Do you know the name of your great-great-grandfather? What about his father?
Most of us do not know. That is normal. They had names. They had families. They had friends. People loved them. But many years later, we have forgotten them.
One day, the same thing will happen to us. Someone will sit in your chair at church. They will not know your name. They will not know anything about you.
So here is a big question. Who will remember us when we die?
People are afraid of being forgotten
In America, there is a children’s movie called Coco. My family loves it. In the movie, people who die go to a place called the Land of the Dead. They can stay there only as long as someone on earth remembers them. When the last person forgets them, they fade away forever.
It is only a story. But it shows a real fear. People are afraid of being forgotten.
In many places, families keep photos of loved ones who have died. They tell their stories. They visit their graves. We hold on to memories because we cannot hold on to the people.
What we really want
I think we want more than to be remembered. Deep down, we want to live forever.
That is not an accident. God made every person with a soul that will never die. But we all have a big problem. The Bible calls it sin. Sin is every wrong thing we think, say, and do.
Because of sin, each of us must answer a question. When I die, where will my soul go? Will I go to the land of the living, or to the land of the dead?
A king who could not buy more time
The Bible tells about a king named Hezekiah. He was rich and powerful. One day a prophet told him, “You are going to die.”
Hezekiah was very sad. He said:
I said, I shall not see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living;
Isaiah 38:11 (ESV)
He meant, “I will never see God’s goodness in this life again.”
He was a king. He had money and power. But he could not buy even one more day.
He prayed, and God gave him fifteen more years. But in the end, Hezekiah still died. More time is not the same as true life.
Not just remembered. Alive!
Here is the big idea of this series:
Jesus was cut off from the land of the living, so that we can walk in it and invite the whole world to join us.
Jesus did not come just to help people remember you. He came to make you alive.
The Bible says that without Jesus, we are dead because of our sins. But God did something about it:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV)
This means God loves us very much. We were dead because of sin. But God gave us new life through Jesus.
For the next six weeks, we will learn how God did this. We will learn how to live as people who are truly alive.
You do not have to wait. You can come to Jesus today. Our free Your New Life lessons will help you start. If you have decided to follow Jesus, please tell us. We want to celebrate with you!
The Land of the Living is a seven-part series from a message Andrew Castner preached at Harvest New Beginnings Church in Oswego, Illinois, USA. A new part comes out every Monday.