He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11
The Basic Bible Truth
Deep inside every person is a desire to understand eternity. We have a God-shaped void inside of us that only He can fill. We are incomplete without Him. The world around us is rushing headlong into oblivion searching for that something that will satisfy. Everyone has an internal compass that is searching for Heaven.
The Object
(None)
The Lesson
The great teacher, Solomon, wrote at God’s command. Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes, in verse 11, spells out three key thoughts concerning eternity. First, everything God has made is appropriate and good—beautiful—in it’s time. Though we may not think it so always. Romans 8:28 reminds us that there are times when God’s plan requires us to walk through a difficult moment. But He has promised that the ultimate end of our struggle will be that we are better Christians for having endured the trial. The Bible is full of stories of heroes who struggled through very difficult times, but came out on the other side much better for having been through the bad times. As one reads their accounts, it is interesting to note how often their goal was their eventual reward in Heaven with their Maker. It is what kept them going in many of the hard times—knowing that they had a greater reward waiting for them one day.
He has set eternity in the hearts of man. Think of it as a computer program running in the background. There is a hollow in every heart that needs to be filled with God. We all experience it. Sir Winston Churchill had a file in his cabinet that only he and his secretary knew about. It was titled, “Operation Hope Not”. When Churchill died, his secretary retrieved the file, and the world watched “Operation Hope Not” unfold. Many years before he died, Churchill planned his funeral in minute detail. There would be Christian hymns sung, and at the end of the service, a bugler high in the dome played taps, followed by a second bugler who played reveille. Churchill believed that the last note of history will be reveille, not taps.
And eternity is filled with mysteries. We must live by faith, content that our Father is sufficient. We see but a poor reflection of Heaven. The Bible says surprisingly little about what it is like. But the few passages that contain detail, are absolutely mind boggling. The four creatures described in the first chapter of Ezekiel are without comparison anywhere. The new Jerusalem in Revelation is a city 1400 mile wide, 1400 miles long, and 1400 miles high. To put that into a context, the International Space Station orbits at a mere 240 miles. But it is the length of eternity that we find the most difficult to comprehend. After trillions of years, we will still be living! It very quickly overshadows our few years here on earth.
Solomon ended his book with these words, Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 80 years or so, of obeying God is easily worth the few difficulties we may face. Set your eyes on the future. If you are a Christian, you have an eternity to look forward to.