Eternal life. Think for a moment of the magnificence of those words, to spend an eternity with the One who spoke you into being, to spend eternity with the One who, through His ardent love, willingly died to pay your sin debt so that you could live forever with Him. You are not only to be spared the eternal pain and misery of a devil’s hell but to be given the privilege of living forever in a place of eternal joy. What more could there ever be? What more could you ever want? There is nothing in this life that could ever surpass the loving gift that God, our Father, has prepared for His children. To suggest that anything more could be desired or expected is to place yourself above the expectations and awareness of God. God alone knows what is right; God alone knows what is good. To live eternally upon this earth would leave something to be desired, but God has provided a much better place for His children. Even the beauties of this earth cannot compare with those of heaven. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. Revelation 21: 18-22 It is hard to imagine something so beautiful and radiant, but something even more compelling is the fact that we will be removed from all the perversion of sin. No more sickness, no more death, for there shall be no night there.
And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they, which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:26-27
What a wonderful place, what a wonderful promise awaits those who have given their lives to a wonderful Lord, a Lord who will be the truth and light of it all. Heaven is a place made beautiful by the love and sacrifice of a gracious and compassionate God. Can you imagine with me for a moment what someone who has not trusted in the goodness of God would do if they were allowed to enter heaven? Seeing all of the wealth and splendor, they would immediately devise a plan to plunder its riches and precious stones. The selfishness and greed they exhibited while here on earth would overtake them, and they would covet heaven’s wealth. Not perceiving it how God has intended, it would not be a place of joy and security for them, and they would find discomfort knowing they could not control or own all of its massive wealth. Immediately, they would seek to justify their inappropriate actions by saying it was all an accident and they had just as much right as anyone else to its wealth. Man, without God, is indeed a miserable, selfish individual; and without the excellence of God to cleanse his total being, he has become a complete reprobate. The Bible says there are no good people in this world, and without the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, we would all be condemned to hell. The fool hath said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Psalm 14:1-3
What a vile portrayal of man, why would anyone as virtuous and powerful as God want to sacrifice Himself for someone so corrupt? I am sure this is a question that we, as humans, could never begin to understand, but our understanding is really not the significant point of the equation. If we had to understand everything that God has done before we would be allowed into His heaven, there would be no man who would ever enter heaven. Just as a good man will not be allowed to see paradise, neither will the one who does not have enough faith to believe in the promises of God. Knowing the excellence of God will only take you halfway, accepting and applying what He has done to insure your salvation will take you the rest of the way. Good versus justified, knowledge versus faith; everyone who enters Heaven will enter there by the same way. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:1-5
The more I delve into His Word, the more I am made to understand the enormous power of His redeeming love and the numberless blessings that He has for all those who love Him.
When Christ died upon the cross, we were not only assured of life eternal; we were guaranteed of His presence now and forever. That’s not, “I’ll see you when you get there,” but, “I’ll be with you every step of the way.” I don’t know about you, but I really don’t think I would make it without His being there for me. I need His daily strength to endure, I need His awesome power to succeed, and I need His complete assistance to carry on. It’s not about me; it’s all about Him. He’s the one who gave me life, He’s the one who made the sacrifice, and He’s the one who must provide for my deliverance. All I have done is willingly accept all that He has done for me; all praise goes unto His holy name. Unexplainable bliss. The very best this world has to offer, could never match the total splendor that will be present in an un-adulterated, ever-existing home ruled by the one and only God of the universe, the one and only God of true love and eternal mercy. Think for a moment. If heaven did not exist and there was no afterlife, no eternal promise, why would anyone want to endure the continual pain and problems of this present-day world alone? I’ve just expressed the promise made by an eternal God, His promise of eternal life. But God’s promises do not start the moment we die; they are with us now. He has promised never to leave us. He has promised to meet our needs. He has promised to forgive our sins and give us peace and joy while we are here on earth. His promises are in abundance; they are all contained in His written Word. God’s Holy Word, a book that was written unto the whole world, not to a particular person, a particular race, or a particular persuasion, but unto the whole world. I have learned not to doubt or question but to depend upon the promises of God as I go through the day. I am sure I would find it difficult, if not impossible, to carry on if it weren’t for the generosity and loving care provided by our gracious God. He has truly given us so much, but we, as lost, ungracious children, selfishly overlook His marvelous goodness. Spoiled with the thanklessness of this world, we have refused to accept His ultimate gift. What better gift could He have given than eternal life? To go on enjoying, you must first go on living. To go on getting, you must first go on living. To go on loving, you must, yes, go on living. Simple, isn’t it? To go on, we must first live on. Without living, what good is anything else? Death has a way of putting an end to all of our desires and our dreams, but in the love of God, we not only have a promise of never dying but of living forever in His eternal splendor. Just think. No more problems, no more pain, no more doubt or depression; only love, joy, total fulfillment through the worship and praise of Jesus Christ, the Lamb. The Bible talks about a certain rich man who had increased goods; the Lord had blessed him immensely. He had so much, in fact, that he could not get his abundance into his barns, so he decided, in his greed, to tear down his small barns and to build much bigger barns (Luke 12:16-21). As the story goes, not only were his goods greatly increased, but so was his arrogance; and having so much, he decided he didn’t need anyone else, not even the One who had provided his abundance. Eat, drink, and be merry were his vain thoughts, but God’s condemnation on him was to take his life from him. God’s question in death was, “To whom goes your abundance?” Of what good or use were all of his massive possessions to him if he was not permitted to live long enough to enjoy them? God calls him a fool. We, as humans, live only for the moment; we only see what we have in our hands, and we hold on to things that can give us momentary satisfaction or pleasure. We are, in most cases, so small minded that we cannot see past the present and refuse to gaze into the future. Our comfort is found in the temporal, and we fail to trust or live by our faith in what God has provided. We look at life as our time to enjoy the many pleasures of this world, and we forget not only those around us but the One who created us for His purpose. As an escape from the truth or to avoid our obligation to our Creator, we devise or spawn vain imaginations as to our origin. Bang! You’re the earth. Bang! You’re a man. Bang! You’re a woman. Bang! How stupid can you get? If you can’t or won’t believe this one, there is this one about the monkey. What do we hope to prove, or what do we hope to gain, by such foolishness when the truth has been given us in the form of God’s eternal love, God’s infallible Word? In God, we have a promise of eternal life while in the theories and deceptions of man; there is only death, despair, and destruction. To suggest the possibility that something does not exist or that you will not be required to conform if, in your mind, you just simply refuse to believe is the ultimate example of stupidity. Think about all the wealth that has been squandered trying to prove that God does not exist. We talk about those in need, yet we continue spending billions to dis-prove this one indisputable fact, that God does exist. How irresponsible God must think us to be; how foolish are the opinions and actions of unregenerated man. I know that, in being human, I am prone to doubt, to question those things that, in many cases, I know in my heart to be the truth. It does not take much knowledge to be a fool, but for someone to remain a fool when they have been given the knowledge or education to substantiate their existence, you then arrive at a point of total hopelessness, a point of self-destruction. It’s sad that an almighty God, the Creator of this entire universe, the Creator of everything that is or will ever be, is to be rejected by His creation. Many would suggest that if God were so powerful, why would He create something or someone that could or would rebel to His supreme authority? The answer given to those agnostics is found in His Holy Word. God’s intent was not to create something that would simply follow His instructions but to create an individual that would have feelings, emotions, and intellect, someone who could choose to love and obey. Why would God choose to create man in His image? In this life, there are many questions that will not be answered, but even though we might not know the final answer, we can sometimes assume God’s purpose. If we are created in the likeness of God, and the Bible says that we are, then God must have had a reason and felt a certain kinship toward man. If God was then to be found willing, as He was, to redeem His creation after their rebellion, He must love and want to preserve what He has created. Think for a moment. He is God; He could have, at any time, destroyed everything He had created and began again as He considered doing with Noah and the flood. Using a remnant to repopulate His world is a portrayal of His willingness to forgive and His awesome love. He is God; He could do anything that He, in His heart, determined to do. You might say that this statement suggests or proves that God does not exist. If He did exist, that is what He would have done, started over; but I am here to affirm that it only proves, without a doubt, His ardent affection, His willingness to do whatever He had to do to save mankind, and that was to die.
How could anyone doubt or want to destroy something so precious as the love of a wonderful God, which is the only hope of the present and the only promise of a future? I don’t intend to infer that this could be remotely possible, because the control of eternity is in the hands of a powerful God, but to think such evil in your heart is to deny or defraud your soul of His eternal forgiveness. It amazes me how anyone could be so foolish as to believe a devil’s lie, in light of the truth of the glory of God’s Word, but then I must remember how I hopelessly wandered, not willing to accept His glorious truth. I could write a book challenging everyone to live a good, moral life. To live each day with a kind thought for humanity and then maybe understand, just maybe, that God would allow them to one day enter those pearly gates. In the process of not wanting to offend anyone’s feelings or character, I could say only those things that are politically correct and, when necessary, stray away from those things that are honest and truthful. I could candy-coat those things that prove to be so awful that I do not want to recognize them and give most of my time to only those things that are unimportant but cheerful. There have undoubtedly been many such books written, but the only value or profit was to those authors who deposited their percentage of the purchase price in their earthly bank accounts. As I ponder the shallowness, the utter foolishness, of what was just said, I feel I must ask God’s forgiveness. Writing a book with the good intention of enlightening the existing lot of humanity could, I guess, be considered a noble deed, but to somehow infer that it was a revelation from God to the obtainment of eternal glory is merely nothing but a lie of the devil. Just to feel good about yourself, while important, is only temporal and contains no eternal value. What would be the more desirable, to dislike myself and die and go to heaven or to adore myself and die and go to hell? I am not saying that those who dislike themselves will go to heaven and those who adore themselves will go to hell. I do say that if we are willing to take a good, honest look at ourselves, we will see we are not worthy of His goodness. To have the forgiveness of a loving God in your heart, to have His eternal Spirit living within you, does wonders for your whole being, is absolution for your eternal soul. Feeling good lasts only for the moment, a very short moment at that, but to be converted, transformed by the precious blood of the Lamb holds eternal promise. How could anyone knowingly settle for less?
I don’t know of anything I could write about that is more important than obtaining the promise of eternal life. This being the case, I feel God leading me to do so. He has given everything to secure our future. What deeper expression of love could ever be imagined? What more could you expect from someone who has given His all? If what God has already presented does not cause you to cry out for His forgiveness, there is nothing more that can be done; you are without hope. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:15-17 If the rest of God’s Word were to be omitted, we would still know of God’s unmatchable love. We would know of His true purpose, and we would know His way into heaven. If you have not already done so, I pray that God’s love will be allowed to penetrate your sinful heart; and, because of His marvelous gift, you will allow Him to become your Savior. There is nothing that is more important that you could ever do, there is nothing that will ever give you more joy or personal worth. Truly the gift of God has been offered to all. If you wish to inherit eternal life, you need only to accept it. The Bible says, “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).