Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and Dr Raymond Moody Jr, two well-known psychiatrists, researched the cases of over five hundred people who came back to life after being pronounced dead by their doctors. The people in the study described either a place of beauty, wonder, joy, and peace, or they described something dreadful. And although their bodies were real, they reported floating outside them. After being confirmed ‘dead’, some who were blind were able to see. They talked about people who came into the room, what they looked like, and what they did while they were there. But when these people were brought back, the ones who were blind could no longer see.

In his book Life After Life, Dr Moody wrote: ‘A doctor told me of his experience in attending a man who had been pronounced clinically dead. He succeeded in resuscitating the man, who then sued the doctor for bringing him back into this miserable existence from the glory he had experienced. One woman, describing her situation after she had suffered a respiratory arrest, reports that the doctors trying to resuscitate her were pounding on her body trying to get her back while she was over them, looking down, and saying, “Leave me alone!”’

The apostle Paul explained why: ‘We know that our body – the tent we live in here on earth – will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a house for us. It will not be a house made by human hands; instead, it will be a home in heaven that will last forever. But now we groan in this tent. We want God to give us our heavenly home’ (v.1-2 NCV). When we believe in God, death isn’t the end. It’s just a new beginning.

What Now?

Thank God for new beginnings, both now on earth and for our future in heaven.