Key verse: 2 Corinthians 5:1: “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands,” (NLT).
Many of us, who are sensitive and observing the way things are going in the world, have come to know that the Devil is very busy obliterating the fact of eternity in the mind of people. One of the things some of us heard when we gave our lives to Christ was that eternity is real, and very near. The Devil is busy deleting those facts from people’s mind. Some pastors are not helping matters at drawing people’s attention to eternity. The fact of eternity not been preached as it is supposed to has led to what we are experiencing in our world today. There are increases of corruption, wickedness, immoral living and ungodly lifestyle. Many people are living as if they will not give account of their actions and their lives to God.
The church of Jesus Christ has a duty to let people know that a day will come when people will stand and give account of their lives. Jesus lived in view of eternity. In John 14:1-3, Jesus said to His disciples, I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus describes heaven as a real place where He will live with His disciples. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus also taught with authority on hell, describing it as a blazing furnace, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. You can choose where you will spend your eternity. In John 5:24, Jesus tells us that we got to choose whether or not to spend eternity with Him. Eternal life with Jesus starts the minute you ask Him to come into your life to be your Lord and personal saviour. If you choose to live without Jesus on earth, you will continue to live without Him in eternity. A day will come, when you will lie lifeless in a casket and face your maker.
Jesus is the only way to heaven. In John 14:6, Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the father except through Him. Following Jesus is the only way to live eternally in heaven. The will of God is that no one will perish and spend eternity in hell fire. Jesus wants everyone to spend eternity in heaven with Him. Heaven is not a place reserved for a selected few. It is open to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and has turned away from his/her sinful ways. You do not repent and have a change of heart once you step into eternity. In Luke Chapter 16, the story of the rich man and Lazarus teaches us that once in hell, it is too late to repent and accept Jesus. Abraham told the rich man that between ‘us and you’ is a great gulf, which has been set in place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor could anyone cross over from there to us.
The apostles lived in view of eternity. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, if only in this life, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. There is hope for every believer beyond this life and world. Paul consciously approached the fact of eternity and at the end of the day, he boldly said I have fought a good fight of faith. The ultimate goal in life is not to acquire material things, but to live with Christ in eternity.
• Today’s nugget: The believer’s hope is beyond this life. Prayer: Lord speak a word to my heart. Prayer lines: 08033299824. E-mail: [email protected]. Rev. (Dr.) Abel Ukachi Amadi, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Nigeria.
