Death, Then What?: The Promise of Home!

By Mike Friesz

Home! The word stirs our heart. At the end of our day, we long to get home to put our feet up, enjoy the family, have dinner, or just relax. Following a trip, our foot gets just a bit heavier and our heart beats a bit faster, longing for that reunion with those we love. Our spiritual lives include the same longing. We know that from the moment of our births, our days here are numbered. We increasingly long for and anticipate the world beyond this world that awaits us. Even while we wait for it, our minds are filled with questions. What comes next? How does it happen? What will life be like there? As a child, I remember thinking, Will there be baseball (and softball) in heaven? I was not convinced that heaven without ball would be great. I've heard the same kind of question from my son Josiah. The only change is that his question centered around football. While I'm not sure I can answer the baseball/football question, I was inspired by another truth from my son's lips. Eating fried chicken one day, he said, "Dad, if your fried chicken is this good, imagine how good fried chicken will be in heaven! It makes me hungry just thinking about home!" This book will seek to answer your questions about what comes next. There are mysteries that will remain even after our best efforts to understand. One thing I can answer here is that there will be a great wedding feast. On that table, I'm believing God for fried chicken. And it will be good. I'm ready for a piece of that chicken!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098014889

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Death, Then What?

The Promise of Home!

Dr. Mike Friesz

Copyright © 2019 by Dr. Mike Friesz

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

We Enter Immediately

What about the Rapture?

Sights of Home

At the Center of It All: Jesus

Sounds of Home

Life in Our New Home

Introduction

John MacArthur quoted the response of one of our early presidents, John Quincy Adams, when asked how he was. He replied, John Quincy Adams is well, sir, very well. The house in which he has been living is dilapidated and old, and he has received word from its maker that he must vacate soon. But John Quincy Adams is well, sir, very well.

President Adams understood the truth that death was imminent and was ready to face it. Throughout history, many have faced their end with courage and determination. Others face it with fear and trepidation. In the pages to come, it is my hope that you will find the answers from God’s word, enabling you to face your end with the same certainty that President Adams had. Armed with that certainty, you will not only be able to face your grief upon losing a loved one but help others do the same.

May I boldly make a prediction? I am certain there are people who will read this who have different opinions or thoughts. I welcome your feedback. I would introduce this work with an understanding that I operate from a strong belief that the Bible is our sole source of authority. Any teaching or doctrine contrary to the scripture should be immediately rejected. Any teaching not found in scripture must be interpreted by known truth. The Word of God shapes and informs all doctrine.

Bible references, except where indicated, are from the New International Version.

I wish to thank my wife, Teresa Friesz for the support you constantly give. The sacrifices of time necessary for a bi-vocational pastor to add author to my already full plate are greatly appreciated. You have allowed me the time needed to complete this work. Thank you for your encouragement.

Further, I thank my children. You have all been partners in the ministry through these years. I am so proud to see the way that Christ has worked in you.

Finally, I am so grateful for the support through the years offered by the churches I have had the privilege of serving. You have all contributed to the work of the kingdom and the development of this servant. Thank you for your encouragement to put these studies into print. Thank you for allowing me the privilege to shape the gifts of God and grow as a teacher and author.

Why This Book?

Death is the great equalizer. It comes for each of us. But it does not win. Death immediately ushers the believer into a fuller, higher realm of more abundant life, in the very presence of the Lord.

So why should we do this study? Five reasons present themselves.

We are dying. Paul said we are all outwardly wasting away (2 Cor. 4:16: Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day). We are dying, and that’s that! We must acknowledge even when while protesting death. Even as we cry out, death is gaining on us.

Life is short. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14). Sometimes, we get wrapped up in looking at our world. Life doesn’t seem like a mist that quickly vanishes. Life is inherently unfinished. It is fissured with breaks, ridden with struggle, riddled with loss.

We are asking. The early days of the church were filled with excitement as God moved and people were added to the church. Excitement turned to fear as the new believers were faced with increasing persecution. God used that time to scatter the early church throughout the Middle East. They survived the persecution as churches sprang up.

A greater problem began to happen. People got sick and then died. The early church was not yet prepared for dealing with death. Their belief in the resurrected Lord and hope for eternal life did not help them define the death of their loved ones. The book of Revelation had not been written. People were uncertain about what would happen. Into that driving question, Paul wrote, We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13, TJB).

We too have lost loved ones. We have had the questions. Paul writes words of comfort and reassurance. Throughout this book, I will reference this seminal passage often. We can give thanks that God has provided an answer for us. We need to study the scripture’s answers because we are asking.

We are groaning. The Scriptural word for groaning is more easily felt than defined. Most people have been around someone experiencing great pain or shock even if they haven’t had that emotion themselves. A groan is a sound arising from the depths of our souls.

Creation and our souls all groan for the completion of God’s redemption plan. Paul says in Romans 8:22–23, We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Creation groans, waiting for the sons of God—for you and for me—to be revealed, to come into the fullness of our inheritance, to be filled to the full with God’s Spirit. We join creation in groaning for redemption. We groan for heaven, waiting for it. What is this groaning except a longing for all that’s hidden and broken and scattered now to be gathered and mended and revealed? We groan for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

We are living in a tent and groaning for home. We groan for more. Reminiscent of President Adams’s house from our introduction Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:1–2, Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. Home is a place full of love, acceptance, comfort, and security. Our groaning arises from our homesickness.

We are looking.

We are like children waiting for someone to arrive after a long journey, our faces pressed against the window, peering outside