Articles
Hope for Eternity
Hope is defined by Webster as – (1) a feeling that what is wanted will happen, and (2) to want and
expect. When we hope, we are counting on our desires becoming reality. Something hoped for is not
yet come to be reality. The apostle Paul wrote, “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen
is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we
eagerly wait for itwith perseverance” (Romans 8:24-25).
All of us have wishes, desires, dreams and hopes. It has been said that “life void of all hope would be a
heavy and spiritless thing”. Hope helps to stimulate us on in life. We are refreshed by the expectation
that tomorrow hopefully will be a day for us to enjoy being alive. We hope for the pleasant welfare of
ourselves and others. We have high hopes for our children' lives to be better than ours have been. We
hope for the recovery of a sick loved one. We hope that our world will be at peace more often than at
war. Hope takes a priority place in our days of living. It is as a fuel which feeds the fires of life.
Do you have a capacity for hope beyond this life? Do you look forward to the time when time will be
no more and we will be enveloped by eternity? The Bible teaches us - “ And as it is appointed for men
to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Each person will be in eternity someplace.
Jesus Christ said, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life” (Matthew 25:46). Where does your hope lie for eternity: in everlasting punishment because you
are yet in your sins, unforgiven by God, or in eternal bliss because the Lord has found you faithful in
all things? I believe that everyone reading this article has hope of spending eternity in life with God
and not in eternity separated from God. What have you been doing NOW with your life to have the
confidence that your hope will become reality in eternity?
Jesus Christ declared - “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). God's
word is truth (John 17:17). The truth of God's word is that “all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23). The of God's word is that the saved (those whose sins have been forgiven by
God) are saved “by grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). You cannot forgive or remove your own sins,
only God can do that (Mark 2:7). And yet, some people tend to live in careless and reckless lifestyles
which put their souls in jeopardy for eternity. Living in such a manner and saying at the same time,
“God will forgive me”, is folly.
But to learn God's will and see His expectations for man's life (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) is a much better
way to go through life. Without repentance (changing ones mind about how one is living and living in
God's way) is the safest way. Remember, if you really want to have true hope for eternity, it can only
be found in God's Son, Jesus Christ. That's why God sent His Son to find the lost. To bring them to
God for all eternity. Is your hope in Christ? Unless it is, one does not have much to hope for in
eternity
- Hope for Eternity.pdf (83.16 kB)
