More about Jesus the Answer. He has the answers to the problems of death and sin.

Jesus the Answer (Part 2)

2 Do I have a soul, will I survive death, and where will I go?

When something is going to happen to you that frightens or worries you, its great to have a friend who has already been through it. That person can answer a lot of questions for you and help you through the process. Jesus has died, risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven.

Do I have a soul? Jesus assures us that each of us has a soul, and it is unimaginably precious. "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul. Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mtt 16:26).

Will I survive death? Jesus survived death. And he promises anyone who believes in him that they shall do the same. He said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even if he dies" (Jhn 11:25).

Where will I go after death? Jesus told the thief on the cross, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise" (Lke 23:43).

The world into which the dead go is not paradise for everybody who goes there. Jesus made that plain when he told the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man found himself in agony after he died, but Lazarus was comforted (Lke 16:219-31).

That world of the dead is only temporary. Jesus tells us that "an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear voice, and shall come forth, those who did the good to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil to a resurrection of judgment" (Jhn 5:28-29).

When that resurrection happens, Jesus will send the latter into "the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels" (Mtt 25:41).

That place of eternal punishment was not meant for human beings however. Jesus says to believers, "I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and take you to myself that where I am there you may be also" (John 14:1-3).

3 Have I sinned, what is the punishment, and what must I do about it?

Once we know there is a God, what he is like and what he wants, we realise that we may not be right with him. When we also know what happens to our soul after death, we realise we need to get things straight with God right now while we are still alive.

Have I sinned? Jesus made it clear in his parable of the Pharisee and the tax gatherer, that we all should recognise sin in ourselves. He tells us to humble ourselves and say, like the tax gatherer, "God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Lke 18:9-14).

What is the punishment? Jesus warns us to "fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell" (Mtt 10:28).

We have already noted his description of hell: "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Mtt 25:41).

Jesus, however, has made a way of escape for us from this punishment. "I am the good Shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep" (Jhn 10:14-15).

Jesus was punished and crucified as a criminal although he had done no wrong. In fact he had lived a perfectly righteous life. So God accepted his death as a sacrifice for us in order that we could have forgiveness of our sins.

What must I do? Jesus makes plain the steps we must take...