Eternal Beings

I believe most of us have wondered, at some point, how long our life would exist here on this planet. When we are young, we feel we have a "long" time before we become old.  Then, when we are older, we wonder where the years have gone and how we got there so fast. It is there in that season, where we ponder our impending death more frequently.

Since death is "unknown territory" for us, many are apprehensive or fearful about it.  We think it tragic when someone dies young.  For those who remain, it is heart rending.  And yet, what we need is to have a proper perspective of death.  We need to perceive and understand it as God does.  The reason most humans struggle so much with the thought of death is because we have lost sight of the fact that we are "eternal beings!"

Today, I want to take you on a journey through the Word of God and see if we can change our perspective and erase the fear of death.

We will begin by looking at Genesis 1:26a and 27, "Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."  Of all living beings, only humanity was created in God's image and likeness.  As those made in the image of God, we are spiritual beings who have a physical body, a soul, and a spirit.

Isaiah 40:28 New Living Translation, "Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding."  The Hebrew word for 'everlasting' is olam.  It means: eternity, infinity, or continuous existence.

We read in 1 Timothy 1:17, "Now to the King eternal (for ever, eternity, perpetuity of time), immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."  The word 'eternal' also means: having no beginning and no end.  Everlasting is sometimes used in the same sense, when referring to God.  At other times, 'everlasting' speaks of having a beginning but no end, such as our everlasting life in Christ Jesus.

Our Creator God is El Olam, the Everlasting God.  His life is infinity, a continual existence which has no beginning and will have no end.  Humans on the other hand, unlike God, have a very specific beginning, however, as those created in His image, we will have no end. Our physical body, which houses our soul and spirit will die, however, our soul and spirit will never die.

Understanding that then, leads us to realize that the most important decision we ever make will be the one which determines where we will spend that eternity.

John 6:47, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus) has everlasting life."

1 John 5:11(NLT), "And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."

John 3:16 (NLT), "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

We who have chosen to believe in and accept the sacrifice Christ made for us will have eternal life.

However, we read in John 3:18, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." 

Then, we see in 1 John 5:12, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

In Matthew, we read very plainly that those who refuse God's way of salvation will have eternal death (separation from God for all eternity).  Matthew 25:31-34, 41 and 46,  "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 "And He will set the sheep (believers) on His right hand, but the goats (those who reject Jesus) on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ... 41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ... 46 "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Every one of us will encounter a day of death, when our physical body dies and our spirit and soul enter into eternity.  Hebrews 9:27 (NLT), "And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment"

The time we spend on this Earth is vastly important because God allots this time for each of us to make that decision - to choose Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, so that we will spend our eternity forever in His presence!

2 Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."  For the believer, when we die, we enter into the presence of the Lord.  Therefore, for the believer, there need be no fear of death.

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples before He was crucified, John 14:1 and 2 (New American Standard Bible 20), "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you." What a wonderful expectation or hope that we have!

When a loved one dies, (I have experienced this many times), we know that they are beginning an entirely new kind of life.  We know that, in that day, we get a new body.

2 Corinthians 5:1-3 (NLT), " For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies."

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (NLT), "It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies."

Heaven (ouranos in the Greek, is the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect, where God dwells) is a glorious place!  I do not know what all we will do for all eternity, but, this I know - we will be with Jesus and all those believers who have gone before.

It saddens me to think of how many on this earth spend all their time, energy, and wealth to gain things that are temporal.  Only those things done for Christ will remain.

What we do here for Christ and His kingdom is important.  However, how exciting it is to realize that those things are only the beginning of our eternal journey!  As soon as we accept Christ, we begin our eternal spiritual journey of life, because our spirit becomes alive with the Life of Christ. John 5:24 (NLT), "I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life."

How then shall we live this mortal life?

Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT), "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory."

1 John 2:15-17 (NLT), "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever."

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NLT), "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!"

Then, finally, we receive the prize!  1 Peter 5:4 (NLT), "And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor."