Where will you spend Eternity?

During your life there is but this one question that will matter in the spectrum of eternity. All creation and even our own conscience bear witness to this reality. We did not bring anything into this world and we will leave with nothing from it; God has given us 72 years, on average, on this Earth and the decisions we make determine where we will spend eternity.

Heaven is spoken of in the Bible as a city of gold that glimmers like glass, lined with precious stones, seas of crystal, where the tree of everlasting life grows; everywhere is the presence of almighty God and His Son, who will reign for eternity. There will be no death in Heaven, nor pain, or suffering; one will not kill another, lie, steal or covet. There will be unspeakable joy at being in the holy presence of God.

Since Creation, men of faith have looked forward to one day being in the Kingdom of God; also since the beginning of man the Bible speaks of sin, and of us violating God’s commandments. The Bible says since Adam, sin and death entered the world, and all of Creation bears the mark of death: all living things perish eventually, animals grow up and devour each other, mountains deteriorate, trees decay and return to the soil and kings and civilizations rise up and fall back to the earth from whence they sprung. Since Adam’s fall, sin entered the heart of man; men have risen up and slain millions of their fellow human beings, from the Egyptian and Roman empires to Stalin and Hitler.

The Bible says that "as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; 11. There are none that understand, There are none that seek after God; 12. They have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that does good, no, not, so much as one: 13. Their throat is an open sepulcher; With their tongues they have used deceit: The poison of asps is under their lips: 14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17. And the way of peace have they not known: 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Men backstab, they lie, they cheat and steal, they covet whatever they don’t have; they put great trust in things of this earth which are only temporary and will die eventually. Men build for themselves monuments and vast kingdoms, priding themselves on their intellectual achievements and the power of their hands.

To suppress their conscience, which constantly bears witness of Christ, the law of God and the coming judgment, men often run to substances as alcohol or drugs, others pursue careers and money with all their might and some move in political arenas to legislate either for or against morality. Worse yet, other men become consumed in religious traditions devoid of Christ, which only produces confusion, all in an attempt to ease a conscience that does not allow them to sleep at night. These men excuse those who are like-minded in sin and at the same time they sear their conscience by accusing those who follow after Christ.

The wrath of God is against all men, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.", and God will judge all men who reject the only way to Heaven and salvation from sin, Jesus Christ.

God, being holy, demands holiness from all men. As a result of sin, all men fall short of God’s holiness and will be cast into Hell for eternity with the devil and his angels to everlasting torment; the Bible describes Hell as constant weeping, gnashing of teeth, utter horrors, darkness... separation from God.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, we see a sacrificial system in which man sinned, then had to go to the priest and brings an offering, an unblemished lamb that was innocent of the sin; the lamb’s throat was slashed and the lamb’s blood was sprinkled on those who were guilty of sin. This process was actually a foretelling of Christ, who was the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. The Bible also refers that only God can forgive sin and that God would provide himself a sacrifice.

Christ, the Lamb of God, who had no sin and was guilty of none, was this sacrifice; He humbled Himself below the angels to become a man, like you and me. Through the virgin birth He did not carry the sinful seed of man; He walked and talked with the priests and the elders and was perfect, having no sin. Jesus, as man and God, was charged with a crime He did not commit, was found guilty of sin that He did not do and was sentenced to immediate death by a judge who knew His innocence. Christ experienced being beaten beyond recognition, being spit upon by His people and was whipped horribly. He was led to His death as the Scriptures say "as a lamb being led to the slaughter"; he was crucified and all men’s sins were forgiven in the moment of His death. The wrath of God was poured out on His own son, whom was innocent and whom was the sacrifice for forgiveness of all the sins of the world.

Jesus Christ rose again on the third day after his death; He conquered death, and told his disciples to go unto the ends of the earth with this gospel, to warn all men of the coming judgment. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to God without me.", referring to his own death, burial and resurrection.

People have pursued idols, men and other gods in an attempt to somehow ease their conscience, hoping to find forgiveness from their sins, but Jesus is the one and only prophet, priest and king that has provided forgiveness of sin; He commands that every man, woman and child must accept Him as Lord, and to obey His commandments. To reject Christ is to reject his Lordship over your life; one may say "I have received Christ...", but if they do not follow His commandments they are a liar and truth of God is not in them, according to the Scriptures. It is by grace, through faith that we are saved, and that not of ourselves but as a gift from God; our human attempts at righteousness are wicked and defiled before the holy God.

Receiving Christ is to receive Him as Lord, in reverence and fear of the one who has power to cast into hell; repentance, confession of sin and obedience to Christ through His word are the results of true salvation and are proof of the presence of the Spirit of God. True conversion sparks a craving to read the Bible, which in turn produces a blazing faith. Rejection of Christ will lead to eternal damnation, which is separation from God. To reject Christ is to reject the bridge of mediation between God and man, and the weight of your own sins will pull you down into the abyss. Many are there that have chosen to reject Christ, and in an attempt to build for themselves a haven on this earth in that approximate 72 years, they have ignored eternity and have been irresponsible with the greatest decision.

The question you must ask yourself, in the quietness of your own heart, is where will I spend eternity?

Steven

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