I’ve spent the last few months (barely) keeping my head above water. (There I am with the water theme again… Hmmmm.) So let’s see if I can get the hang of this blogging business. What’s on the top of my mind right now?
A friend was visiting the office today and we got to discussing (among other things) something he heard on the radio about a former pastor turned atheist. A question was raised, which he relayed to me, about whether humans are truly eternal beings, or merely temporal—unless and until they profess faith in Christ, at which point they are granted eternal life. Presumably the assumption is that if you don’t have eternal life, you are annihilated at death, not sent to eternal punishment.
We sort of assume this to be true. We take it for granted. Is this really what the Bible teaches? How could I explain this to someone? I had some ideas, but had to admit I couldn’t construct a definitive answer on the spot. We agreed that we would both look into it and speak again.
It reminded me of the challenge I received from a retreat speaker back in college, about whether Jesus truly claimed to be God, and how to back it up with Scripture. Pretty much everybody there was embarrassed to admit they couldn’t point to specific references, but somehow felt sure He did claim to be God.
In my conversation today, I thought immediately of the garden of Eden, where there was no death until Adam and Eve sinned. Implicit to the description there is that they would have continued to live in pure, face-to-face fellowship with God for eternity (since they wouldn’t die). Yet the discussion today spurred me to look further. Right away I found Matthew 25. There Jesus describes His return in glory, and how He will sit on His throne, separating the sheep from the goats: the righteous and the unrighteous or cursed.
It looks to pretty clearly address what we were discussing, though I will continue to study this. In verse 41, Jesus says, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” So the lake of fire, although it was prepared for the devil and his angels, will be the destination for the “goats” as well.
Later in verse 46, He clarifies that this is not mere annihilation, but is in fact eternal punishment: “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
That’s a pretty heavy topic with which to return to my blog. But it is a reminder that the work I do here at FaithSearch has significance and monumental consequences, for the Kingdom, and for those who hear our message. I appreciate your interest in it.
