Pastor's Pen: Is there life after death?

I should tell you that he was dying of cancer at the time. His opening words were: “I get confused when I look around at the world and I see so many people running around. Nobody is trying to find out what is the cause of death and what happens when you die. That is the only thing that is of any importance, the rest is secondary.”

Forgive me if this is a strange subject for the New Year, but I sense that it is of supreme importance to all of us today. As I visit my 91-year-old mother-in–law who is reaching the end of her life on earth, I see that it is vital for people to have answers to these questions.

As a Christian, I believe that God chose deliberately to send his Son Jesus into the world to be our Saviour. My late father-in-law Eric once said: “If God had to send his only Son into the world ultimately to die on a cross, then there must have been something seriously wrong with the world.”

The Bible tells us that it was because of the disobedience of humankind, which is called sin, that death came into the world. All our efforts to solve this issue fail as we see daily in the news broadcasts. The only solution is for people to surrender their lives to Jesus - it is as simple as A, B, C, D.

• Admit you are a sinner unable to help yourself.

• Believe that Jesus died on the cross for your salvation once for all.

• Consider the consequences of committing your life to Christ, remembering that from that time on he must be Lord of all of your life, in that you are from that time on accountable to him.

• Do something about it and by that I mean make the act of commitment in prayer and then tell someone else what you have done as a witness to this great event. Get connected to a church which can support and encourage you. From this time on you will know that there is life after death.