Eternity
By Amanda Idleman
“He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart.” - Ecclesiastes 3:11
Humans are unique in all of God’s expansive Creation in that we contemplate life after death. The animals haven’t filled the jungles with caution tape in an effort to avoid death. The natural world is born, lives, and dies without the ability to consider a different fate. Humanity, from a young age, becomes acutely aware of the fleeting nature of their own existence and consequent mortality. Death does not feel natural for human beings. We do what we can to rage against its power over us. It is and also feels like a curse. As a conscious and reasoning creature, having to face the reality that we in this human form will come to an end feels unfair. I have asked many times the question, How do I live with peace with the knowledge that I have been born to die?
Stories of loss, death, disease, and other risks fill the headlines because we, as people, can’t help but look. We are not at peace with our own mortality. The Bible explains our situation in Ecclesiastes 3:11, which says, “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart.” If we are honest, existence without eternity is much too short, too meaningless, and rubs against the truth we all feel when we stop to examine our own hearts. Thankfully the God that made us has not left us alone to wrestle with the tension we all feel being an immortal being stuck in a mortal body. He wrote a story that we can read in the Bible that helps explain who God is and what we mean to him and graciously shares with us a glimpse into eternity.
Jesus, the Son of God, came to Earth in the form of a man so that we might believe and be saved. God knew that without a Savior who could make up for man’s sinful nature, we were all doomed to an existence that would forever be separated from the perfect God. Jesus, during his time on Earth, shared with his disciples insight into what God’s big rescue plan is for his beloved creation. In John 17:3, Jesus says,
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
Eternal life begins here and now. Eternity begins the moment we pray the prayer of faith, and we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. When we come to know God and Jesus Christ his son, it is then that we are “reborn” and begin a new life as a part of God’s family. Jesus explains to Martha in John 11:25-26 that He is the resurrection and life. Jesus goes on to say that if we believe in him, we will live even if we die, and those who believe never die. Jesus promises that when we pray a prayer of faith that invites God into our lives, we are promised an eternity with Him in Heaven, which is a physical place where God and his angel armies reside.
Jesus even shares some of what we can expect to find when we meet Him in Heaven. John 14:2-3 says, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” Jesus has prepared a home for us in Heaven where we get to exist with him for eternity. In the book of Revelation, John, who was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, is given a glimpse of what Heaven will be like. Revelations 21:1-27 says,
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He 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.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also, he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
These words give us one of the clearest pictures of what God is preparing for us from the scripture. We can rejoice in the fact that God has created a future in which death, sorrow, pain, and mourning will all have passed away for those who have accepted him as their God.
Prayer
God, help us to find comfort in the promise we find in your word that tells us that we were created to share eternity with you. I rejoice that I am your child, securely a part of your eternal family. Help me to live each day in light of eternity, seeking your kingdom first in all I do. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/peemadech bangsiri
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Originally published Thursday, 03 August 2023.
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