The first thing is that you are an eternal being. At conception, the breath of life was miraculously breathed into you by God himself in the form of your spirit. You developed a human frame, a body in your mother’s womb. At birth you began developing your mind and growing into an individual. These three elements – your body, your mind, and your spirit – make up the whole you. This is one of the things God meant in Genesis 1:26 when he declared – “let us make man in our image.”
Science has not been able to find where the real “us” exists. They point to the brain but cannot explain where the thing that is “you” resides. Deep in the quiet moments when we think about who we are we have this feeling that we are more than just our total collection of cells. We are as much spirit as mind and body.
The spirit is the eternal component of yourself. When you die your body will decompose and become part of the earth, but your spirit – the thinking, feeling part of you that science cannot find will continue to live on. We have God’s word on that – in Ecclesiastes 12:7 we read: “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
Some try to deny the existence of the spirit. It cannot be proven scientifically; it cannot be observed. They think, even hope that there is nothing eternal about us. If they are wrong, then they are wrong about God. Deep inside there is doubt.
Be assured that the human, as a unique creation of the living God, is eternal. We will live on forever. Jesus confirmed this to the repentant thief who was crucified with him when he told him ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’ as we read in Luke 23:43. How could the thief be with Jesus in any meaningful way after he was dead unless he had an eternal spirit?
This brings us to the second thing that you do not want to get wrong. Our eternal spirit will reside somewhere eternally. There are two destinations – either Heaven or Hell. Our destination is determined before we breathe our last breath. The writer of Hebrews says, “it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, CSB). To die once implies to live once and only once. After that life has ended, God will judge us.
What are we judged on then? This is an important question – is it not? We need to get it right before we breathe our last. We need to have chosen well.
I remember watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I reject the media myths about Christ, including the so‑called Holy Grail; still, consider this scene:
Indiana Jones, his adversary Walter Donovan, and Elsa Schneider are in a chamber filled with numerous goblets. They are seeking the Holy Grail, the chalice of Christ, which grants eternal life to those who drink from it.
Donovan, eager for immortality, which only the Holy Grail can grant, selects an ornate, jewel-encrusted goblet, assuming it belonged to a king. Donovan drinks from it. Suddenly he ages rapidly, decays, and turns to dust. The ancient guardian of the Grail solemnly states, “He chose… poorly.”
Eternal life and eternal death is at stake. We will give an account as to how we have chosen – how we have lived. God will not be grading on the curve. This is a pass, fail test. What must we do to choose well?
John 3:18 gives us the answer – “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” The condemned are on the road to destruction and Hell. Choosing to believe in the living God and His Son who has given His life for us can change that destination.
Jesus, while preaching his sermon on the mount gives this warning in Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” He makes it clear that many are missing it. They are failing to understand that they must choose to embrace the love of God before they die. Do not miss this. If you have not trusted in the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ, you are on the wide path today. It leads to destruction – to Hell for all eternity.
Read More About Hell: Hell Is a Real and Terrible Place
What can you do then? How can you get onto the narrow path? First, we must recognize the condition we are in – without understanding our lostness we cannot grasp our need for redemption. Romans 3:23 tells us that “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin’s effect in all of us is death. Not just physical death but eternal death. Eternal death is the separation from God for all eternity – which will be spent in Hell. Jesus affirms this in Matthew 25:46 where he says, “these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
There is good news as Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 where he says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is a free gift God gives to us. All we must do is take it.
In Romans 10:9-10 Paul explains how we reach out and take ahold of the free gift of God and apply it to our lives. He says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
If you are traveling the road of life and it is leading away from Heaven, away from Christ and to an eternity in Hell then you might want to make a course correction. Turning from one direction and going the other direction is what the word “repent” means. Jesus said in Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” The gospel, of course, is the good news of Jesus coming as both God and man, his redemptive work, his death and resurrection. Peter summarized it well in Acts 3:19 while preaching to the Jews when he said, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”
So, your chance to live eternally without condemnation, in the glorious presence of God must be secured in this first temporal life. No other chances will be given once you have passed into the next life. How will you choose? Don’t choose poorly.
