Eternal Life for the Soul
Have you ever doubted the possibility of life after death? I know I have. I believe in the resurrection of the body, which is something that the Bible speaks to, but I’ve also been at a graveside. I’ve seen an open casket. I’ve seen the lifeless bodies of people I care about, and I’ve wondered, Is this body going to rise again? Is there eternal life for this soul?
We may have the same doubt about our own immortality. What’s going to happen to me when I die? What’s going to happen to you?
This is one of the reasons I love the story of Thomas in the Bible. In John 20, we have what some call the story of doubting Thomas. I like to call it the story of believing Thomas because he had a lot of doubts, but eventually, he came to believe, which I think is the really important thing.
When Jesus came back from the dead, after his third-day resurrection (as the Bible describes it), Jesus appeared to his disciples. But for a reason we are never told, Thomas wasn’t there. And when his friends told him about it, he said, “I am just really not going to believe in life after death unless I can examine the physical body of Jesus for myself. Are you telling me he still had holes in his hands from the nails? Unless I can touch those holes, I’m not going to believe in the resurrection of the body.”
I Have My Doubts
Philip Graham Ryken
This book examines 10 Bible stories that address faith and doubt, reassuring readers that doubt is normal for Christians and that God can use times of uncertainty to renew their faith.
That was Thomas’ view, and I don’t blame him for that. We all have skeptical doubts and questions, but sometimes we just want to have the evidence for ourselves. And Thomas wasn’t willing to take it on somebody else’s testimony. He wanted to investigate this for himself.
And I encourage you, if you’ve got questions about immortality and about life after death, investigate it for yourself, particularly with reference to the word of God, and see what you might discover. Eventually, Thomas did meet Jesus. Jesus appeared to his disciples again, and Thomas was there. Jesus held out his hands and told Thomas, “Stop doubting. Believe. Believe in the resurrection of the body. Believe in the resurrection of my body and also the resurrection life that I want to give to the world.”
And you know what Thomas said when he saw the risen Lord Jesus Christ and he was able to see those nail prints and maybe even touched them? He said, “My Lord and my God!” It was enough for him to meet Jesus Christ. All doubts were settled from his mind.
We’re blessed because we know that this life is not the end.
Jesus said something encouraging. When Thomas had all these doubts, Jesus didn’t say, “I’m done with you because you have all these doubts.” He came to Thomas, he held out his hands, he held out his arms, and he said, “Come to me. I want you to believe in me.” And he has the same offer of grace for us.
But he also promises a blessing. The Gospel of John chapter 20 also said, “You believed, Thomas, because you saw. Blessed are the people who do not see and yet believe.”
In other words, we’re blessed if we believe the testimony of the Bible and believe in the resurrection life in Jesus Christ. We’re blessed because we’ll have the forgiveness of our sins. We’re blessed because we know that this life is not the end. We have a holy eternity of joy with God to look forward to. I invite you to do what Thomas did, and that is to investigate the evidence for yourself, but then come to the point of faith and say to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
Philip Ryken is the author of I Have My Doubts: How God Can Use Your Uncertainty to Reawaken Your Faith.
Philip Graham Ryken (DPhil, University of Oxford) is the eighth president of Wheaton College. He preached at Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1995 until his appointment at Wheaton in 2010. Ryken has published more than fifty books, including When Trouble Comes and expository commentaries on Exodus, Ecclesiastes, and Jeremiah. He serves as a board member for the Gospel Coalition and the Lausanne Movement.
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