“But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness shall never fail. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.” Isaiah 51:6b, 8b (italics mine)
The mantra of procrastinators the world over is as follows, why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? But what if we were to magnify that procrastinational statement. Why do anything if you could just do it later in life? I mean why do anything when you’ve got an entire lifetime to do it? A curious thought indeed that finds millions today waiting on their countless future tomorrows to complete said item. But in response to that idea, I have a rather metaphysical question for you. How far does your future of tomorrows truly extend? Even after your earthly physical body expires, do you expect to have more tomorrows?
Twice in our study verses from Isaiah chapter 51 above, we see Almighty God use the word ‘forever.’ And when God uses the word forever, I think He has a grasp of it that we cannot fully comprehend. You see, God’s Word instructs us that our being is two distinct parts, physical and spiritual. (Ecc 12:7) And with the average life expectancy in the world today being 72.74 years, you can expect with a very high degree of accuracy that the physical body you are inhabiting right now will be no more one day. But God’s Word is clear that after that physical body is no more, your life does not cease. You see, God created us in His image, spiritual creatures meant to live much longer than a scant 72 and three-quarter years. But after our physical bodies perish and return to the dust in which they came, where do our spirits reside in God’s idea of forever? Well, for that answer, lets ask God.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” John 3:36
“Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:8
“So that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:21
There is a Godly forever that stretches far beyond the shores of human reason, a horizon on the other side of human cerebral capacity. Eternity. God’s eternity is a lifetime of forevers, an existence of infinite perpetual tomorrows that stretch beyond the logic we can ever hope to grasp. And each and every person that walks this planet has one of these eternities before them. And to draw an obvious conclusion from that, all spirits must then occupy some space in their eternities. And God’s Word informs us clearly and succinctly of only two eternal spiritual destinations…Heaven and hell. In fact, these spiritual destinations, especially hell, are so important Jesus spends more time talking about them than any other person in the Bible. (Carson) And within that, believe it or not, He spends more time talking about hell than Heaven. (Piper) And out of the 1,850 verses in the New Testament that record Jesus’ Words, a whopping 13% of them warn of hell and its judgement. (Jeffress)
The simplest way to define each is Heaven being the eternal home of God and hell being the eternal absence of God. Heaven being filled with the glory, grace, mercy, and splendor of God and hell being the absolute absence of God and His attributes. And no matter how much you may dislike the idea of hell, that does not change or alter the fact of it and that it is robustly promoted factitiously in the Word of God. It’s a Biblical fact, each and every soul that walks this world today has an eternity in their future and will experience one of these places.
But in the good news of Jesus Christ, all people have a choice of which eternal destination they will experience. Sounds too good to be true? Well because God so loved the world and sent his only Son Jesus Christ here to live a sinless life and die on a cross for the sins of all mankind for all time so that whoever believes in Him as Lord can have eternal life with God in heaven, it can seem that way. I mean really, the choice to go to heaven over hell is free, easy, and instant? Really? Well, in a simple three letters…yes. Because the price of your sin was paid for by Jesus Christ, your decision to have an eternal home in heaven for eternity can be just that.
So you might be asking, how can I assure today that I will have a home in heaven with God and skip hell altogether? Simply do this. Admit that you are a sinner, admit that in your own capacity you can’t “not sin.” And folks, even one little sinful imperfect white lie is enough to separate you from a perfectly righteous God. Then admit that on your own you cannot pay the price or rectify your sin before Almighty God. You need an advocate to do this for you, a perfect advocate that can appeal to Almighty God on your behalf. And then simply pray for Jesus to apply His work upon the cross for your life, ask Him to be your advocate, your Savior. Ask Him to be the Lord of your life and save you from the penalty of your sin. A sin penalty that unless dealt with, will see you living in the absence of God for eternity in hell. But through the amazing grace of Jesus Christ, God will not see the blemish of your sin any longer, but instead a spirit clothed in the gleaming white righteousness of His only Son Jesus Christ.
Eternity is a long time, an infinite permanence…where will you spend it? If your decision today is, I’ll wait for another of my tomorrows to make that decision, that is still a decision today that affects your eternity tomorrow. Today I pray your answer is yes…say yes to Jesus and see your forever be in the very presence of Almighty God.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Comments