Life Is Short, But Eternity Is Long

A billboard outside a town in Washington State of the USA reads, Life Is Short, Eternity Is Long.”  Indeed, life is short, especially compared to all of human history. Psalm 90:10 says, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone and we fly away.”

When the short time in history is over, what then? What lies beyond this life? There are lots of teachings and opinions, but wouldn’t you want a reliable source to tell you? You want to know what to expect. Suppose what the Bible says is true about heaven and hell. Suppose Jesus Christ really is the only way to heaven, but you refuse to believe it? The Bible is the inspired word of God whether you believe it or not. Prophecy written thousands of years ago is coming true to the exact detail. So, if this is the case, then you can believe what it says about the afterlife. Are you going to stake your eternal destiny on an opinion or on what the Bible says?

Now, let’s consider what Jesus said about himself. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Most people believe in heaven, and some believe in a literal hell. Heaven is described in Revelation 21:4 as a place where God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away,” Hell, however, is described as a place where people “will suffer punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might”(II Thess. 1:9). The word “destroyed” as used in the Bible does not mean “to annihilate.” In Matthew 25:46 Jesus mentions “eternal punishment.”

Going to heaven is not universal for all people, but rather it is conditional. It depends upon putting one’s trust in Jesus as the one and only Savior, Son of God in human flesh, who died for your sins and rose from the dead, a recorded historical fact.

Is it really true that there is eternal existence? Consider this story from scripture. There was a situation where Jesus was transfigured before three of his disciples. This means he displayed his heavenly, glorified body. It is recorded in Matthew 17:3 that Moses and Elijah also showed up. Wow! Two Old Testament people who physically died thousands of years prior appeared and talked with Jesus.

The only question remaining is where will you spend eternity? The Bible says that life on this earth is not over; there is more to come. You want to make sure that there is more to come in heaven. So, what happens after death? One enters the afterlife in some fully conscious form. Many people have said things on their way out of this earthly life to indicate that. The afterlife will be a continuation of either Satan’s kingdom of darkness and deception, or God’s Kingdom of light and truth, whichever one you belong to now. For those part of Satan’s domain, things will be a lot worse. But for those who are part of God’s family of believers things will be far better.

The really good news is that you can be “delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”(Colossians 1:13-14), while there is still time. Some wonder, with things as bad as they are in the world, why Jesus has not yet returned. It is because God in His grace and patience, wants to give every opportunity for people to come to repentance and to a knowledge of the truth. Eternity is a long time. Where will you spend it?