The topic of death can sure "kill" a conversation fast—it can even make people squirm while sitting though a sermon as well. Well, I squirmed some on Tuesday when I logged onto deathclock.com. The site’s tagline is, "The Internet’s friendly reminder that life is slipping away." Like we need a reminder!

My scheduled day is April 24, 2030, according to deathclock.com. Okay, I don’t put any credence in the accuracy or validity of a death clock, but the fact of the matter is that most of us don’t want to be reminded that our lives are slipping away. We are afraid to die, so we ignore it, mask it over, and call it anything but "death." We say, "He’s in a better place. Her candle went out. He passed away. She’s moved on. He’s no longer with us." We’ll go to extremes to cheat the inevitable and escape our expiration date.

By doing so, we don’t take the time to consider what happens the moment we breathe our last breath on earth. I’m convinced that you’re not ready to die until you’ve come to grips with what follows death. So let’s take a few minutes considering three perspectives on death and the afterlife: the downside, the inside, and the upside.

The downside perspective is simply—"I live and I die." Death means extinction or annihilation. There’s no need for an afterlife. I’m done. It’s over. I no longer exist. The downside perspective leads to despair.

A second perspective on death is the inside view. Something inside of us tells us that there must be something eternal going on after death, but we just don’t know what it is. You look at nature and how an acorn falls off a tree and dies and then later becomes an oak tree. Even physics and the laws of thermodynamics suggest that stuff changes at death, but it’s not annihilated. Philosophy tells us there’s an innate concern for justice and ethics within us where we expect some kind of cosmic judge to one day settle all the accounts.

King Solomon of the Old Testament sensed an eternal perspective within him. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 he says, God has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

Think about it. If life ends at the grave, then life has no lasting meaning, morality has no standard, and ethics has no absolutes. It just seems that something inside us is saying that there is something beyond us. When we look at death from the inside perspective, it leaves us confused with questions and few answers—a hunch, but no hope.

A third way to look at death and the afterlife is the upside perspective or God’s perspective. Let me summarize in very basic terms God’s three-part postmortem agenda. After death there is:

At death, our physical/material bodies die and decay, but our souls are transported to an eternal existence in the spiritual realm. When our eyes close in death, they open in eternity—no time delay or jet lag. According to the Bible, we are fully alive and conscious after death, though our physical bodies are dead.

Remember the conversation that Jesus had with the thief on the cross as they both neared their deaths? Jesus promised the thief, in Luke 23:43, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."

What this means for the Christ follower is an instantaneous trip into the presence of Christ in heaven. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:8, Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.

At death the Christ follower remains with Christ in a conscious state of blessedness or bliss.

What does this mean for the person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus through faith in Him as their Savior? They, too, will live on after physical death, but they won’t be at home with Christ, but in a fully conscious state of woe and separation from God.

At some point, the Bible tells us there will be a resurrection of everyone’s physical bodies so that they can be reunited with their souls. The resurrected believer in Jesus will be raised to honor and receive a new glorified body. The unbeliever will be raised to dishonor. Acts 24:15 says, I have hope in God, just as these men do, that he will raise both the righteous and the ungodly.

Hebrews 9:27 says, And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment. We live once. We die once. And after that comes the judgment of God. We all have a standing appointment with God where we will give an account of our lives. What will be the benchmark by which we are judged in the cosmic courtroom with the Almighty?

The biggest point of spiritual confusion in history surrounds what this benchmark is. The common view in the courtroom is that God will lower the standard for getting into heaven. His love, grace, and mercy will win the day over his justice and holiness and allow basically good people into heaven. So if you keep your nose clean, pay your taxes and dues at church, get confirmed and baptized, live the golden rule, a good God won’t send a decent person like you to hell.

Unfortunately, none of these things will be the deciding factor in this cosmic courtroom. The standard by which God will judge our lives is his perfection or holiness, which means we are in deep trouble. The Bible says we all fall short of God’s glorious ideal.

Heaven is described in the Bible as a community of forgiven people, freed up from the ravages of their sin, experiencing the presence of God in all His glory. Revelation 21:3-5 says, "…God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain..."

It will be a place of ultimate joy and eternal pleasure with God.

The other choice is to suffer separation from God in hell. The Bible describes hell as a place of physical, spiritual, relational, and emotional suffering. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 describes hell as a place of physical and spiritual suffering, They will be punished with everlasting destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power… The thought of everlasting destruction and being absolutely shut out from the presence of God is very sobering.

Jesus, in Matthew 8, describes hell as a place of relational suffering—a place of outer darkness. It won’t be happy hour 24 hours a day. It will be a place of isolation and solitary confinement. C.S. Lewis said, "Hell is nothing but yourself for eternity." Jesus also describes hell as a place of emotional suffering or eternal sadness where there will be the "weeping and gnashing of teeth." We gnash or grit our teeth over a wrong decision we’ve made. In hell, people will experience eternal remorse over their rejection of Jesus.

I’d like to close with two implications. The first implication is for those of you who are unbelievers, who haven’t crossed the line of faith yet. I plead with you to drop the knee, admit your sinfulness, and trust Jesus as your Savior. You’re cruising toward a Christless grave and eternity. He wants to redirect your life and eternity. There’s no second chance. It’s forever. Your death clock is ticking.