Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 25:34 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 3:11 states, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity in man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to the end.”  In one sense, we have the concept of eternity and the longing for eternity in our hearts because we were created in the image of God. The desire to live forever is planted within us by God. However, he limits our grasp of eternity as a mystery that will not be revealed until we leave this earth.

Our scripture for today shows that there will be an eternity for the righteous. However, scripture also teaches that the unrighteous, that is the unsaved, will also experience eternity in a different way. All of us will live forever. It is just a matter of where you will spend eternity: in heavenly bliss with the Lord Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) or in separation from God in Hell (Revelation 14:9-11; Revelation 20:15).

From the beginning, mankind was meant to live forever with God. As long as Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Life, they would live forever. However, sin brought death to mankind, because God prevented Adam and Eve from ever entering the Garden of Eden again. Worse still, sin separated us spiritually from God.  From the time of the fall, God already had a plan of salvation to restore us to eternal life with Him.

The first hint of a Savior comes in Genesis 3:15, when God curses the serpent, but alludes to Jesus as the Seed of the woman. John 3:15 says, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  So, we have a Savior, in Jesus, who is God incarnate. He took our sins upon Himself on the cross. His perfect, precious, and holy blood was shed for our sins.

The reality is that those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will indeed experience spiritual death and spend eternity in separation from God. However, the reason that Christ came and died for us is to save us from this reality. 

This week, if you don’t know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, confess your sins to Him, believe that He has provided a way of salvation for you, and accept Him into your heart. If you are already a Christian, pray that the Holy Spirit will bring you opportunities to witness to others this coming week.