Eternity in Relation to God and Man

 •  5 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
"ETERNITY" is mentioned once only in the Scriptures, though there are many words that are equivalent to it—that is, which mean the same thing—such as "eternal," "everlasting," "which was, which is, and which is to come," "the ages of ages," and so forth.
In Isa. 57:15 we find the word—"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy." Here is the eternity and holiness of God's being presented. He inhabits eternity; His name is Holy. Such is God, and such is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of all who believe in Him.
Beloved reader, do you know this God, the God of the. Bible, as your God? You have heard of Him with the outward ear, but do you know Him in the depths of your soul? Does your heart know rest and joy in God Himself? If not, the word is, "Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at, peace: thereby good shall come unto thee," (Job 22:21.)
It is not in the mysteries of science that you are invited to search, in order to find out Him, for "who by searching can find out God?" but you are invited to behold, with the eye of faith, the God of love and truth revealed in Jesus Christ, God's well-beloved Son. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1:18); "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him" (Matt. 11:27); "Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person," (Heb. 1:3); "The image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). So that Christ when on earth could say, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Blessed revelation of God to sinful man, a way surely that secures his eternal blessing, unless it be deliberately rejected.
But that word "eternity," how it swells with importance as we think of it. Eternity! Let my soul dwell upon its awful significance, not only in its relation to God, but in its relation to me and to my fellow-man.
“Time is short," and our life is but "a vapor," "a tale that is told," when past, and yet in this life our eternal whereabouts is determined, Tremendous are the issues of our life. Mad folly that would trifle with the awful reality of eternity.
“On trifles light as air" are men feeding, when it is written for their instruction, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36, 37.)
Eternity! I was in the city of Chicago some time ago, and much moved in spirit by the open sin, the bold rejection of God and His word, the determination to become rich, and to enjoy the present at the expense of the future, that I saw on every hand; and while there, the reality of eternity pressed upon me perhaps as never before. I thought much of eternity, and the masses of human beings rushing on to eternity, regardless of what was before them. Oh, for some way to reach them! For a voice as loud as thunder to make them hear, and to turn them to the shelter from the impending judgment.
“Eternity! What is it for me, what is it for my fellow-men?" thought I. "Could I measure it? No. Could I comprehend it? No. But I can, must, and shall live it.”
As I thought of eternity and its unmeasured and unmeasurable ages, it came to me in this way: Could I take the leaves of every tree in the wide world, and count a hundred years for every leaf; could I take the grains of sand in the deserts and upon the oceans' shores, and count a thousand years for every grain; could I take the drops of water that make up the streams and rivers and seas and oceans, and count a million years for every drop; could I take the particles of air in infinite space, and count a billion years for every particle, and roughly casting up these enormous figures, my sum, when completed, would but give me eternity's breaking morn! O eternity, eternity, eternity!
And you and I, beloved reader, have to spend it; and the question forces itself upon us, Where will we spend eternity?
Sit down, sit down, beloved friend, and face the fact, if you have never faced it before; close your ears to Satan's lies, to man's false reasoning, to his "philosophy and vain conceit"; close your eyes, put your face in your hands upon your knees, and ask yourself the solemn question, Where shall I spend eternity? Will it be an eternity with God and Christ, and the redeemed, in the holy and bright heavens above, or will it be in the "outer darkness," where light and hope can never come?
If it is with God and Christ, and the redeemed, you must be able to say from the depths of your moral being, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen." (Rev. 1:5, 6.) E. A.
GLAD may your soul be, even to walk in the fiery furnace, with one like unto the Son of Man, who is also the Son of God. Courage up your heart; when you tire, He will bear both you and your burden.— Extracted.