Sooner or later, everyone asks the same questions. What happens when we die? What should Christians believe about Heaven, Hell, angels, judgment, and the end of the world? How should we speak about death when someone we love dies?
Our culture keeps answers on the shelf, and most of them are greeting cards. “Heaven needed another angel.” “They’re in a better place now.” “Just think of all the fishing he’ll get done.” Such words are kindly meant. But when death comes close, platitudes melt. What we need are promises — promises that do not require anything from us, but stand on the love of God.
The word eschatology comes from the Greek word “ἔσχατον” (eschaton), meaning “last things.” It is the part of Christian theology that deals with death, resurrection, Christ’s return, the Last Judgment, and everlasting life. These posts consider both the last things for you and me (the end of our time) and the last things for the world (the end of all things).
Yet the last things are not chiefly about events. They are about a Person. Christians do not wait for signs, timelines, or predictions. We wait for Jesus Christ, who died, rose again, reigns at the Father’s right hand, and has promised to come again. Every question about death, judgment, resurrection, and everlasting life is finally answered in Him.
We begin where everyone begins: death and dying. What is death? What happens when you die? Do the dead perceive us? And the question Christians quietly ask: if Christ has conquered death, why do Christians still die?
Then we consider the stretch between the end of your time and the end of time — where the believer waits, and what that waiting is like.
From there we turn to the signs of the times: what Jesus told us to watch for, and — just as important — what He never told us to predict. Earthquakes and wars, false christs and persecution, the Gospel carried to the ends of the earth.
Because Christians do not only die, but grieve and bury, we will spend time on grief, burial, and the Christian obituary — how we mourn without despairing, and how we write about our dead truthfully.
Finally, the end of days: the return of Christ, the resurrection of the body, the Last Judgment, and the life everlasting. Along the way we will clear away some tangled underbrush — the rapture charts, the tribulation timetables, the missing millennium — and ask what the Scriptures actually say.
These posts also consider the practical questions that arise when Christians face death and grief. At the grave, we do not have to guess, and we do not have to borrow the world’s words. We have better ones. “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Promises given because our Redeemer died for us — and because He rose, we shall rise as well.
Most importantly, these posts point us to the promises of Jesus Christ, who died, rose again, and will one day make all things new. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: http://whatdoesthismean.blog
The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana
©2026 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share, and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com.
