Where Are We Going? After Death

Death

Death is the act of our physical body leaving our spiritual body.  That separation may seem like the end of life for a lot of people.  But as Latter-Day Saints we know that death is only an obstacle that everyone must overcome.  This was not possible without the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Since Jesus Christ overcame death in the Spirit World, everyone is entitled to be resurrected.  That Is just a free gift that Heavenly Father has given to us. 


The Spirit World

Many of us know that we go somewhere after death. There are countless near-death experiences and other unexplained medical stories, and humanity has spoken about the topic as far back as we recall in human history. Religions of the world put forth theories, but we needn't look so far. The New Testament talks of many who see visions of a Heaven, who see angels praising God, and so forth.

We can see as far back as the Old Testament that mankind has known about life after death. King David spoke of the afterlife and not remaining in hell, and the writer of Ecclesiastes informs us that the 'returning to God' does in fact take place. From these alone we can gather that we go to a good place or a bad place, depending upon our choices in life. We also see that this is not final - that there is a further judgment.

Our biggest concern is what happens to us. Death is scary. But contrary to our fears, it's not the end.

 Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

 Moses 7:57 And as many of the spirits as were in prison came forth, and stood on the right hand of God; and the remainder were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day.

 Psalms 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.


Resurrection

After we die, we will someday get our bodies back. This was one of the purposes of coming to earth in the first place! How terrible it would be to lose it! Many of us fear death because of it's seeming finality. It is final as the end of our mortality, but it doesn't mean we'll be without a body ever again.

Just as the Lord Jesus Christ regained His body before ascending into Heaven, so shall we gain our bodies again, and be just as before. He proved to us that He was real, not only letting them feel the markings from being on the cross, but also showing them by eating as a resurrected being. (see Luke 24:42-43)

This is a promise bestowed upon all, both the just and the unjust. It is in this state that we shall see God, as said Job. It is at that point that we shall stand to be judged.

Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

 Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he alive again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.


Judgment Day

In the end, we will all have to stand to account for what we have done in life. If we have done good, then we will be blessed, and if we have done evil, then we won't.

There are many gifts which God wants to give us. The greatest gift, the highest of all He can give us, is Eternal Life, the greatest blessing that can be given - in which God is willing to give us all that He has.

The Lord offers His priesthood and eternal increase, having families that continue forever.
These blessings come from making and keeping sacred covenants by those who are authorized to act in His name. We make those covenants in His house - in temples, places that have been properly dedicated as houses of God.

Moses 1:39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

Abraham 2:11 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.

 Psalms 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

Why are we here? Mortality and the Gospel

Why we are here on this Earth is one of life's greatest questions. The answers are simple, yet unknown to most in this world. One can only know the answers if they seek for themselves. One need not despair, however - we can find them if we seek in the right place.

With the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can begin to find those answers.


Obedience

God gives us commandments so that we can live happy lives. If we choose to follow His commandments, we receive blessings and will feel greater peace and happiness. These commandments are given because God loves us, knows what is best for us, and wants us to return to live with Him someday. If we follow His will, He blesses us. If we are disobedient, we miss out on those blessings. Obedience to God’s will is the only way we can ever truly be happy.

Ex. 24:7 “All that the Lord hath said, we will do, and be obedient.”

1 Sam 15:22 “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Josh 24:15 “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”


Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

Faith is the first principle of the Gospel and without it we can’t be saved. Faith is believing in something we can’t see. It is confidence in the Lord’s promises and knowing that through our obedience we will be saved through His atoning sacrifice. As we show faith in Jesus Christ, we receive great blessings in our lives because the Lord knows that we are obedient to His will. Through acting on promptings from the Holy Spirit our faith in Christ is strengthened and our testimonies are strengthened.

Gen 15:5-6 “Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness.”

1 Sam 17:37 “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”

1 Sam 1:11 “O Lord of hosts, if thou wild indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me and not forget thine handmaid but wilt give unto the handmaid a man child, then I will give him into the Lord all the days of his life and there shall no razor come upon his head.”


Repentance

Have you ever felt that something you have done was wrong? The Greek word metanoia is translated into English as repentance. This word means a change of mind, i.e., a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. This includes forsaking your sin completely.  
This means you must truly feel bad for what you have done and never do it again. In Isaiah 1:16 it says “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;” Forsake our sins and progress.
(See also Leviticus 6:2-6, Joel 2: 16-17, and Mosiah 27:23-24).


Baptism

Before death, we have responsibilities that we must accomplish while we are living.  One of the responsibilities is to be baptized.  Along with being baptized, there are numerous promises that we make to God.  Each one of the promises gives us power as long as we keep our end of the promise.  For example, being baptized is a promise that we make to God.   The promise is that we may follow the commandments, remember Jesus Christ, and always follow him.  If we do those things then we will be granted the Gift of the Holy Spirit.  Obedience is the first law given under heaven, and we must always strive to be as exactly obedient as we can. 


The Atonement

Christ’s atonement is the single most important event in the history of the world. Jesus, as a perfect man and thus the only person capable to do this, overcame death and took upon Himself all the sins, sorrows, and pains of every individual that would ever live. This atonement was prophesied of from the beginning of time, and has been taught and shared all over the world ever since. Through Christ’s atoning sacrifice all mankind will be resurrected and may be forgiven for their sins and made perfect through obedience to His gospel.

Num. 21:8-9 “And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”
 
Lev. 16:22 “And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities…”
 
Gen. 22:8 “And Abraham said, My son, God shall provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering…”

 
Role of the Prophet

Thomas S. Monson - A modern prophet

The role of a prophet is to give direction to all the people  of the earth. In Deuteronomy 18:18-20 it says “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren… and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.”  It is the prophet’s duty to try and keep progressing torwards heaven.
(See also Exodus 4:11-13  and Genesis 20:7)


Prophecies about Christ's Coming

The Coming of Jesus Christ was foretold by many prophets because of  his great importance. He fulfilled the Law of Moses, Atoned for all our sins, and saved us all. We learn about his birth in Isaiah 7:14 it states “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel in Hebrew means God is with us. This is a very specific prophesy that tells us Jesus’s name and also his birth origin. (See also In Isaiah 9:6-7)

We also learn about his death in Psalms 22:16-18. It says “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have in closed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”   
(See also Isaiah 50:5-9)


Conclusion

For those that honestly seek, the answers to one's life purpose will always come.
We do know the reasons that apply to all of us - we're here to learn and to grow, and to be tested, to see if we'll do what's right. In the end, all that will matter after this life is what we did with our lives here - whether or not we tried to do the right thing, and whether we treated others the way the Lord wanted us to.

Where did we come from?

The Creation

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) The Old Testament describes six days or creation periods in which God created the earth. On the sixth day he created man and placed him on the earth. “And God saw every thing that he made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” (Genesis 2:2)

Every thing that God creates has a purpose and a plan. For instance, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah said, “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45: 18)

God is our Heavenly Father. He is the father of our spirits. We are His spirit children and we are created to look just like he does with a body of flesh and bones. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female create he them.” (Genesis 1:26-27)


Agency and the Fall

God placed Adam and Eve on the earth in the Garden of Eden. They were in a state of innocence.They were given two very important commandments while in the garden. The first commandment they were given was to have children. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

God also commands that, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”(Genesis 2:16-17)

Satan sought to cripple God’s plan for His children to send them all to the earth to get bodies and sought to trick Adam and Eve in order to do that. He tempted Eve to partake of the fruit.

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

Eve was able to see the wisdom of having her eyes opened. Partaking of this fruit would bless her with the agency, or ability, to make decisions and act for herself. I would expand her ability to understand and learn about the things around her. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (Genesis 3:6-7)

The crossroads of Agency

Partaking of the fruit was an act of disobedience and Adam and Eve were now in a lost and fallen state. They could no longer be in the presence of the Lord. “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” (Genesis 3:22-23)

Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. They became subject to pain, hunger, hard work and suffering but with that pain and suffering come good as well. They were also able to love, learn, find joy in each other and their children and feel the happiness that comes with being a family.

We are like Adam and Eve. We are in a fallen state as well, inherited from those first mortal parents. The agency that comes with our fallen state is a blessing from God. He does not obligate anyone to do exactly as he says. We are free to choose what we want to do with our lives. We must still suffer the consequences of our actions. But our actions are ours to choose. “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24: 15)

It was not bad nor evil what Adam and Eve choose to do. If they had not partaken of the fruit they would still be just the two of them in the garden and we would be watching from heaven waiting for our turn to come to the earth to receive a mortal body and experience. As Isaiah said, the earth was created to be inhabited by God’s children. It is part of his plan that we be here. But the obstacle still remains that we are in a lost and fallen state unable to return to the presence of God.