"How Long Is Eternity?”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God “set eternity in the hearts of men.” Every human soul has a God-given awareness that there’s “something more” than this world. Yet we’e also told, “Yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” In other words, in his fallen state, man senses there ought to be something more than this world, but can’t discern what it is. So fallen man is left to wonder and wander.

But the good news is that our God is a God who has revealed Himself to us; and through that revelation, with the ultimate revelation being His coming to earth in the person of Christ, we can understand some things regarding eternity. Specifically, that God has provided the means whereby I might have a personal relationship with Him that I can begin to enjoy now and also enjoy through all eternity. God has provided the means whereby I might be rescued and redeemed.

The means whereby I can have a personal relationship with God, of course, is through accepting His provision for the forgiveness of my sins and the salvation provided by Christ’s death, burial & resurrection. If I reject God’s provision, however, I will continue to be separated from God now and will end up separated from Him for all eternity.

“Life is short; eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in light of eternity.” - Charles Spurgeon

Yes, eternity is long. Therefore it makes sense that the greatest business of this life is to determine where I will be in the next life; and an important factor in making this determination is to consider that eternity is, indeed, very long. But how long is eternity?

1. Eternity is long enough for unredeemed men and women to experience the depths of mankind’s depravity.

We can know from what Jesus said that hell is an eternal (Matthew 25:41), physical (Matthew 10:28), and horrifying (Mark 9:43) place where those who’ve rejected Christ (Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew 25:46; 

John 5:28; Revelation 20:14-15) are headed, and from where Jesus came to rescue all who would believe in him (John 3:16-18).

When the last person to receive Christ has done so and the last person to reject Christ has done so, in that eternal moment, Christ will return. He will remove from this world, Satan, Satan’s influence, and Satan’s people. The Devil and his people will be cast into the lake of fire where the torment of hell will continue for all eternity.

A. Some Erroneous Views of Hell

1) The second chance view – After death there is still a way to escape hell. But the Bible teaches clearly that this is not so (Hebrews 9:27).

2) Universalism – All are eternally saved. But this denies the truth of salvation through Christ which means that a everyone must decide to trust Christ or else they reject Christ (John 3:16, 18; 3:36).

3) Annihilationism – The lake of fire being the second death means that all unbelievers will cease to exist. But this denies the need for the resurrection of the unsaved (John 5:28; Revelation 20:4-6). It also denies the teaching of the Bible regarding hell being a place of conscious torment (Matthew 13:50; Mark 9:48, Revelation 14:10).

Still, there is much debate on what hell is like because “the metaphors the Bible uses describe a reality that we can’t relate to. The descriptions of hell are an attempt to describe for us that which is indescribable.

B. How Does the Bible Describe Hell?

1) Separation from God - 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 25:41

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” - Romans 8:39 (NIV)

2) Darkness - Nahum 1:8; Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; Jude 13; Revelation 16:10

“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” - John 12:46 (NIV)

3) Fire - Matthew 5:22; 13:42; 13:50; 18:8-9; 25:41; Mark 9:43, 48; Revelation 14:10

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” - John 4:13-14 (NIV)

4) Gnashing of Teeth - Matthew 8:12; 13:50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” - Isaiah 53:4-5 (NIV)

The idea of gnashing of teeth also contains the idea of determined rejection of the truth and rebellion against God.