ON ETERNITY
IT is traditional in our society to hide from the subject of death. Most people die in hospitals, away from their families. And even when the family knows the person is dying, politeness demands that they not bring up the subject with the person facing death.
All of this is so contrary to the way we react to every other aspect of our lives. It is considered wise to offer advice on important mile-stones (like marriage, choosing a career, or moving house). Impending difficulties (like school examinations, participation in a gruelling athletic competition, or filling in a tax form) are openly commented on by the people facing them as well as by their friends and relatives. Even sensitive issues like marital problems, obesity, and legal difficulties bring suggestions and encouragement from people close to the ones going through them. But death is a taboo topic even between close family members.
Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist and philosopher, 1828-1910), in his Confession said that he was brought to the verge of suicide with the thoughts about the meaning of life, and his friends told him he was foolish to search for answers where no answers were to be found. This is the rationale behind the taboo about discussing death. Death is out there waiting for all of us, but the less we think about it the better.
King Solomon, considered the wisest man on earth at the time,said in Ecclesiastes 8:17 –
“Then l beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun, because, though a man labour to seek {it} out, yet he shall not find {it}; yea, further, though a wise {man} think to know {it}, yet shall he not be able to find {it}.”
And in his despair he concluded that all of life was vanity when he said in Ecclesiastes 2:11 –
“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that 1 had laboured to do; and, behold, all {was} vanity and vexation of spirit, and {there was} no profit under the sun.”
People have nothing better to do than to eat, drink and be merry, he said in Ecclesiastes 8:15 –
“Then 1 commanded mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”
This is the approach that the majority of our Race has taken to the subject of death. Yet if we could know the mysteries of our GOD … the answers to life … how much more meaningful our lives (and our deaths) would become. And there being a GOD, wouldn’t He want us to know the reason for our existence?
Tolstoy saw that the peasants of his 19th Century Russia had a childlike faith in GOD that brought meaning to their lives. He wanted this simplicity, but was hampered by his knowledge that church leaders who taught these peasants were corrupt. Yet in the end he came to GOD in childlike faith and found the peace that had eluded him for so many years. The answers he found were not easily put into words. He was still a creature with finite understanding of his Creator, but he came to rest in the knowledge that his Creator knew what he was doing, and all that he needed to do was to seek to please his loving Creator, who reveals His will through the life and teachings of His son, YAHSHUA (Jesus), The Anointed One.
But to reach this state, Tolstoy, first had to recognise his utter hopelessness and helplessness in the face of death.
Death is the doorway to eternity, either it leads to oblivion or it leads to the answers to our existence. If we run from it, we spend our lives in confusion, never sure of where we are going.
For several years a semi-literate itinerant named Jack Stace walked the streets of Sydney, Australia, chalking the word Eternity on the footpaths for everyone to see. His own life had been dramatically changed when he received a glimpse into the vastness of eternity during a sermon that he heard. He realised the powerful effect this one revelation could have on everything we do, and he set about to preach this one-word sermon to thousands (maybe millions) of pedestrians walking the streets of Sydney. Jack Stace has now passed on to receive his reward. A documentary titled “Eternity” has recently been produced about Stace’s life.
Unfortunately, today there are very few Jack Staces or other “peasants” left, who can accept without question the wonders of YHVH (Jehovah) our GOD, and even fewer Tolstoys (who will seek and seek until they find the answers). Instead we have a plethora of divine manipulators, who use GOD and everything HE stands for to justify their own indifference to eternity. Religion is for most a superficial opiate to get them through their boring existence. As Tolstoy noted, when his older brother became fanatical about preaching his faith, it was the religious people who treated him with the most ridicule and contempt. What passes for faith is more often than not just a mask of respectability and conformity – this being evident amongst many of our politicians of today
… it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
But one day each of us is going to stand before our Creator to be judged. Our respectability and our conformity will mean nothing then. Our religious arguments and formulas will be offered up to the Creator of the universe, and He alone will pass judgement.
People who have experienced near death experiences almost all report that they were suddenly made aware of how trivial most of what they did with their lives was. Only what was done for love counted for anything as they were about to face their Maker.
We need to be constantly reminded of the seriousness of eternity. Not only should we stop running from the subject of death, but we should do as YAHSHUA said and take up our cross,
“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and fol1ow me.” – (Mark 8:34).
Just as YAHSHUA lived his life under the shadow of the cross, so we should live each day as though it were our last. We should submit each thought, each plan, each defence for our actions to YHVH our GOD, knowing that we will have eternity in which to forget our foolish choice, and eternal cause to rejoice if we make a wise one.
