What Does Scripture Tell Us about Eternal Life?
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Facing our own mortality is daunting. Being keenly aware that this human form we have been given is finite and flawed is weighty knowledge. Caution colors our actions because when we are careless, death is all too eager to swallow us up.
There is a flip side to what we know about life beyond the grave. Revelation 21:8 says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Our choices now are profoundly important. We are eternal beings and who we choose to follow in this life has implications that live on long past our days on Earth. God warns us that we must make wise choices. Those who reject God are separated from him for eternity.
Knowing we are made for more than this life can help settle the tension we feel when we face all the ways this world feels lost and broken. There is hope past what we see in the news today. God is the ultimate executor of justice. We can trust His plan that includes more than what meets the eye.
Psalm 23:4 states, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” The knowledge that we have hope beyond the grave can give us courage! Fear of death informs so much of how this world operates. Those who know Jesus can live at peace knowing that the last moments they have here, God will be with them ready to walk them into a new place where the journey continues.
Jesus also charges us with a great commission (Matthew 28:16-20) that tells us to include as many as we can in this great Heaven-bound family. God desires that none of us miss out on the chance to be a part of his forever Kingdom. Jesus followers can live at peace with a mission to share God’s radical love story with everyone we meet. Eternity is for now and for forever.
What a gift it is to find Jesus! If you haven’t met him, it’s time to settle the question of your mortality. He is the answer you are looking for. He made you for more than this life. Follow him on the narrow path and you will find a peace-filled life that goes on well past your last day here in the land of the living.
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