"I didn't care if it was night or day; for me it was eternally night." So said spelunker Veronique LeGuen after emerging from a cave in southern France in which she had spent 110 days. She is a scientist studying the effect of total isolation on the human body. What was her first desire after leaving the cave? "I wanted very badly to smell the flowers of the mountains," she said.
Exiting the cavern, in a small span of time Veronique had experienced two extremes: the darkness of the cave and the beautiful mountains which were full of light and the fragrance of flowers. When each of us dies we shall experience a tremendous change in a short span of time. For the believer who is trusting in Christ, leaving this world and entering the next will be like leaving a cavern and entering bright sunshine.
Instead of this earth, which bears the scars of sin and strife, his home will be in heaven where he has an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled and "fadeth not away." In heaven the fragrance of Christ shall fill every nook and cranny and He Himself fills the place with light. "The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [the Lord Jesus Christ] is the light thereof."
Are you absolutely certain you will spend eternity with Christ in glory? You can be. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
You do not deserve salvation. At first this might be hard to accept, for we tend to place so much importance on who we are and what we have done. But Christ's death and suffering show us what we truly are ruined sinners going hopelessly towards destruction.
"Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood," will be the theme song of those in heaven. Notice there is not one hint in this song about someone deserving to be there because of their own goodness or their own works. The song is all about Christ. This is the secret of being completely sure of our salvation also—knowing that it all depends on the Lord Jesus and the work He did on Calvary's cross.
BUT—"eternally night" describes the condition of those who die without ever having come to Christ for salvation. What will it be to pass suddenly from this world where, "the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun" into "outer darkness" where "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
"They shall never see light." the Bible says. "Never." That means eternally. Not for 110 days, not for 70 years, the average lifetime of a man, but for eternity which is inhabited by God Himself—time without end.
You can live without God—you can die without Christ—but you can never escape hell if you do. The serious consideration of what those will suffer in the regions where it is truly "eternally night" should lead each one to repentance and faith in Him who alone is able to save.