Eternity: December 19, 2013

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 19, 2013.

ETERNITY

DEFINITION:

Infinite time; duration without beginning or ending; endless period of time.

SCRIPTURE:

That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:15

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

For a few days before Christmas we are looking at several of the gifts that God gave us as believers with the birth of Jesus. Yesterday we talked about the gift of salvation. Today we will talk about eternity.

Have you ever tried to imagine what eternity is like? It is very difficult for our finite minds to grasp the concept of life going on and on with absolutely no end. This is because here on earth life has a beginning and an ending. We have heard people say, and we have said ourselves, when standing in a line, that it seems like an eternity waiting to be helped. It may seem long but it is relatively short and there is an ending. Eternity is forever and ever.

In the two verses above, John and the writer of Romans both talk about the gift God has made available to us for us to have eternal life. This gift is obtained when one believes in Jesus as Savior and Lord. So we ask you the question, “Where will you spend eternity?”

It is a fact that we all will spend an eternity either with God in heaven or with Satan in hell. There is no other choice or option. We need to remind you that in order to spend eternity with Jesus you must ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and accept Him as your Savior. The other option is to ignore the issue, but ignoring the issue does not make the issue go away. Hell is automatic if you do not believe in Jesus; therefore each one of us has a choice to make. Our choices are first to accept Jesus as Savior and spend eternity with Him in heaven. Our second choice is to do nothing and go on living life as you are now and spend an eternity in hell. And finally our third choice is to reject Jesus and God and spend eternity in hell.

Many people today just do not want to face the fact that their un-forgiven sins will bring condemnation to them. People, for the most part, are searching for real hope and peace in their lives. The only real peace and joy one can experience in life is to know where you will spend eternity. Have you made that choice? Will you spend eternity with Jesus in heaven by accepting His gift to you or will you spend your eternity with the devil in hell?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 15:4.

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

PRAYER:
Thank You, Lord, that I can be certain where I will spend eternity. Thank You for sending Your Son to be born in this world so that we can ask for forgiveness of our sins and accept Your Son as our Savior and be assured we will spend eternity with You. I pray for those who do not know You that they might see that they need to be saved and that they will accept You as their Savior.