Eternity, What does it mean?

Commentary By:  Gordon King

Does the bible mention eternity?  Yes it does.

John 5:24 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

2 Thessalonians 1:9

“They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”

So not only does the bible mention eternity, but it states that we either go on into eternal life, or eternal destruction!

Eternity to me sounds like an awfully long time.  In fact, it sounds like forever!  But just what does the word eternity actually mean?

The Google definition:  infinite or unending time;  endless life after death.

The New Testament of the bible was, as far as we know, originally written in the Greek language.  The Greek word for eternal found in John 5:24 and in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 both use the same word: aiōnion.  Strong’s concordance gives us this meaning: eternal, forever, everlasting.  The Hebrew word is: olam, meaning “forever”.

So eternity means forever, never ending, without end, infinite.  So depending on what you believe, and who you believe in, you will spend the rest of your physical afterlife somewhere forever!  Either in heaven or in hell.  We all have that choice to make before we pass on into eternity.

What will hell be like?  This is what I take from scripture, believe it or not.

Hell.  Choosing not to accept Jesus and receive eternal life, means you have accepted eternal damnation.  You shall live on forever in hell.  A place without God.  Since you have rejected Him here on earth, you will live without Him forever.  What does such a place without God look like?  It is unloving, hateful, hurtful, painful, torturous, unrelenting.  It is filled with evil, demonic spirits also separated from God.  You shall cry out to God for help, with no answer.  It is everything that God is not.  And it shall last for eternity.  It will be Hell!

What will heaven be like?  This is also what I take from scripture.

Heaven.  What will heaven be like?  Well the bible tells us that God has prepared many mansions for us, and that He has prepared a city, the New Jerusalem!  With streets made of gold so pure that they are translucent, with walls of many gemstones, it will be 1500 miles high, and 1500 miles wide in both directions.  There shall be food to eat, and a tree of life with 12 different kinds of fruit.  I imagine a place that is very surreal compared to what we see on earth, that there shall be smells we have never smelled, colors that we have never seen, and sounds that we have never heard.  There will be things for us to do, we will not be sitting around on clouds playing harps all day long!  I believe that we will be busy serving the Lord in many different ways.  That we will meet people from ages past, and form new eternal relationships.  There will be a peace like no other, a comfort that is indescribable.  You will feel no more pain, have no more sorrow or discomfort, and all of your tears shall be wiped away forever!

All of this is what I take from scripture and believe it all to be true.  Eternity is forever, it is eternal, infinite, never-ending.  It is determined by the paths we take, the choices we make while physically living here on earth.  We all have a choice to make.  God loves everyone and wishes for no one to perish.

The choice is yours to make, make the right decision.

Accept Jesus now as your personal Lord and Savior!

God Bless my friends!