Eternity is something you and I cannot comprehend. To say that God has always been, is beyond our realm of understanding. “How can that be?” we say. “Everything has a beginning.” God doesn’t.
Whether we go backwards or forwards, eternity is the same. It has no beginning and it has no ending. I can understand the concept of eternity future better than eternity past. How about you? Either way, it can be confusing to us mortal souls, but wait a minute, our bodies are mortal, but are our souls mortal?
God told Adam and Eve to not eat from a certain tree in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17). In this same passage He says, “for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Literally, He said, “for in the day that thou eatest thereof dying thou shalt die [emphasis mine].”
God did not create Adam and Eve’s earthly bodies, and therefore ours too, to live forever, but He did create our souls to be eternal. They did not have spiritual bodies, but natural bodies.
“44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:44-45)
Therefore, our earthly body is not eternal, but our heavenly, or spiritual body, will be eternal. Also, our soul is not temporary, as stated above, but to the contrary is eternal.
We find that by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, we have a born again spirit by the power of Jesus death, burial and resurrection. Jesus, the last Adam, is a life-giving Spirit. He gives life to those who are His. Our soul is eternal but separated from God, but our spirit is made for Him. When we are born again we are given, by grace, eternal life. Our soul only provides eternal death, but our born again spirit provides eternal life.
In Jesus Christ there is no death for those who are His, but only life in body and spirit with Him in eternity. Our souls are redirected with our born again spirit and spiritual body to eternal life in Heaven from the course it was once upon; i.e. eternal death in hell then the Lake of Fire.
The Bible is clear that without Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are a soul and body separated from God by sin and destined for eternal death, but in Jesus we are a soul, body and spirit destined for eternal life.
Does eternal “death” mean there is no living existence of the lost soul in hell? We can read the account of the rich man, beginning at Luke 16:19, and see it is not true. Reading Revelation 20:10 will inform us again this is not true. Eternal death is a “living” existence apart from God in the confines of hell and then the Lake of Fire with Satan and all his followers.
The conclusion is that we are all eternal beings. If we belong to Jesus Christ we will live forever with Him. If we do not belong to Jesus Christ we will live forever with Satan.
Those who teach there is no hell are dead wrong. Those who believe this fabricated Satanic lie will spend an eternity in hell regretting their rejection of Jesus’ offer of salvation. If you are under the ministry or slight influence of anyone who teaches that there is no existence after physical death, run, don’t walk, in the opposite direction as hard and fast as you can. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn in to this false gospel. Everyone who dies, and we all do eventually excluding the Rapture, will be totally conscious and equipped with an eternal body suited for our location, whether in Heaven or hell.
Death is not the end of physical life. Spiritual death is a synonym for eternal separation from God in hell, then the Lake of Fire. Spiritual life is a synonym for eternal togetherness with Jesus Christ in Heaven. There are no agnostics or atheists in hell.
What percentage of this earth’s population believe in Jesus and can call Him Savior and Lord? I don’t know. Could it be 70%, 50%, 30%, 10%? I don’t know, but know this; 100% of everyone who is in hell now believes in Jesus Christ, but so sadly it is too late for them.
When you die, you will be completely aware of everything around you. You will feel, smell, hear, see and experience everything around you. Where will you be? Will you be in Heaven with the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, or will you be in hell waiting to be cast into the Lake of Fire?