As we set the stage for our discussion, we must each wrestle with a question about the afterlife that most will dodge or flippantly answer with a nonsensical response, rather than taking necessary time to ponder and work out for themselves the mystery of what comes next after this life we are living.
We hope all who encounter the following question will ponder the weight it holds for the eternity it will yield. However, in order that our response is uniquely ours we must first attempt to separate our opinions from those presented to us by others, which come with their own biases and beliefs, as well as an educational system of indoctrination through a scientific viewpoint that has been used to dismiss that spirituality exists at all.
So, here is the question: Do you know what and who is waiting for you after you cease to exist in this life? I will say it again, so that it sinks in. Do you know what and who is waiting for you after you cease to exist in this life?
This question often receives absurd answers from naysayers who dismiss the “spiritual” and who rely on information provided by other individuals to sway their opinion, instead of contemplating the reality of life staring them in the face. We know through experience that life yields life and that death does not yield life, so we must consider how we came to exist if not from a creator who is alive. We also can observe the numerous intricacies within our earthly realm that are visible to the naked eye, which demonstrate creativity instead of imitation. This suggests not only imagination but also power and authority to speak something into existence. And we can observe the visible nature of man’s heart being split between two distinct categories of good and evil, which provides awareness and appreciation for what we have all heard–that there is a heaven and there is a hell, and therefore a God and a Satan, who stand in opposition.
The point here is for us to answer the question honestly and personally for ourselves, rather than echoing a response from someone else who fails to see or rejects the observable before them. Because the consequence of our response does matter, and the who and what that are waiting for us is most assuredly a reality, we must all contemplate the question for ourselves, if we desire not to be labeled a fool.
For those who are not already aware, there is a spiritual battlefield occurring around us in the spiritual realm in which we are living. Though this battle is often unseen by those unaware, there are hallmarks of this battle playing out in our own lives and the society in which we live, every second of every hour. These play out in the frustrations, arguments, divisions, factions, wars, murders, injustices, and general turmoil that humanity experiences, but also from greater levels of wickedness that are typically unspoken, including sexual immorality and lewdness of all kinds, ritual abuse, torture, sacrifice, spells, incantations, sorcery, and anything stemming from evil. But what often goes unnoticed with sin are the less obvious forms, such as faithlessness, pride, arrogance, slander, foul language, addictions of all sorts, and anything that becomes a preoccupation with ourselves thus becoming an idol to which we serve.
This is not a ‘human condition’ but a ‘spiritual depravity condition’ that we have allowed to occur through our agreements and participation with sin in various degrees and forms. Sin is the antithesis of who and what God is, and it is the central descriptor of all forms of evil that Satan and the demonic use in their schemes to torment, enslave, and misdirect humanity from Almighty God’s desire and plan. For this reason it is vital for us to become increasingly aware and knowledgable of the spiritual realm as much as we have been of the physical, and to acknowledge that we cannot escape the who and what that are waiting for us, even if we cannot find the answers to every question we might ask.
In this discussion we are raising awareness of Jesus’ teaching through parables and what we are to take away from them. Maybe you are already familiar with the following verses; however, often times these receive less attention from the pulpit as reminders for our Christian walk. And for this reason we will examine them and hopefully apply them with greater understanding into our lives as we navigate the path before us.
We will be studying from Matthew 13, where Jesus was teaching to a great crowd of people who had been following him as he traveled beside the sea. And if you care to know why he chose to speak in parables, instead of speaking plainly, you are not alone, as his disciples asked the same question of him.
Jesus’ responded, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophesy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “”You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Matthew 13:11-17, ESV,2001 Crossway).
What we should appreciate from this passage is that a distinction exists between those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, from those who do not, as well as those who will receive what is being offered from those who will not. And we are being told “that to the one that has, more will be given, while the one who has not, even it will be taken away.” This implies a personal responsibility to see, hear, and receive what is being offered and build upon it, instead of ignoring it and not engaging with it for further understanding and application in your life. It is this spiritual awareness and heart posture that will determine our future outcome based on our willingness and eagerness to respond when God seeks us out to offer a life in his family.
While we will not be discussing the question of predestination versus free will theology at this time, we must recognize that even though Jesus was crucified for everyone, not all will choose to receive him. And this is the talking point we will be discussing here.
Now that we have set the stage with the aforementioned, we will apply it against the parables that Jesus spoke of, and hopefully develop a deeper appreciation for the distinctions that play out as a consequence of our human response to Jesus’ seed being offered up to us.
Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32).
In this parable we learn that what is being offered to us is the kingdom of heaven, though it may appear as the smallest of what can be observed or acknowledged at first in our spiritual understanding, later becomes a blessing that overshadows everything else in our existence. This pertains to our faith to believe in something that we can barely observe and understand, but in time God will give more to those who already have received and persist in their faithfulness to walk with him.
Jesus says, “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty,and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:3-9).
Jesus explains this parable by saying, “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:18-23).
The key here is to recognize the spiritual battlefield for our souls, between God who loves us and Satan who hates us. And with each seed that is cast on the soil you and I possess, it will result in one of the outcomes from this parable in our spiritual lives, moving towards God or towards Satan. Each of us will bear one of the four soils (trampled path, rocky ground, sown among thorns, or good soil) when the seed is cast into our lives as described above, depending on our level of spiritual defilement from sinful agreements and participation that we have allowed into our lives and the spiritual voice we are listening to at that moment. However, regardless of our sinful patterns, what will ultimately determine our spiritual outcome is our willingness and eagerness to respond to the correction of the Holy Spirit when the seed is being offered to us, because we are all guilty of sin and in need of a Savior, who cleanses us of all our former sins.
Take time to reread these parables and begin to apply them to your life, and be willing and eager to correct the soil to allow the seed to sprout and develop into a tree, which will overshadow everything else that Satan uses against us.
Jesus provided another parable to help explain what he is offering in another way when he says, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matthew 13:24-30).
This parable is instructing our diligence to remain awake, observant, and biblically sound in our knowledge and understanding, so that those weeds that spring up in us and around us will be identified and not overtake us through our spiritual growth. Recall that the “thorns” or “weeds” are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches that choke the word, and proves the lives of those in which the seed landed to be unfruitful. This may happen in our family, community, society, our even our church. So, it becomes imperative to know scripture so that we can easily identify the work of our enemy, Satan, through the various attacks used against us. And lastly, that there will be a separation between those who received the seed from those who did not, as God expects those who received his seed to bear fruit, and this fruit will be used to plant more seeds in the lives of those we encounter by spreading his truth.
Our take away depends on whether we have eyes to see and ears to hear, and this is determined largely on what type of soil we are recognized as yielding, which is determined by the degree of faith we are exercising in the field that Jesus is planting, which is directly related to the spiritual battlefield playing out in this earthly realm, by spiritual forces of good and evil, by a God and a Satan, and for a future eternity in God’s kingdom or Satan’s hell. This is the reality we must all face, and it is imperative that each person consider the implications of the response to the question asked earlier: Do you know what and who is waiting for you after you cease to exist in this life?
In Christ.
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