Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Eternity is defined as the absence of time or the state in which time has no application (Oxford Dic). We live in a time when people have cast off the idea of eternity and the motto is “live for today.” Atheism is rampant, denial of God and His son Jesus Christ is the norm. Pick a sin and America has perfected it. People seem to have forgotten that God is still alive and well, that judgment is coming and there will be a payday someday.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Most people believe God has prepared these things which are waiting for us in heaven. It is absolutely true that we cannot begin to understand the greatness of heaven, that isn’t what Paul means here, because 1Cor 2:10 tells us God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. This glorious thing has been revealed by the gospel.
“These words have been applied to the state of glory in a future world; but certainly they belong to the present state, and express merely the wondrous light, life, and liberty which the Gospel communicates to them that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in that way which the Gospel itself requires.” (Adam Clarke)
God has so much for us in this world and the world to come. To those that love him, all things work together for their good (Rom 8:28). It is good to remember that eternity is just a heartbeat away and each breath is a gift from our heavenly Father. John tells us in the book of Revelation that Heaven and New Jerusalem will be a place of perfect bliss and the absence of evil and sin. There will be no sadness, pain nor desire to sin. There will be perfect health and harmony. But most of all it will be a time to worship the Creator, to give thanks to Jesus for His sacrifice.
Luke 16 gives a picture of eternity in real time. The rich man and Lazarus both died and they receive their rewards. The Bible goes on to say that the rich man “in hell he lifted up his eyes.” Here is a picture of reality/eternity for us to glean and learn from. In hell there still be physical senses (he was in torment). He had recollection and memory (he knew Abraham). There will unfulfilled desire (a drop of water to cool my tongue). There will be communications (he was speaking). There will be sorrow (worry over his 5 unsaved brothers).
Abraham tells him they have the prophets and the scriptures and if they will not believe them then they will not even believe if a dead man was resurrected. Think about this:
When judgment comes there will be a swift presentation of the convicting evidence but no rebuttal, a testimony with no cross-examination, there will be an utterly unsympathetic judge, and no jury. There will be a sentence but no appeal, a punishment with no parole, in a jail with no escape (John McArthur)
It has been said that “a man born once dies twice but a man that is born twice dies once.” The following is an extract from Adrian Rogers sermon “5 Minutes After You Die.”
Heaven is a Feast not a Funeral.
Heaven is everything all beneficent Father would desire you to have
Heaven is everything the omniscient Father could design for you.
Heaven is everything the omnipotent Father can prepare for you.
You will not have a longing or desire that will not be fulfilled.
We have free will and we must choose life or death. We have family and friends. We have a mandate from Jesus to tell others about the gift of eternal life. WE must live daily for Christ not just on Sunday. We need to talk to Him daily, walk with Him daily and listen to Him daily. We can’t live in sin and think we’ve made it. Think about this:
Eternity is a longtime to be wrong!
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