The patriarch Job, speaking about life and death in Job chapter 14, reminds us that our days are few, we are like a flower cut down, a shadow that continues not. He tells us that our days are determined and that there are appointed bounds that cannot be crossed. Then, in the light of death, Job asks a very searching question: ‘Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?' – a question that has been posed in the generations since. I'm sure you will agree with me that nothing could be imagined more important than settling the answer to this inquiry. When a man dies, WHERE IS HE? The answer is, in ETERNITY! Sometimes, there is a little sticker displayed on the rear screen of cars, asking the question, ‘ETERNITY WHERE?' or, as we drive through the countryside, we see signs nailed to trees bearing the same challenge. ETERNITY is that sphere beyond time and this life as we know it. We are bound by time and its limitations. Not so in eternity - it is the timeless age that lasts forever. Eternity is our existence in a future state, and the great question is ‘WHERE?' Ponder:
When does eternity begin? In its existence it has no beginning, but for you and I, mortal creatures of time, it begins at DEATH. Life is but a short journey. We are all travelers just passing through. Our travels occupy our lifetime; our destination is eternity. One day we are going to leave the boundaries of time. I know that some people are so foolish that they live as if this life was the only life. God is not in their thoughts; death is far from their minds; eternity is unrealised. They live for the things of earth only.
Please understand, that we will come to die one day; we will leave this life. What then? – ETERNITY! Sooner or later, everyone runs out of time, then ETERNITY!
Where does the soul depart to? What lies beyond the grave? What after death? This is Job's question - ‘Man dieth...and where is he?' The question is important! Death does not end it all; it's only the beginning. The Bible makes it plain that there are but two destinations after death; two conditions in eternity. It's either ETERNAL LIFE, the gift of God to the repentant sinner, or ETERNAL DEATH, the sentence passed upon all men indiscriminately, who die unpardoned and unforgiven (Romans 6:23).
How long will eternity continue? How long will it last? - Eternity is FOREVER! It never concludes, it never ends, it never ceases. This is delightful news for the child of God who will enjoy eternal life in Heaven; but disturbing news for the Christ-rejector who will endure the torments of eternal death in the caverns of the damned. Those who know the Lord as Saviour will ‘reign for ever and ever' (Rev.22:5), those who are damned will be tormented ‘for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night' (Rev.14:11).
In the light of eternity we must be challenged to make preparation. Jesus Christ is the One who has prepared the way. He went to the Cross and there made a sacrifice for sin. He suffered God's wrath against sin on our behalf. He bled and died that we might be reconciled to God and forgiven. But you must COME to Him, SEEK Him as your Saviour, REPENT of your sin and BELIEVE on Him alone for salvation. ETERNITY is not far away; just a step. Heaven or Hell may be just around the next corner. Dear unconverted reader, you may meet with death and eternity before this day is through. PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD! Get, by faith, to Jesus Christ the Saviour with all haste. WHERE WILL YOU BE IN ETERNITY?