What do you believe about eternity? It is crucial that you have a Biblical understanding of eternity. 

God teaches us in the Bible that He is eternal – having no beginning and no end. Psalm 90:2: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

God also teaches us that there is an eternal destination for everyone. 

Those who love Jesus, and have a relationship with God because of Jesus, will spend eternity with Jesus in the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21-22).

But God also tells us in the Bible that there is an eternal destination for all who reject Jesus. That destination is a realm without the presence of God. It is difficult for us to understand what that will be like because from Adam until today we have always had God’s presence with us, through His Holy Spirit, and through Jesus, when He lived on earth. 

These verses provide thoughts on the eternal destiny of those who don’t have a living relationship with Jesus: Luke 16:22-23: “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.”

Do you know for certain, without any doubt or reservation, that you are spending your eternity with Jesus?

What might “mess up” your eternity?

As I pose that question, the first truth I want to make certain you understand is that when you have a true relationship with God, through His Son, Jesus, by the power of His Holy Spirit, you can never lose your eternal destiny – spending your forever with Jesus.

However, people often believe they have their eternal destiny with Jesus in place. 

But God may not see it that way.  Please consider these words Jesus spoke: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”. Luke 7:21-23

These folks Jesus spoke to were messing up their eternity. What was the problem?

Lack of obedience to God’s commands – that was the problem!

Consider the verses that followed the above words spoken by Jesus:

 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Luke 7:24-27

God is “The Rock” we build our lives upon. Any other manner of living this life is foolish, and compares to building a structure on sand.

God, through His Word, His Spirit and through people (Jesus’ followers and even the unsaved), attempts to convict us with regard to our sins. It may be about gossip, being deceitful, sexual immorality, or some other specific sin. The reason God is concerned with us confessing and repenting of our sins is because the lack of doing so reveals that we are messing up our eternity, and a life of sin will lead us to eternal separation from Him.

It’s not that God is mainly concerned about us getting out of the sin. His concern is much deeper than that. His concern is that we are going to live our eternity separated from Him.

God desires that no one perish. 

God desires that every person come to the place of knowing, loving, and obeying Him.

2 Peter 3:9 states those truths this way: “The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” Amplified Bible

What is repentance? 

The Grace and Truth Study Bible makes this statement regarding repentance: “Repentance is a change in a person’s attitude toward God that impacts one’s actions and overall direction in life.”

Repentance is turning from our incorrect view of God, to a correct view of God, and what He thinks. When we exchange our wrong, ungodly thinking for Biblical thinking, our actions adjust with that change, and we are repenting.

A lack of repentance for known sin is a real problem. Should this continue, we need to beware that we may be messing up our eternity.

Is there a sin you are well aware of that you are not willing to take action on so that you are in a right position with God? Why would you risk messing up your eternity? 

Please contact me at:  ButGodCares@gmail.com if you want to talk about having security in your eternal destination.

Living for Jesus, Donna

P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!

Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you.

Copyright 2024 Donna Shappy   All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.