We Are Eternal

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16 That's it. End of blog post. Thanks for stopping by... kidding. There's actually more to talk about.

When the bible addresses eternal life it isn't referring to our lives here on earth. Obviously, our mortal bodies will die at some point. What it's referencing is the soul. Our spirit. And when we think about ourselves being eternal we think of verses like John 3:16. We think about God sending his only Son to die on the cross, sacrificing himself for us, the Few. We read verses like John 17:3 that says:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Because of the bible, we KNOW that excepting Christ and the love that God showed us means we will spend eternity with him in heaven. But as mortal men and women, it's difficult for us to wrap our minds around the abstract, but very real, concept of "forever". Our brains think in terms of things being finite. Our work day ends. Your phone battery is dead. Our favorite show we just binge-watched is over. Who ate all the Lucky Charms? Everything has an end. It's hard for us to truly understand what eternal means. In metaphysical studies "eternal" is defined as existing outside all relations of time and not subject to change. So I'm wondering if we will even be able to perceive time in heaven. Like when you are doing something you really enjoy, only to look up and realize that four hours have passed. It will be like that, but forever. Which sounds pretty great in my opinion. Just singing and praising and walking with God throughout infinity. These are the things that spring to mind when we think about being saved and spending all of eternity in heaven.

But what we often don't think about is that there is another eternity. A fearful, fiery eternity. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 1 Peter talks about salvation as being "born again" while Revelation talks about hell and the lake of fire being "the second death". Both are referring to state of our souls and where we will spend eternity after our flesh expires.

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. - John 3:36

The bible is very clear about what happens to those who do and do not accept Christ into their hearts. 1 John 5:12 simply states " He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." The bible is also very clear that, while there are MANY ways to spend eternity in hell, there is only one way to spend eternity walking the golden streets of heaven. And that way is through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 5:24 says "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

There are so many other verses in the bible that talk about life eternal and everlasting punishment. But whether you are rich or poor, man or woman, believer or a non-believer, we are ALL eternal. The only question is; where will you spend YOUR eternity?