What About Eternity?

Can I get personal with you for a minute? If you were to die today and stand before God; and He were to ask you, "Why should I let you into Heaven?", what would your answer be? If you were to go out on the street and ask this question to 10 different people, you'd probably get 10 different answers.

Many people will say that they hope their good will outweigh their bad; that God will put their good deeds on one side of the scale, and bad deeds on the other side, and whichever side is more, then that's where they go. Some will say that there is no Heaven or Hell, or that if there is, we can't really know. But did you know the Bible says that we can know for sure, right now, where we will go when we die?

The first thing you need to understand is that all of us are sinners. Romans 3:23 says that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." The phrase "fall short" literally means to miss the mark. It would be like you and I had a contest to see who could throw a rock and hit the moon; we'd both fall woefully short of the mark. In the same way, when we try to be good enough to get to Heaven, we fall short.

Just like there are wages for the work you do every day, there are wages that we receive for our sins. Romans 6:23a says that the "...wages of sin is death..." Death is not just ceasing to live here on earth, but spending eternity separated from God in hell. Not a popular subject today, but did you know that Jesus spoke more about hell than He did Heaven? I think He didn't want us to go there.

Isaiah 64:6 tells us that all our righteousness, the very best we can do on our very best day, is as filthy rags in the sight of God. The best we have to offer Him is really an insult to His perfection.  That's the bad news; we're sinners, we can't be good enough to go to Heaven, and we would have to be perfect to get there anyway.

Each week when we visit our local juvenile detention center, I share this message with the young people that come to Bible study. Invariably, one of them will ask, "Well if we have to be perfect, and we're not, how can we get to Heaven?" My response is always, "I'm glad you asked that question."

You see, God loves you. He loves me. He loves every human being that has ever lived on this earth. He didn't create us just to let us hurtle toward eternal separation from Him. When God created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He created them to have eternal fellowship with Him. They chose to disobey Him, and break that fellowship, thus necessitating a Savior.

God sent His only Son Jesus to this earth to take on a human form, to live a sinless life, and become the complete sacrifice for our sins. He willingly went to the cross of Calvary, shed His blood as the payment for our sins, was buried, and three days later rose again, proving that God had accepted the payment for sin.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

The world; whosoever; put your name there. Anyone can be saved. Anyone can spend eternity in Heaven with God. Don't let anyone ever tell you that only certain people are born to go to Heaven; if that were true, then everyone was born to go to hell without a choice. That is not a merciful God of love. His love and grace extend to whoever will receive it.

For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Friend, the moment you make that decision, that Jesus' blood was shed for your sins, that there is nothing you can do to earn your salvation, God promises that you have eternal life. John 6:47 Jesus said, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." That word "hath" is simply an old English word for the modern English word "possesses now". Jesus said, "If you put your trust in me, you possess everlasting life right now." It's not anything we do; it is by the blood of Jesus Christ that we are justified, or declared righteous, in the sight of God.

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life;" 1 John 5:13a

Will you make that decision right now? You can do it wherever you are, and simply tell God this: "God, I know I'm a sinner; I know I could never be good enough to get to Heaven. I may not understand everything about it, but the best I know how, I believe that Jesus paid my sin debt when He shed his blood on the cross and rose from the dead 3 days later."

Friend, there's no magic in that prayer; there's no power in you raising your hand, or walking an aisle. The power is in the Gospel, the good news. The moment you place your trust in Jesus, you have eternal life. You are secure, a child of God, and He will never lose you or kick you out. You are His forever.

Now, does that mean you can live however you want, and still go to Heaven? Yes but no. Your salvation depends on God, not your works. How you live now does not affect your eternal security, but it can affect your life now. You are now God's child, and He chastens those whom He loves. If you think that you can keep living in sin, He will chasten you and may even take you home to Heaven early.

The fact that we are sure of our salvation should drive us to want to share that with others and to live for God. If you've made this decision after reading this, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at john.e.vincent@gmail.com and let me know!