OPINION:
Christmas has always signaled hope for humanity, even in the darkest days. Christmas reminds us that God is with us and loves each person enough to enter our messy, broken world and guide us safely home.
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Today, thousands of near-death experiences (NDEs) from every continent and religious background offer new insight into God’s reality and the hope of a life to come. Their stories vividly illustrate the hope of Christmas.
I first discovered this revolutionary hope more than 30 years ago. I was an agnostic and my father was dying from cancer. While in his hospital room, I picked up a book and began reading one of the earliest reports of eyewitness NDE accounts. I was overwhelmed by their stories and couldn’t help asking myself, “Could this be real evidence — even possible proof — of God’s existence?”
Today, I’m a Christian pastor of 25 years and I have researched thousands of NDE stories. I left my career in engineering to become a pastor largely because I wanted to help people discover the same hope I had found. I’ve spoken to audiences across 30 countries because I believe God is giving our global village evidence of His reality as well as His relentless and unconditional love for every single person on the planet.
I’ve researched stories from across every continent of people who have clinically died, been resuscitated, and claim to have been more alive than ever in the presence of a loving God they never wanted to leave. These accounts span ethnicities, faith backgrounds, and professions — including doctors, engineers, and CEOs — all describing the same God of love and light. These characteristics match the God revealed throughout history in scripture, and these thrilling NDE encounters vividly demonstrate that God’s love is closer than we imagined possible.
NDE accounts of God’s love and nearness shed light on the biblical Christmas narrative, making it even more compelling. These thrilling encounters serve as modern illustrations and validation for the hope of Christmas. The God described by NDErs around the globe is the same God revealed in scripture – the God of love and light, compassion and forgiveness, and the source of all joy.
God is Light and Love
NDErs across all continents report encountering a God of Light, beautiful and mesmerizing. And the love they feel from God is beyond earthly words.
Anesthesiologist, Dr. Rajiv Parti, grew up in India. He thought NDEs were hallucinations until he had his own. Two angels took him to a place of exquisite beauty where he said: “I was in the presence of a Light Being. It was like 1,000 suns at the same time … It began gently whispering in my ear. And as the words started, pure love — I don’t know what else to call it — pervaded everything. The Being clearly understood all, especially that none of us is perfect. In retrospect, I think the Being of Light might have been Jesus.”
Why would a Hindu anesthesiologist think this God of light was Jesus?
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).
And amazingly, NDEs around the globe are confirming what God did through Jesus for all nations.
God told Abraham, “All the families on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3).
And scripture foretold how this blessing would come: “[Galilee] will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light…For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:1-2, 6).
The God of light and love foretold in scripture – and reported by NDErs globally – entered our world at Christmas.
God is Compassionate and Forgiving
When NDErs experience a life review in the presence of God, they see all their good and bad in unvarnished truth. Yet to their surprise, God does not condemn them but loves them, offering to forgive them if they see their need.
Swidiq, the son of a Muslim sheik, grew up in Rwanda during the genocide. When he died and had an NDE, he found himself in a hellish place. Into this darkness came a man of light, bright like the sun.
“He lifted his hands slightly, with palms up, revealing holes in each hand…He spoke, clear and firm, ‘I died for mankind. And you are among those I died for. Do not deny it again. You must tell others,’” Swidiq said.
Swidiq reminds me of Simeon who, at the first Christmas, saw the baby Jesus and proclaimed, “I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations” (Luke 2:30-32).
God is Joy
Heidi’s family was Jewish, but her atheist father chanted a mantra to her daily, “There is no God. When you die, you cease to exist. Jesus Christ was the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind.”
Despite this, Heidi prayed to God every night and felt God near her, comforting her through the abuses of her childhood. At 16, when Heidi’s horse reared back and landed on her, she found herself up in the air looking down on the accident. A brilliant light shone from behind her.
“I turned to look, and I saw a man floating there with me…I recognized Him immediately. How could I not? This was the man, God, who had been at my bedside every single night…There was no doubt in my mind, not one. This man was, without question, Jesus, or Yeshua,” she recalled. “His was the name I’d never been allowed to utter in my home…What a joyous occasion! He grinned at me, every bit as happy as I was, happier, because He is all joy, and He is all happiness.”
During the first Christmas, the angels proclaimed Jesus’ birth as “good news that will bring great joy to all people” (Luke 2:10).
During His last night on earth, Jesus said, “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow” (John 15:11).
I have personally interviewed nearly 70 NDErs around the globe, representing a wide variety of cultural expectations, who now believe they met the God that Jesus revealed. Why? Because God is the God of all people. And what He came to do that first Christmas, He is still doing today. He is offering hope to all people, restoring peace with God and each other, and bringing joy to every willing heart. This is the message of Christmas and the hope of the world.
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John Burke is a Christian pastor and a New York Times bestselling author. His latest book is “Imagine the God of Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Revelation, and the Love You’ve Always Wanted.”
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