Nervous About Eternity

Class reunions are interesting occasions where you see people you haven't seen for years. You go hoping you will recognize people and that they will recognize you but you're bound to hear,

"Hey, I remember you, but with hair." "Didn't you used to have teeth?" "Didn't you used to have a body?" Conversations at reunions can be pretty superficial because you don't have much in common anymore. Once in awhile, you stop impressing each other enough to get into something important.

A doctor who was at his 45th high school reunion is a committed follower of Jesus Christ. He was catching up with a highly successful orthodontist who is a self-proclaimed atheist. This orthodontist said to the doctor, "So talk to me about what you believe." The doctor was pretty surprised to hear that from this particular fellow. Then the orthodontist gave his reason for asking. He said, "Frankly, I'm nervous about eternity."

Hebrews 9:27 from the Bible gives us a glimpse of the beginning of eternity for us. "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." The Bible confirms that we have an undeniable, uncancelable, unpostponable appointment with God for judgment. This orthodontist was refreshingly honest when he said, "I'm nervous about eternity."

Most of us know that feeling. Sometimes you feel it when a friend, loved one, or coworker dies, and for a little while you think about eternity. At a funeral you wonder, "What if that was me?" Sometimes you think about eternity when you have had a close call or in those quiet moments when thoughts you usually try to bury come to center stage.

Actually, it is a good idea to be nervous about eternity. It's going to last a lot longer than these seventy plus years here that you think about constantly. People everywhere seem to know in their soul that there is something between them and God. Something's wrong there. You know there is a moral reckoning and moral bill to be paid for the sins of your life. Wouldn't it be great to know that there was nothing to fear and your eternity was secure?

This might be the best news you have ever heard. Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners [that means a wall between God and us because we've run our own lives], Christ died for us." Romans 8:1 says, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Sin is what will keep you out of heaven, but Jesus paid for that sin when He died on the cross. If you put your trust in Him and His death for you, you can trade in a death penalty for eternal life. John 5:24 says it beautifully: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

The Plains Indians used to face the threat of prairie fires, so they burned a field between their village and the fire. They said, "The fire cannot go where the fire has already been." Why don't you go to the place where the fire for your sin fell on God's Son at the cross and claim His forgiveness? Dr. James Kennedy asks people, "If you died tonight, and God asked you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?' what would you tell Him?" That's a good question. You could say the only right answer, "Lord, I have trusted in the work that your only Son did on the cross." Once you have been to the cross, you don't ever have to be nervous about eternity again.

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