“The high and lofty One who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: ‘I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.’” (Isaiah 57:15 NLT)
Have you ever thought about eternity? When we are waiting for the outcome of a surgery of a loved one whose life hangs in the balance between life and death, it seems like “eternity”. Or we’re dragging our way through a pregnancy or waiting for approval of our loan, or word from our prospective employer or we have a kidney stone. These and a thousand other scenarios remind us of how long we might perceive eternity to be.
But here’s the truth: we don’t have the capacity to understand it, only God does, but why? Because He alone IS eternal! He has no beginning and will have no end. Mankind has a beginning and an end, at least in terms of this life, but not the next. Because our lives originate in the heart of God, our souls, the essence of who we are, are also eternal. But what does that mean? It means as human beings we’re going to live someplace forever – life without end, just like the God who created us.
That’s exciting for those of us who know Jesus, but for those who don’t yet know Him, they have no clue what the future holds. Imagine if you were offered a job that paid $700 a minute. In your mind you’re probably thinking: “YESSIR , a thousand times YES! Whatever it is, I’ll learn to love it or work for a month, then retire.” Then you learn you can’t stop until the job is done, but wait, there’s more. If you don’t complete the job, you don’t get paid a penny. Okay, so, what’s the job?
You have two options: first, count the grains of sand on every beach in the world or count the drops of water in the oceans of the world. How do you spell – B O R I N G! There isn’t enough time in one person’s lifetime to accomplish something like that, and even if there was, who would want to do it? It’s pointless and purposeless, yet that will be much like hell for those who are too stubborn to open their lives to the only hope they have for a life of abundance, fulfillment, joy, and enjoyment for all of eternity.
Think of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. The rich man had everything this world could offer, lived in luxury with the expectation that anything he wanted or needed was at his beck and call, yet, when he died that all changed…instantly! He found himself alone, impoverished and in torment of body and soul. But Lazarus, who was covered with sores and in constant agony with nothing of material value, only his hope in God, was ushered into a place of comfort, healing, and wholeness the likes of which he’d never had the capacity to imagine.
Now the roles are reversed, but the man who had everything finally realizes what he missed and now his only thoughts are for those who he left behind, his family who are heading to the same place he is unless someone warns them. But here’s the tragedy. Listen to Jesus’ words from Abraham to the rich man: “If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.”
Does that mean lost people are hopeless? No, it simply means that now Someone HAS risen from the dead to give everyone with an ounce of gumption the opportunity to trade their life of sin and shame, even though it be a life of luxury and wealth, for a life of devotion to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Our poverty for His riches, but here’s the truth – it’s a life for a life! Our life of sin and disobedience for His life of sinless perfection lived on our behalf. It’s not a fair trade, because He gave His life on a Cross, and we get forgiveness and new life we can never earn or deserve. And the best part! It’s 100% free! All we have to do is say: “YES”!
If you’re ready to allow Jesus to change your eternal address, just tap ANewStory.com and allow Ron Hutchcraft to walk you across the bridge to a new life today. Please don’t delay!
Blessings, Ed 😊
