“We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.”
—1 Chronicles 29:15 NLT
I have noticed that many times, the previews for a film are better than the film itself. All of the best bits are in the preview. But people don’t go to the movie theater to see a preview; they go to see the movie.
In many ways, life on earth is like the preview, and the film is like eternity. The big event is the afterlife, because eternity is eternal, needless to say. It has been said that eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset, but eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.
Everyone will live eternally—Christians and non-Christians alike. So that is not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is where we will spend eternity. As a believer, I know that I will be with Christ in Heaven. And I know that one day Jesus will come back to earth and establish His kingdom. I have put my faith and my hope in Christ. And this hope is not wishful thinking or blind optimism; it is a quiet confidence, a supernatural certainty.
Where do believers get this hope? We get it from Scripture. As the psalmist wrote, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word” (Psalm 119:114).
From the moment we are born, we are on a quest, prewired to long for something more. The reason is because God has made us in His image. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”
Deep in our hearts, we have a longing to be with God. And until that day, we are essentially living between two worlds.
