Mission Venture Ministries

God does not promise anyone tomorrow, so preparing for eternity is vitally important. So why are so many people living for the temporary and so few preparing for eternity? 

We need to realize that the certainty of death is unavoidable and also what follows after death. God’s Word warns us that “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Our appointment with death comes with an unavoidable judgment. Those whose sins were forgiven at the cross because they trusted in what Christ did for them will experience everlasting joy in heaven, while those who die denying the Messiah will experience the eternal fires of hell. This is why preparing for eternity is the most important issue to consider in this life. We can be wrong about a lot of things and still go on, but if we are wrong about eternity, we will pay for that mistake for infinity. 

Our life on this earth is so fleeting and temporary compared to the endless time of eternity (James 4:13-14). Yet very few consider their life with an eternal perspective. Instead, there are many who foolishly pursue a life of pleasure, prestige, and power with little regard for what awaits them after death. The Lord Jesus Christ addressed this foolishness when He said, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). 

We have all sinned against our God and Creator, who cannot let the guilty go unpunished (Romans 3:23; Exodus 34:7). He is majestic in holiness and righteousness, and justice are the foundation of His throne (Exodus 15:11; Psalm 97:2). 

He is a God of love and mercy and did not leave us in our hopeless and helpless condition. In His infinite wisdom, God devised the one and only way He could save sinners while upholding His holiness, righteousness and justice. As a demonstration of His love, He sent His only Son to die as a substitute for sinners (Romans 5:8). 

Jesus was crucified as the perfect sacrifice to satisfy divine justice for sinners. He bore man’s sins, suffered God’s wrath, died in man’s place and was raised on the third day to show divine justice was satisfied. God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ “died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). It is for this reason everyone who has trusted Christ as their sinless substitute can look to their physical death as a passage into His glorious presence (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). 

Now, those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Hell is a real place of fiery torment where sinners undergo the punishment they deserve for their sins. This eternal punishment is called the second death, where divine justice is carried out forever in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). 

This is the place where unrepentant sinners consciously suffer pain and thirst from an unquenchable fire, and the horror is so great they want to warn their loved ones on earth, but cannot (Luke 16:19-31; Mark 9:43). There is weeping and gnashing of teeth because the eternal state of God’s just punishment is irreversible; there is no second chance, no escape, no hope, no rest, and no relief (Luke 13:28; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). 

There are only two things in this life that are eternal; the souls of men and the Word of God. Everything else will be burned up by fire (2 Peter 3:10-12). All too soon this life will be over and only what is done for Christ will last. May God “teach us to number our days” (Psalm 90:12). Let us be mindful of the shortness of time, the nearness of death, and the pending doom of lost sinners. May God help us all to keep this eternal perspective firmly planted in our hearts and share the truth of God’s word with as many people as we can. 

Please remember that no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Our life is but a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (James 4:14). Living with an eternal perspective will motivate Christians to faithfully share the Gospel of Christ with those who are on the broad road to destruction. One day we will all stand before our Judge and will have to give an account to Him. Therefore, the most important question we all must consider is this, “Am I ready to meet my Creator?” 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). 

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