ARE YOU LIVING WITH ETERNITY IN VIEW?

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1)

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We will not be here forever; we are all leaving one day. You must live your life in the light of eternity. There are three words Paul used in the above text of 2 Cor. 5:1 that underscores the reality of eternity. These are: earthly tent; destroy; and eternal house.

By “earthly tent” it suggests that we are living temporarily here on earth. This earth is a dress rehearsal. The real play is yet to come. The word “destroy” implies that there will be an end to our stay here and of course by mentioning “eternal home”, it brought the issue of eternity to the fore.

The issue of eternity is not obscured in the teaching of the Bible. Jesus taught and made copious allusions to it using several stories and parables. The Bible clearly paints the picture of the fact that this life is not all there is; we are made to last forever. The scripture says: “He has made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end”. (Eccl 3:11).

All the years of your existence in this world are to give you an opportunity to make a choice of your placement in eternity. This life is preparation for the next. Life on earth is just the dress rehearsal before the real production. To make the most of life, therefore demands that the vision and value of eternity is kept continually in the mind. There’s far more to life than just here and now. Eternity is all the rest you don’t see underneath the surface.

There are several places in the Bible where the reality of eternity is underscored:

• The certainty of Death:

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. The time came when the beggar died and angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side” (Luke 16:19-22 NIV)

• The Combustible Nature of Material things:

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19, 20 HCSB).

• The Transient Nature of Life:

“Now listen to me, you that say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.’ You don’t even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears” (James 4:13-14 TEV)

• The Brevity of Human Life

“Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be. Help me to know that I am here for but a moment” (Psalm 39:4 LB)     

Dear friend, the Bible made it clear that we are here on a temporary stay. When you don’t see the temporary nature of your stay here, you may likely misuse every bit of your life here on earth. A lot of people are still struggling with the purpose for their stay on earth. Because of this ignorance of the essence of life, a lot have abused the reason for their existence.

The following truths are made plain in the Bible concerning your stay on earth:

• You are a Pilgrim: “If you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth” (I Peter 1:17 GWT)
• You are an Ambassador: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassador…” ( 2 Cor. 5:20)
• You are a citizen of Heaven: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20 NIV)
• You are on a race: “Do you not know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receive the prize? Run in such a way that you may win” (1 Cor. 9:24).

Let me end with this instructive quote from Abraham Lincoln: “Surely God would not have created such a being as man to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.” Therefore, live with eternity in view!

Written by:

Gideon Akanbi, PhD