Eternity = Knowing God

According to an article I recently read, people believe two major lies. The first is a lie about God; the second a lie about themselves.

The writer said that these lies take various forms, but as long as a person keeps believing them, the end result is eternal separation from God. In the Bible, this is the second death.

I’ve heard people say they don’t want eternal life. They think it would be boring. I’ve heard others say they are not worried about judgment because they have been a good person, much better than Hitler or even some of their neighbors. Others think that when you die the first time, you are dead, like a dog. And still others think that they will come back and get another chance to do it better. These ideas, and many more, fit into one or the other or both of those two categories.

How can I be so sure? In myself, what do I know? I’m just going by what Jesus says. Since He claimed to be God the Son, lived a sinless life, died willingly “for the sins of the world,” then rose from the dead, and was seen by over 500 witnesses, I’m banking on His word over the notions of every other person. He has the credentials.

He says we are sinners and can neither earn or deserve eternal life, contrary to the lie that assumes we are okay without Him. He also defined eternal life in an odd way. Most people think of eternity in terms of time, that it is endless, and something that happens to only those favored by God, but Jesus says eternity belongs to everyone.

In John 5:28-29, He says, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

For those who say, “Ah ha, it is about doing good and all good people get to go,” I must add that Jesus defined the necessary good work that pleases God in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Scripture is clear; those who believe are able to life a life of doing what pleases God, not because we are good, but because we have Jesus. He said, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

Back to the eternal life thing. It is not a description of time as much as it is a description of where each person is after they die. Everyone is resurrected. Some have eternal life, some go to an eternal death. Eternal death is similar to spiritual death; both deaths are about separation from God. Apart from God, life is merely physical. He gives it meaning, and He determines where it is spent.

Eternal life is also about who that life is spent with. Jesus also said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Eternal life is about fully knowing God. We can know Him here through faith in His Son, but our knowledge is incomplete. Only after I die and see Him face to face will I “know even as I am known.”

As that writer suggests, we know so little now about God and ourselves. For one thing, even people who believe in God and His Word still struggle with those two big lies.

Jesus promises that I will be set free from all those struggles on that day when I am ushered into His presence. However, there is so much to God than my mind can fully grasp, even as I am finally set free from sin and the limitations of this life. Because God is so incredible, to fully know Him will require an eternity.