On a Sunday at the end of November, it is celebrated in many churches: Eternity Sunday. A service commemorating church members who have died in the past year.
The atmosphere in the service is often somewhat fraught, serious. Death is something we would rather not have to deal with, and especially not when it concerns our loved ones.
On the other hand, the service on Eternity Sunday can also be a joyful one. After all, it is about eternity. Isn't that something we all long for? Don't we all hope that we will get to heaven?
What does the Bible say about eternity? We give you 5️⃣ thoughts.
1️⃣ God promises to be eternally faithful to those who believe in Him, and to care for them.
Psalm 103:17a
But the LORD is faithful to those who fear Him, from eternity to eternity.
Psalm 121:7-8
The LORD keeps you from all evil, He watches over your life, the LORD keeps watch over your going and your coming from now until eternity.
2️⃣ God's faithfulness even goes so far that those who believe in God will never die.
John 11:25-26
But Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live even when he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe that?
1 John 2:17
The world with its lusts passes away, but he who does God's will abides forever.
John 10:28-30
I give them eternal life: they will never be lost, and no one will rob them out of My hand. What my Father has given Me surpasses everything; no one can rob it out of my Father's hand, and the Father and I are one.
3️⃣ Eternal life contrasts in some ways with earthly life.
2 Timothy 4:18
The LORD will save me from all evil and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory for all eternity.
Romans 8:18
I am convinced that the suffering of this time is disproportionate to the splendor that will be revealed to us in the future.
Revelation 7:16-17
Then they will hunger no more and thirst no more, the sun will sting them no more, the heat will not afflict them. For the lamb in the midst before the throne will shepherd them, bringing them to the springs of life. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
4️⃣ Heaven is where God is.
Jeremiah 23:24b
Am I not everywhere, in heaven and on earth? - speaks the LORD.
Amos 9:6
He who has built in heaven His lofty abode, He who makes the vault of heaven rest upon the earth, He who gathers the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the earth - His name is LORD.
5️⃣ Exactly what eternal life with God will look like we do not know. Paul gives us a small foretaste of the return of Christ and life afterward:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
When the signal is given, the archangel raises his voice and the trumpet of God resounds, the Lord himself will descend from heaven. Then first the dead who belong to Christ will rise, and then we who are still alive will be carried away with them on the clouds, and we will go to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will always be with Him.
Are you looking forward to eternity?
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