or, like a person in line to see some important person or to ride an amusement ride. Etc. To the Hebrews he also spoke of "the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope" and of the "full assurance of hope" (Heb. 3: 6; 6: 11). A Christians expects and joyously anticipates obtaining victory over death, of living forever in joy and bliss. So Paul also says: "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." (Titus 1: 2) You can "count on" God to do what he says. So, if you know that you are a believer, and if you believe God's word is true, then you have little or no doubt that all will be well with you in the afterlife and for eternity.

The Christian's hope and expectation is also described in these words of the apostle Paul, who said that God  "hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace" (II Thess. 2: 16). The hope of unjust men, of all false religionists, is alluded to when Paul advises Christians to "sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." (I Thess. 4: 13)

In the next chapter we will look at the question of rewards in Heaven, and of degrees of glory and happiness therein, along with other questions pertaining to the afterlife and of life in eternity for the righteous.