The reality of eternity

I have just watched again the film, The Bucket List which is about two men, played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, who are told they have just six months to live. They decide to spend those six months doing the things and visiting the places they would love to do and see before they die.

Inevitably some of their conversations concern what they think will happen when they die. Jack Nicholson’s character is of the opinion that when you die that is it, whilst Morgan Freeman’s character has some faith in God and belief that he will be going to heaven.

What is frightening though is that underlying these conversations which often reflect what most people believe, is that you can select whatever hereafter you fancy and that determines your eternal destiny. If you believe your good works will give you access to heaven or you think re-incarnation is a possibility or that eternal oblivion is the reality after death, that is what will occur. 

Personally I would say that is wishful thinking at best and frightening deception at worst. There is of course no evidence one way or the other for this thinking which I believe we need to challenge. I prefer to base my eternal hopes on something more solid than my vain imaginings. My eternal destiny is too important a reality to trust to anything other than a reliable source material.

The one thing of which I am assured is that life is 100% fatal. We will all die.  For my eternity, I’d rather trust in the Bible and what Jesus says through its words than hope it will all turn out alright on the night. Many people are very sceptical about the Bible and its authenticity.  However there are no other works that were written several thousands years ago, that are still in print, let alone freely available in Western society.  On the other hand Bibles are feared by dictators and repressive regimes of other religions ban it and imprison those who either have one or try to give the book to others.

That in itself must be some evidence for its veracity. Why would people be prepared to die to get their hands on a copy if it was the just the writings of a few good men that are irrelevant today? I used to be sceptical about the authority of the Bible but after 35 years of being a Christian, I am utterly convinced it is the Word of God.

Having said that, I take very seriously the words of Jesus found within its pages. Jesus was in no doubt that when we die there will only be two destinations – heaven or hell.  I find no mention of eternal oblivion or re-incarnation and the Bible is very clear that no one can enter heaven by their good works. 

I think as Christians we have been very slow to counter balance the pick-and-mix eternity that is so prevalent in Western society. At too many funerals we are assured everyone is in heaven with absolutely no basis for these supposedly comforting words. All this does is perpetuate the lie that we can do what we like in this life and everything will be alright. Jesus’s death on the cross to open the way to heaven for all who call on the name of the Lord, has been reduced to an optional extra. 

Jesus said ‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’ Matthew 7: 13 – 14. That’s frightening. 

Jesus had so much to say about hell that even as Christians we conveniently ignore. 

And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘“the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9: 47 – 48 

Jesus referred to the fire of hell on various occasions and told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16: 19  - 31 which is just about the clearest story about the two destinations that await everyone after they die.

This is too important a topic to put on the shelf to await a day when we are older and death is more imminent. No one knows when they are going to die, unless like the two men in The Bucket List, they are given a set time to live but that is not an exact science. 

As Christians we need to sort out our own thinking, first of all about the wonders of heaven and an eternity with Jesus that is really worth talking about and the alternative – the fires of hell. As I get older, more people are dying around me. I am trying to be bolder to speak about eternity and what the Bible says. Wishful thinking will not get anyone into heaven. The narrow way is only through Jesus. He paid the price and there is no other name by which we can be saved.