Eternity... wow, that sounds like a really long time... oh wait, it is! Eternity is from a Latin word that literally means “everlasting” or “enduring forever.” Something that is eternal has no beginning and no end.
Eternity is one of those words we have a tendency to use lightly in our culture. “I went to the doctor’s office and had to wait for an eternity to be seen!” “Oh my gosh, it’s an eternity until the end of the school year!” “I haven’t gotten a pay raise in an eternity.” None of those uses really encompass the full meaning of eternity, however. They said a diamond is forever, but eternity really is forever!
Out of curiosity, I looked up “eternity” in my theological dictionary. It had a number of related words - eternal condemnation, eternal consequences for sin, eternal destiny, eternal life, etc. So which of those terms are important? Why are we talking about the word ‘eternity’ as Christians?
Well, two reasons. First, God is eternal. God has no beginning and no end. He always was and always will be. Even before the creation of the world, God existed. God will exist forever into the future. Our human lifespans are less than a blink of an eye compared to the eternal God. No one can put a time span on God’s existence. He is the definition of eternity!
Second, we will have an eternity beyond this earthly life. The question is, where will your eternity be? Will you have eternal condemnation, or eternal life? Thanks to our gracious and loving God, the choice is yours. You can choose to go against Him or even deny His existence, and therefore spend eternity apart from Him - in a state of eternal damnation. Or, you can choose to love Him and follow Him, and therefore spend eternity with Him in a place more glorious than we could ever imagine!
God is eternal. We are eternal. Depending on the choices you make in this lifetime, you can spend a real, literal eternity apart from Him in eternal damnation - or with Him in eternal glory.
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