The Death of Old Lou, a Christian

So you are thinking about death. Well, let’s talk about it. But let’s not begin with the question, What will happen to “Lou” after he is dead? Starting there is really the wrong place to begin. Instead, let’s ask this question: Where did Lou begin?
Where did you, Lou, have your true beginning? After that, we will move forward to your birth, your salvation, death, and glory!
To put it another way, to really understand your future, we need to make a trip into the past. I invite you, then, to go back in time to your real beginning.
You see, if we began this inquiry at the point of your death, we would actually be starting in the middle of the story.
Lou, where did you have your true beginning? At the time of your birth? Surprisingly, no, much further back than that. Get ready for a surprise!

Take my hand, Lou, and let’s find that moment of your real beginning. That was so long ago. In fact, we will have to return to a point in time that predates the creation of Adam and even predates the creation of this realm.
Did you exist back before creation? If you were but a body and soul, the answer would be no. You would be a temporal being, one who had a beginning and, of course, an end.
But you are not just a body and soul (1 Thessalonians 5:23). You are part spirit. This means part of you came from some place other than this material realm. The physical belongs to the physical world, the spirit belongs to the spiritual world. Your spirit had its beginning in the spiritual realm.
Are you mostly a body? Are you mostly a soul? Or is it possible that you are mostly a spiritual being? It is unquestionable, Lou, the most important part of you is your spirit.
It is difficult, is it not, to think of yourself as having begun somewhere besides your old home town.
Part of you did begin those many years ago. That is when your body began. Your body is temporal, guaranteed not to last over about one hundred years!
(By the way, that may be the most exciting part of dying. You received a body many years ago which today is worn out. That tired old broken-down machine is wanting to quit. One day you will be rid of it, forever!)
What of your soul? Your soul began when your body did, but your soul, unlike your body, has no end. By definition, your soul is everlasting.
Everlasting means to have a definite beginning but no end. The soul of Lou, which began so many years ago back in your home town, is going to go on and on, forever. You will soon give up your body, but you will continue on as an everlasting soul.
Things are definitely looking up. You will get rid of a worn-out body, and you soul will be set free.
But let’s not stop there, because you are not primarily a body, neither are you primarily a soul. Nor is your true beginning back in your old home town. Of a certainty, your end is not in a cemetery.

Let us journey backward through time in search of your beginning. The best news of all awaits us somewhere back there.
We journey back to the creation of our world. But this is not far enough. We must now travel back to that place that is before creation.
We are on our way to a place that existed before angels. We are going back to a time so remote it even predates the existence of heaven. What could possibly have existed before creation?
There is only one thing which existed before creation, and that is God.
Come, Lou. We have arrived at our destination. We have come to a place where God is the everything! He is all that there is. There is nothing else except God. Before, creation, He is the ALL.
Now, Lou, if you will hold onto my hand, we will dare to step into God! Dare we? Yes. The Scripture assures us again and again that we are in Him!

As we move into the very being of our God, we find ourselves in a realm where there is no such thing as death, where there is nothing temporal. There is nothing created here. Everything is uncreated. Everything is God! We are in Life itself. Or should I say, “We are in Life Himself!” His Life goes on forever. . . in both directions. There never was when God was not. There never was when His Life was not.
We stand in the realm of billowing revelation, light beyond all light. In Him there is unhindered brightness. We stand engulfed in shafts of incandescent glory.
What are we doing here, in a place before creation, where God is all? And dare we say that you, Lou, had your beginning here?

Hold on tightly now. We are about to find the answer to that question for we are about to plunge into the very center of the being of God.

Look around. Remember, this, is before creation. What you see all around you is the very Life of God. We are surrounded by a Life much higher than human life could ever be.
It is in this mysterious place, in this mysterious age, that God was making plans to create. One of the things which He decided to create was you, Lou. He had already thought up the idea of giving you a body and a soul. But He had also made another decision. Long before your Lord ever began creating, He had decided He would one day take a portion of His very own Life - a part of His Life which you see surrounding you now - and place that Life... His Life... in you!
Understand, it was way back here when your God chose to put His eternal Life inside you. He made that decision here in this mysterious and distant age! He chose you before creation; He predestined that a portion of His being be placed in you.
LOU, THIS IS WHERE YOU BEGAN. IN HIM. It was here, in Him, that your Lord marked off a portion of His being to one day be placed in you!
Do you know what that means? It means the main part of you (the most important part of you) never had a beginning! Dear Lou, there is a part of you that always has been, is, and always shall be.
This is the place of your true origin!
Let me say that another way. It was way back here that God purposed you to become one of His children. Lou, the only way you (or I) can be our parents’ child is by having the life of our parents passed on to us. And so it came about, in the determination of God, He marked off a portion of His being to someday become one with you.
I will create the heavens. Then, on yet another day, I will create the earth. On still another day, Lou will be born. He is one whom I have chosen to be My own child. On a very special day, on the day of his redemption, I will take this particular portion of Myself and place it deep within Lou. This portion of My being will be the central essence of Lou. He will have within him, traits of My nature and of My Life. He will express a uniqueness of My divinity that no one else will. Lou will be unique among all My children. This portion of My Life, which I have purposed to be in Lou and to become part of Lou, will continue on... forever.., from everlasting to everlasting.
Would you like to see that very portion of His divine nature which He purposed to place in you?

Do you see that pulsating, vibrating, glowing, shimmering element of God? Have you ever seen anything so beautiful, so flawless, so unutterably perfect? That is you, Lou. That is the portion of God which He has - here in eternity past - marked off in Himself to be placed in you. You are looking at that portion of your Lord’s divine nature which is destined to be placed in you and to become part of you and one with you.
When will this wonder occur? At the time of your conversion. At that time the very Spirit and Life of God will become one with your spirit.
Behold, the real Lou! -
In the eyes of God, you, Lou, are an eternal being. You had a long, rich history living in the center of the very vortex of God Himself. A portion of you was in existence long before a little baby named Lou was born. Later, at the time of your salvation, this very portion of God’s divine nature indwelt you. And became one with you.
Reach out and touch that element, Lou. Never forget just how beautiful, how indescribably beautiful, how holy, how pure this element of God is. Nor will that change when it enters into you at the time of your conversion. The beauty, purity, holiness and perfection of that portion of God in you has not altered, and will not alter, throughout all your life as a Christian. Nor will there be any change in His Life on the day you die... or the day after. Never forget the purity, the perfection, and the glory you see here. And most of all, never forget that this portion of God - like all of God - can never die!

It is almost time for us to make our way back to space and time, to the physical creation, and to earth. Would it not be nice if we Christians spent more time back here in eternity past seeing how wonderful we are?
But just before we leave, there’s something else here you should see.
You have now stood in that place, in God, where you existed before the foundation of the world. There is something else here that has to do with you. It is another event that took place before the foundation of the world.
Before we view this hallowed event, may I ask you some questions? Have you ever wondered why God purposed to make you? What provoked Him to predestine you to receive His eternal Life? Why did He love Lou that much? Have you ever doubted His love for you? Especially on a bad day when you were doing everything wrong? Our sinfulness can raise serious doubts in our minds about His love, can it not? Did you ever ask yourself, “What is God ever going to do with a believer as poor as I am?” Well, if you have done this, Lou, you have wasted an awful lot of time worrying for nothing.
God chose you long before you were born. And long before you were born, He also took care of your sinful state. Can you grasp this? He took care of your sinful state before He created anything!
When did He do this? Well, that is what we are about to see. And remember, we are in a time before creation.
Take my hand again, Lou. Let us visit that place where He took care not only of sin, but death, too!
Do you see something up there ahead? Do you know what that is?
Come closer.
There!
That is the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the worlds. (Rev. 13:8)
What can I say to you about this holy and sacred event, this incredible act of love... except to point out that a marvelous thing happened back here in the eternals that was to later take care of all your needs.
Come, Lou, for now it is time to journey forward in time. We are about to come to that place and to that very day when you were born.

Do you recognize the young woman? That is your mother. She has been handed a very beautiful baby boy. She has just named the baby. Its name, of course, is Lou.
You might say that this is the day your body and soul had their start. (Keep in mind that the body is guaranteed to last no more than a hundred years! The soul is guaranteed to go on forever.) Note the sparkling personality this newborn has. Yes, that is your soul shining its delightful personality out through your body. But keep looking, for there is more to see. Look deep inside that lovely little baby and you will see your spirit - your very own personal, unique, human spirit.
Alas, Lou, your spirit is dead! Let me explain.
What is a newborn baby doing with something dead inside it? Your human spirit is dead because of the tragedy of the fall of Adam. Your ancestor, Adam, passed on to you (and to me, and to all the sons and daughters of Adam) a human spirit. But he also passed on to us - woven right into our DNA - the nature of sin.
When Adam was created, his spirit was very much alive. But his spirit died in the presence of sin. Since then, everyone who has ever come into this world has arrived with a stillborn spirit. You and I, and all of us, make our entrance into this realm with something dead inside us.
Well, we do not want to stop on this sad note, do we Lou? There is a much better day out there which awaits you. Do you know of what day I speak? I speak of the day you became a believer. That is the day your temporary body and your everlasting soul intersect with that wonderful eternal Life which God marked off in Himself before the foundation of the world.
Your God is by nature spirit, and His Son Jesus Christ - after His resurrection from the dead - became a Life-giving Spirit. This incredible Life of God (including that part of Him that was marked off for you and destined to become a part of you) is life-giving. Right now Lou has something dead in him that needs to have life given to it.
What would happen if Lou’s dead spirit came into contact with His life-giving Spirit? Let’s find out!

Do you recognize that building over there? It is a church. Do you remember what happened to you one day in this building? Let’s go inside.
See the young boy sitting at the end of the pew? The one next to the window? He is twelve years old. You had forgotten how handsome you were, had you not? Watch now, as that handsome young boy bows his head.
Quickly, look deep inside him.
His human spirit is still dead - just as dead as it was on the day he was born. But now turn around. Let us see what is happening in God!
A door in the heavenlies is opening. Do you recognize the scene? There is that portion of God that was marked off before the foundation of creation. That holy thing, so pure, so perfect - a portion of the very nature of God - is about to come inside the young boy.
That young boy - you, Lou - is about to make the most important decision of his life. He is going to confirm his need for a Savior, the need which others spoke for him at his infant baptism.
See! God’s Life is coming out of that heavenly door and is passing through your body and soul. His Life - His life-giving Spirit, His resurrecting Life - is heading straight toward your dead spirit!
Remember, Lou, you had your real beginning in God. Well, right now that very portion of God is about to become one with you, today.
What you are seeing is that mysterious event called “being born again”. Your spirit is inside your body and soul. His Life is about to touch your spirit. That young boy, in mystery beyond mystery, is about to receive the Lord... inside him... forever. That portion coming out of God’s nature contains all of God. (All of God is in every part of God.)
The greatest single event of your life is about to take place. Part of God, marked off in Him so long ago, just now touched your dead spirit!
See!
Incredible!
Your human spirit has been brought back to life by His Life! Part of you just rose from the dead! But that is not the end of this wonder. There is more. Keep looking at that young boy. Watch! God’s Life, His Spirit, is now becoming ONE with Lou’s spirit.
Your spirit has been made alive. Now your resurrected spirit is coming into oneness with the Life of God. From this moment, the two are inseparable. Your spirit and His Spirit have just become ONE.
We will leave this place now. But keep this in mind: There is a part of you that has been resurrected from the dead, and there is also a part of you that has come from out of God Himself. His eternal Spirit has never known death and will never know death.
Yes, a time will come when you will lay aside your body, but the most important part of you, your spirit made one with God’s Life and God’s Spirit - will never taste death.
One last thing before we depart.
If you will look very carefully inside that young boy, you will see a tiny seed deep within Lou’s spirit. That tiny seed constitutes one of the greatest mysteries and one of the greatest glories that will ever be revealed.
You will very definitely see that mysterious seed again! On a very special day.
But we will talk of that a little later. Right now, let us return to the present, and there let us consider the future.
What will happen in that moment when you breathe your last breath?
Actually, when Death comes he will have very little he can claim. He cannot claim your human spirit, for it has been resurrected from the dead. (And is one with God!) What else, then can he claim? Death cannot claim God’s Life in you, simply because God’s Life cannot die. Death cannot claim your soul, for it is immortal and redeemed - redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus.
What is there for Death to claim? He can claim only that which you are probably very willing, at this point, to let him have. He can claim that temporary body of yours.
He doesn’t get very much, does he?
Have you ever realized, Lou, just exactly what you are bequeathing to Death? He gets a worn-out body which tends to easily come under the influence of sin.
You leave to him nothing more than a weak body and all past remembrances of the fall. That is what Death gets. You might say that you, not Death, get the last laugh.
And even as you render up to him your body, at that very moment you receive the hope of glory!
I think, Lou, you know what takes place after that.
“To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
Your soul and your spirit (with the Life of God in your spirit), at that moment are set free.
Do you remember what we saw back there in church the morning you became a believer? God’s Life passed from the spiritual realm and came into you, there to become one with you. At the moment of death, the scene reverses itself. You pass out of the physical realm, back through that door, and once again enter into that spiritual realm where you began!
I have a notion the first face you will see as you pass through that door and enter the realm of the heavenlies will be that of a Man. You know Him as your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
You are going to meet a Man in the heavenlies. A physical, visible human being in a realm where everything else is invisible and spiritual.
How is that possible?
Your Lord has already received His glorified body - a body that can be seen with the human eye, yet a body that has all the properties of the spiritual realm. His physical body has become like unto His spirit. The body, the soul and the spirit of your Lord are so much one that the physical and spiritual elements cannot be separated.

Look well upon your Lord, Lou... and know... in that moment you will be like Him!
Having laid aside a worn-out body, but with a spirit that is alive and “back home”, you will be able to look upon the very face of God, in all His ultimate glory.
Exactly where does all this take place? Quite frankly, Lou, I do not know the name of the place. The Lord once said to the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Paul said, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Will you be in a place called paradise, which, I assume, is some glorious part of the heavenly realm? Or are paradise and heaven one and the same? I do not know. I can only tell you this. You will be with Him. Nothing else matters.
How long will you have to wait until the Lord returns to earth with the vast host of the redeemed and with the angels? Not long at all - not long for you, not long for Paul, not long for Abraham - for you will be living in a realm where there is no such thing as time.
And what will it be like when the Lord and Lou (and an innumerable host of angels and redeemed) return to this planet?
Let us see.

There will be at least one hundred million angels coming with you (Rev. 5:11). Add to that all of the redeemed who have “gone on before”. That should be quite a sight!
Imagine! You, standing in the heavenlies with that vast company, waiting for the door between our two realms to open!
Gabriel will blow his trumpet and the Lord will give a shout that will split the foundations of creation. With that, He will descend (with the redeemed and the angels beside) to claim His own who are still on earth.
As you near the earth, you will experience the other greatest moment you will ever live. Lou, do you recall seeing that little seed hidden so deep within your spirit? Well, that seed is going to burst forth from out of the depths of your spirit! Do you know what that little seed is? Why, it is the “hope of glory”! That little seed is your new, transfigured body!
You are going to receive a body that is like unto His - wholly physical, yet completely spiritual. Think if it! You will have a body and a soul that have become like unto your spirit.
At last, Lou, you will be complete.
In that moment, you will have received full salvation! You will be as flawless, perfect, pure and whole in your body and soul as you are right now in your spirit. You will be a completed son of the Living God.
As you approach this planet, you will see some incredible things happening down here on earth. The redeemed ones here on earth are going to see their decaying, sin-prone bodies change in the twinkling of an eye. Then they are all coming up to meet you!
That will be the most spectacular moment that has ever been or ever will be.
What then?

Lou, I would like to tell you that I understand everything I am about to say, but I do not.
First of all there will come forth a new earth to replace this old one.
Then comes the most exciting part... and the most mysterious: All who are redeemed are going to become one.
It appears, at least to me, that in our gathering together and becoming one, we shall find that we have, all together, become a girl - one glorious, beautiful, betrothed girl!
Who is this beautiful, flawless young woman?
She is the most beautiful woman who has ever lived. She will carry within her all the gifts of her Lord. She will combine all of the personal traits of the God who gave her His Life. All those portions of divine nature, which were placed in each one of the redeemed ones, will now join together and make one complete, glorious bride for the Lord.
Radiating out from the young woman, so pure and perfect, will flow forth the second greatest glory that will ever be known.
She is the glorious bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. And YOU, Lou, are a part of her! There you are... in her. Your unique qualities are an important part of her - a necessary part of her.
What takes place next is beyond all understanding and all telling. This lovely girl, more beautiful than anything that all words or poetry could ever describe, will then become ONE with her Lord!
At that indescribable moment, you will return to that place where you began. LOU, WE ARE ALL GOING BACK TO WHERE WE CAME FROM!
Then He who is the All will become the All in All. You will find yourself once more in the very center and vortex of God.

And you will be ONE with Him forever more.

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