It’s a phrase still used sometimes by people waiting when time seems to drag. The younger generation would more likely describe something as ‘taking ages’. Either way, it’s a long time, so long that time ceases to have a reliable meaning. Many books have been written about time and it is even a branch of philosophy! You’d think that it was easy to accept the past, present and future as obvious concepts but searches online will get you into physics, mathematics and semantics like ‘The Arrow of Time’. ‘Eternity’ is a word with a theological origin and essentially means something without a beginning or an end. We humans can struggle with that idea as we move in a linear way from birth to death. The implication is that there was life before us – now that’s easy to accept as you read history books. The bigger concept is that of life after death for that would suggest there is a God. The Bible refers to God as being eternal and having ‘everlasting arms’. This is no small deal for anyone accepting it for it is a major shift in perspective on life. If you don’t presently accept it, consider the reasons you have for rejecting it and the consequences of being right or wrong.
- ‘Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity’ – Henry Van Dyke
- ‘Every action of your life touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity’ – Edwin Hubbel Chapin
- ‘What impact are you making, not only today, but for eternity? What impact are you making to leave a legacy?’ – Kirk Cousins
- ‘Everything that has existed, lingers in the Eternity’ – Agatha Christie
Henry Jenkins was an Englishman who was buried on 9 December 1670 and claimed to have been born in 1501, meaning he would have been 169 years old at his death! The oldest person ever whose age has been independently verified is Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) of France, who lived to the age of 122 years and 164 days. The oldest verified man ever is Jiroemon Kimura (1897–2013) of Japan, who lived to the age of 116 years and 54 days. However short or long, most of us do not like the idea of this life ending either because we want more or we are anxious about what lies beyond the last breath. What if it is to enter eternity and face the One who always was and always will be? Some find it easier to think of the body merely as a random accident made up solely of chemicals that just happen to exist! The convenience of this theory is that it doesn’t matter how you live for you are accountable to no one but the more you think about it, the more ridiculous it seems. We need more than this – how about the One from Eternity tells us?
- ‘The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms’ – Deuteronomy 33:27
- ‘I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life’ – John 5:24
- ‘Everyone must die once. After a person dies, he is judged’ – Hebrews 9:27
- ‘God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end’ – Ecclesiastes 3:1
This means that all of us who are made in the image of God have an intuitive awareness that life does not stop at the grave. The Bible contains the most compelling and authoritative words ever said about life beyond the grave. Jesus Christ is the only one for whom a brutal death was followed by a glorious resurrection and has made a way for others. Here’s what he said to someone asking about that: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:25-26
C S Lewis declared that Jesus was either mad, bad or who he said he was: ‘A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice’. The Bible tells us that Jesus was with God the Father before the beginning of time and that with him, nothing is to be feared in eternity. Our bodies get weak and tired as we reach the end of life’s journey as this song from Lou Fellingham picks up, but it also speaks of those ‘everlasting arms’ and how we can lean it to God. Why not have a listen and think through how prepared you are for eternity. A few minutes now will not be regretted in eternity!
For more reading: A SPACIOUS PLACE – Connect4Life