Walking in the eternal of God is something we generally find hard to comprehend unless we’re a scientific or mathematical genius.
The very idea of eternity is a difficult concept for finite minds. We live in a corrupt world where life and death are always before us.
Thinking in terms of never ending is exciting but mentally illusive.
The main issue we have to face, though, is the kinds of eternity we may have to deal with at the end of this life.
Two eternal possibilities
The most crucial is the concept of eternal separation from God. We have to face this because Jesus spoke about it.
Speaking of those who would not help His people Jesus said, “Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Mat.25:45-46).”
Here we see an example of Jesus speaking about the contrast between everlasting punishment and eternal life with God.
Before this He says of those who ignored helping His people, ““Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mat.25:41).”
Everlasting fire. This speaks of torment. Some people can’t grasp that this is a possibility. It is, according to Jesus, more than this. It is an inevitability for those who will not repent, believe and act on their faith.
Think about this. You may come to the conclusion that it is too difficult to think in terms of eternal separation from God and yet it is a reality according to God Himself.
However, there is the flip side of this for those who believe and receive Jesus as Lord. They are destined for eternal life. The obvious conclusion then is that it is wiser to discover all we can about why we should receive Jesus and ask Him into our lives to make the necessary changes.
The caveat is that, once saved, we need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. In other words our faith has to be active and not passive. We are not called to be nominal Christians. We are called to be functional and fully engaged in God’s mission to the world to bring salvation by grace through faith.
Sin is the great betrayer of the human soul
When we break God’s will to walk in love with Him and with all people we sin. Breaking the love commandment comes naturally to the unsaved person. The Bible is filled with examples.
The only way to break free of this sin nature is through faith in Jesus, then we will know the difference between the result of sin and the reward for righteousness.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
We were set apart by God to walk with Him. He’s been calling us all to Himself to be saved. The nature of sin gets in the way. The only way to break this is through a relationship with God through faith in Jesus.
Then we are to focus our attention eternal things. We live in mortal bodies, but they will be changed on the last day when God calls us to Him. In the thinking of an eye we will put non glorified bodies that can live in the eternal.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
We live in the invisible in this world. We are in the world but not of the world. We are of the kingdom of God which is eternal.
Whilst we suffer in this body in a corrupt world we are here to bring the good news and glad tidings to the world that they no longer need to face eternal separation form God but that they can receive, right now eternal life through faith in Him.
The truth is that we don’t have to comprehend the eternal. We just have to live in it, hope for it, and prepare for it.
