ETERNITY

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits ETERNITY…– Isaiah 57:15a

Humanity is so engrossed with things of ‘Time’ it’s worth giving some thoughts and reflections to ETERNITY and things of eternal value. God inhabits Eternity. The entirely of time is in His hands! We are creatures of eternity passing through Time: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put ETERNITY in their hearts…” (Eccl.3:11a). By God’s grace, we bear eternity in our hearts. Our spirits have eternal value. Therefore, at the turn of a passing year and threshold of the Year of God’s FULLNESS, it befits us to remember that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2Pet.3:8). The entire human lifespan that we make a great deal of is like a drop of rain in the ocean of eternity. Yet, time remains of the essence, because our decisions and deeds in time determine and seal our fate for eternity! The righteous shall be rewarded in time and eternity, but “there is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked” (Isa.57:21).

Having an eternal perspective is like knowing the end of the story from onset. Believers who have known the Lord intimately for a long time or who have endured great trials often have a better heavenly vision than the rest of humanity. Their eternal eyesight has been sharpened even if their close-up “earthly vision” is dimming. As one with such eternal vision, the apostle Paul encouraged Christians: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are ETERNAL” (2Cor.3:18). It takes an eternal view of life to wade through time’s tempests and turbulences, and emerge triumphant. When the trials seem more daunting than your human strength can take, let the Lord show you the glorious end of the story when you will be in His Presence forever!

The race of life is more eternal than temporal, and the authentic and real prize is eternal (1Cor.9:24; Phi.3:14). Keep your eyes on the prize. Meanwhile, there’s a tension between enjoying all that God has blessed us with in this life, and envisioning our eternal home; one that is infinitely better than the most exquisite accommodation on this side; one in which we’ll enjoy God forever! For now we struggle with our “eyesight”: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1Cor.13:12). Seeing Him will bring perfect vision: “Beloved, now are we the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1Jh.3:2). Do you have “this hope in Him”? Do you have eternal eyesight? How are you purifying yourself?

Like the ending of another year, everything in this temporal world – good and bad – eventually comes to “The End.” Life on earth ultimately does come to the end – sometimes sooner than is expected, despite the painful emptiness of hearts that wished it wasn’t over yet! Temporal death often reinforces the reality of eternity. Yet, death is only a transition to eternity. We need not wait for death before we build the assurance and conviction of our eternal destinies. For hope today, and in the coming years, we must remember the end of the story – eternity with God! Life on this earth is but a moment compared to eternity. May the Lord help us to enjoy and maximize the time we’ve been given, while using us to share His love and goodness on this side of eternity, until that day when we shall see Him as He is and become like Him!