I unexpectedly spent the first few days of this year in England, in my hometown of Grimsby. I wish I could have made the trip under more pleasant circumstances.

Early one Sunday morning, I received word that my father had died. Suddenly. Unexpectedly, if you can say that the death of anyone aged 75 is unexpected.

Several months earlier I had accompanied both my parents on a bus tour of central Europe. Then my father had seemed healthy and alert. I expected him to live for a few more years. But it was not to be.

He woke up that Sunday with a pain in his leg, which then spread to his abdomen. He went to lie down. Within minutes, he was gone.

It had been many years since he had seen a doctor and at first the family physician would not give issue a death certificate. He wanted to do a post-mortem examination (autopsy). After reviewing my father's medical history, the doctor changed his mind. My father had two heart attacks in 1986. All indications were that this was a third and fatal heart attack.

Dad was not a religious man. In fact, he was very much against all forms of religion, especially the Christian kind. He had been a lifelong committed atheistic communist. Dad dismissed religion as "the opium of the masses," often quoting Karl Marx, founder of modern communism.

To go or not to go?

When my brother called me to tell the news, he said that my mother did not want me to go over for the funeral. She would have seen the sense in my coming over to see my father if he were sick. To spend hundreds of dollars on a plane fare to attend a funeral seemed a wasted unnecessary expense.

But I wanted to go. I needed to go. I also wanted to officiate at his funeral, with my mother's consent. I couldn't bear the thought of a generic minister who didn't know my father getting up and talking about Dad going to heaven. As an atheist, my father never believed in heaven. He was not tolerant of sanctimonious religious people--psalm singers--as he often called them. He certainly would not have wanted to be sentenced to eternity in heaven with them.

When I arrived in Grimsby, I called the funeral director to discuss arrangements with him. My mother had chosen to have my father cremated, which is more common in England than burial. The crematorium only allows 20 minutes for each service, with an additional 10 minutes for all the people attending a funeral to leave the facility before the next party comes in. Every 30 minutes a funeral is held. It felt like we were going to be part of an assembly line. The speed at which families have to say good-bye to their loved ones gives little time for anybody to think about the meaning of death and the hope of eternal life. Perhaps that's the way most people want it in post-Christian England, where only 3 percent of the people attend church with any regularity.

I have four brothers. Except for one brother, no one else in the family, immediate or extended, adheres to any religion. None has ever read a Bible. All of them know that I am a Christian minister and know some of my beliefs.

My brother, who is religious, and his wife wanted to sing "The Lord Is My Shepherd" at the funeral. Their daughter Judith had written a poem about her granddad that she wanted to read. All this had to be a part of our allotted 20 minutes. Included also was the actual walk into the hall as the family slowly followed my father's coffin. My mother had also requested that the hymn "The God of Love My Shepherd Is" be sung prior to my speaking. There would be only 10 minutes for a message. What can you say about your father in 10 short minutes?

What do you say about an atheist?

I decided to be honest and open about Dad, which is the way he always wanted it to be. He felt no shame or embarrassment about not having a religion. To the contrary, he was proud of the fact. Religion, in his mind, was for "weak" people who needed a crutch to lean on. So I began by saying that he had no religious beliefs and always ridiculed the idea of going to heaven.

I went on to show that in this respect he was biblically quite sound--that we don't go to heaven when we die. In that brief 10 minutes I read from Ezekiel 18:4, showing the soul is not immortal; Ecclesiastes 9:5, which reveals that "the dead know nothing"; John 3:13, which tells us that "No one has ascended to heaven"; and Acts 2:34, where Peter told the multitudes that even the righteous king David had not ascended into heaven.

Then I asked the question: "Does this mean that we will not see Dad again?" Quoting from 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 and 22, I continued: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.... For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward those who are Christ's at His coming." These words reveal a resurrection of Christ's followers.

"Those who are Christ's," wrote Paul. But what about everyone else--the vast majority of people who, like my Dad, never knew Christ? What about them?

The apostle Peter wrote that God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). These are most encouraging words for those who lose loved ones who have not believed.

The Bible reveals more about a resurrection in Revelation 20:4-6. This passage takes us forward in time to the 1,000-year rule of Jesus Christ. This Millennium of time follows His return. At the beginning of that time, those who are Christ's (1 Corinthians 15:23) are resurrected to rule with Him, to sit on thrones with Him (Revelation 20:4).

We also learn from this passage (in verse 6) that there is a second death for some. This means that there must be a second life, another physical life similar to this one. If there weren't, there could be no second death. Verse 5 helps us understand this: "But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished."

Who are the rest of the dead? By definition it must be those who are not Christ's, those who never knew Jesus Christ or never knew Him well enough to accept Him as their personal Savior, the Savior through whom one can receive eternal life.

Verse 5 calls the resurrection to eternal life of those in Christ as "the first resurrection." Upon these the second death does have power. This shows, then, that there is a different, subsequent resurrection for those who were not Christ's. This is a resurrection to a physical existence.

This second resurrection is described in more detail in Ezekiel 37. Here Ezekiel describes a vision in which he was projected into the future where he saw a valley full of dry bones, the skeletons of people long since dead. Verses 5 and 6 follow: "Thus says the Lord GOD unto these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. I will put sinews [muscles] on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.'"

Could it be any clearer? Here is a prophesied resurrection to a physical existence. If it weren't physical, there would be no need for muscles, skin and breath. Spirit beings given eternal life wouldn't need these. Only physical human beings do.

Continuing with Ezekiel's vision, we see clearly that once God has reassembled these bones, covered them with muscle and skin and given them life, He promises to give them the opportunity to "know that I am the LORD." This is their opportunity for salvation, an opportunity they never had before. This is my father's opportunity for eternal life. A future reunion with loved ones who have already accepted Jesus Christ and are part of the first resurrection.

What a glorious future we have to look forward to! Trying to encourage the people of Thessalonica during a time of great persecution, the apostle Paul pointed them to the hope of the resurrection. After describing the first resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4, the apostle adds in verse 18: "Therefore comfort one another with these words."

I was glad to be able to give this truthful and comforting message during my father's funeral. Because it is a comfort to know the truth of God. God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" and receive eternal life. His marvelous plan includes my father and billions of others who did not believe during their lives. What an awesome future God has prepared for His creation, mankind!