Standing among billions of other souls in the second and last resurrection, he was aware that every person was undergoing what was happening to him. Heaven’s books were opened and one of the books was speaking to him in words and pictures.

It said and showed that before his death, he had lived a life that was only meaningful because of his possessions. He had been proud and satisfied with his pursuit and acquisition of wealth. He was powerful, and in that power, life became only a playground of selfish, decadent pleasure.

But now he saw, felt and acknowledged the meaningless of measuring life by how much he owned. He had died. The wealth no longer existed.

He began to form an understanding from the book’s aural and pictorial scenes that followed. It wasn’t his acquisitions that brought about God’s disapproval. It was his unwillingness to turn from worldliness to godliness.

If he had done so, he saw that two things would’ve happened. First, he would have had an everlasting relationship with God. Incomprehensible peace and love, and a shared, inherited authority over all things would have comprised the richness of that relationship. Secondly, he saw why those eternal jewels would’ve been stored in heaven for him. It would’ve been because he was moved by the only legitimate motivation to accumulate wealth on earth— helping to grow the kingdom by supporting the gospel and helping the needs of others.

But now he was told that it was too late; that a second death was upon him. It would last throughout eternity. His book closed.

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Luke 12: 15-21

And He [Jesus] said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”