ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS

ETERNITY IN OUR HEARTS Ecclesiastes 3:11 April 16, 2006 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Slide 1: He is Risen! He is risen indeed! (project as Rich comes to lectern) A letter came from Health and Human Services to a resident of Greenville County, South Carolina: "Your food stamps will be stopped, effective March 1992, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if your circumstances change." If your circumstances change?! Studies indicate that it required the efforts of one hundred thousand workers for forty years to build one of the great pyramids. Incredible investment was made to memorialize their dead leaders. Their bodies were painstakingly preserved and surrounded by the richest accoutrements. Those who tour these opulent graves can't help but ask why. Why would they put that much emphasis on a tomb? The answer is that the Egyptians believed they would spend a lot more time in the afterlife than they would spend in this life. Of course, most of their ideas about the afterlife were superstitious and false. But the point is, they believed to the core of their being that the afterlife was a whole lot more important than this life, so they prepared for it in this life. Without the benefit of the written Word of God, they had eternity in their hearts. Our text this morning comes is in the Old Testament, in the book of wisdom written by Solomon and known as Ecclesiastes. Text – Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end. What eternity in our hearts is like Every once in awhile we get stirred, in a new and fresh way. We get a taste of something beyond ourselves—something that cannot be contained or explained by human language. Randy Alcorn, in his book In Light of Eternity, writes, Think about the special spiritual moments you've experienced. Perhaps it was during a time of prayer, in worship at church, in a conversation with a loved one, or while you were walking on the beach or in the woods. Have you ever had a sudden sense that you were moving on the edge of eternity, briefly yet truly breaking into its circle, knowing in that moment you were exactly where you belonged, taking part in what the universe must be about? That was a glimpse of eternity. In the film The Shawshank Redemption, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding tells the story of Andy Dufresne—a young, successful banker wrongly convicted of murdering his wife in 1947 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms at Shawshank Prison. At one point in the film, Dufresne is given the task of sorting through a whole load of classical records that were donated to the prison. In the process he finds and plays a beautiful operatic piece, even though it's against prison regulations. Dufresne locks himself in the sound booth and switches on the PA system that reaches the whole prison—the cells, the yard, and the hospital. He plays the music full blast through the speakers. Everyone in the whole prison stops what they are doing and listens. At this point Morgan Freeman comments: I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words. It makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you those voices soared. Higher and farther than anyone in the great place dared to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away. And for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free. Every pagan human religion with the exception of a few very dark philosophies like pure atheism and existentialism’s conclusion of despair, includes the concept of life after death and the notion of eternity. Why? Lucky guesses? Why do they all stumble into this truth? They, like the rest of men, have eternity in their hearts. We humans long for more. We know this life isn’t all we were destined for. God has set eternity in our hearts, and we can’t help but yearn for it. Somehow we know there is a final settling of the score there in a realm where God’s rule is not perturbed by the malevolence of sinful humanity. There, true justice and righteousness will settle all scores and make it all okay again—we just know it! Then and there all the wrongs perpetrated by the devil and devil-inspired people will be put right, all the rewards that are overdue for those who served the Lord faithfully will be granted and the just of God will be vindicated. We know deep in our souls there is coming a time and place in which things will be as God intended them to be before being ruined by the law of sin and death. We have an ache deep inside us for Eden restored. We have eternity in our hearts. And that’s not just some hopeful, pie-in-the-sky dream, a fantasy like Peter Pan and Never land. No, the Bible says that God put that in us. He also put it in the rest of His creation. There is the cyclical death and life pattern in nature. Every year the deciduous tress lose their leaves and go into an apparent state of death—a dormancy. Then Spring arrives and new life springs forth in green leaves and beautiful blossoms. This is a metaphor from God to us. When a forest fire ravages the countryside, within weeks a beautiful plant called the fireweed makes its appearance, dressing the earth’s charred nakedness with a blanket of green and pink—always the first new life after the fire. We see it all around us—reminders built into His creation by God Himself that the destruction and death that permeate this existence will one day be replaced by the glory of His unmitigated presence for those who will trust Him. We have this intuitive certainty that eternity is the true home of the human soul. As Solomon penned the words of the book of Ecclesiastes he marveled that, even though men knew of eternity in their hearts they still could not or would not acknowledge the will of God: Yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning. For Solomon, the height of foolishness is to settle for what this world offers , without honoring what God’s eternity represents. A man stumbled onto a magic lamp, rubbed it and a genie appeared. He said he was ready to grant the man one wish. The man was an avid stock market investor, so he requested that he could read next week’s paper today. Instantly the genie handed him the newspaper that would be published one week into the future. He tore through it to the stock report and noticed that GE would be up 10 points in one week. He called his broker and told him to put everything he had into GE stock. That done, he turned to the next section of the future paper and noticed his name—in the obituary column. Comedic actor Jim Carrey said at least one wise thing: I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15, If only for this we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. You see, God put eternity in our hearts for a reason—that we would seek Him and find Him. Then restored to fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ we can live in the light of the eternal hope that is coming. Why God put eternity in our hearts There are at least three reasons why God put eternity in our hearts. One was to prepare us for the incredibly awesome truth of Christ’s resurrection. You see, if we really could not believe in our hearts that new life, life after death was a reality, even a necessity, we would never begin to understand the meaning and purpose of Christ’s resurrection.   The Bible says that the resurrection of Jesus was the first fruits of all of us who believe in Him. That is, because Christ was raised from the dead, we can be assured that we who believe in Him will likewise rise from the grave to enter into eternity with Him. The second reason God put eternity in our hearts is to help make sense out of the new birth. When a person receives Christ as Savior and Lord of his life, he is, in biblical language, born again. That is, his former life of enslavement to sin, guilt and lostness apart from God, is finished. His new life, the life that will go on into eternity in heaven begins in Christ, right away. If God had not already put the concept of eternity in our hearts, being born again would have no meaning, and would have no value to us. Since we already intuit in our hearts and minds that there is an eternal existence after this one, the whole idea of being saved through Christ and ensured that we will have a part in it makes sense to us and we are receptive to His offer to be reconciled to God. And thirdly, God put eternity in our hearts so that we would understand what happened when Christ conquered death. The Bible says that when Jesus tasted death for us, He died in our place, paying the debt of our guilt before God. But, more than that, He also conquered death by rising from the grave, exactly as He said He would, on the third day. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:55) And in verse 26 of that great chapter: the last enemy to be defeated is death. George Herbert, a 17th century English poet said it this way: "Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel has made him just another gardener." The pages of the New Testament rustle with the news that though death is sadly a part of this life, the resurrection of Jesus has redefined it as the door to eternal life with God in heaven for those who trust Him. This will be an existence without death or pain or sorrow or tears. Jesus Christ has transformed death from a dead end to a doorway, because He paid the debt of our condemning sin for us. When death stung Jesus Christ it stung itself to death! Because He lives we will live! He put the notion of eternal life into our hearts. By His design we know there is more for those who seek and find God. Conclusion God has set eternity in our hearts. We all have a longing to live forever—we sense a certain immortality of the soul. But, you know, just wanting it to be true doesn’t make it so. One person told me, “I believe God just wants us to be happy—to do what we want to do and enjoy life!” Another entry in the file called If you really want it to be true it will become true. But eternal life is not just a heart wish or a pipe dream. We know there is everlasting life available after death, not because we wish it to be so, but because Jesus went there and came back. We don’t pin all our hopes for life after death on a soulish wish, although the Bible teaches that God put it there. Jesus died and is alive! And the risen Son of God has a message for all of us mortals: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26) It is the undeniable fact that Jesus rose from the dead on which we base our faith as Christians. 1 Corinthians 15 teaches that it is the lynch-pin of the Christian faith. Jesus who died to save us also rose from the dead to assure us of eternity in heaven for all who believe in Him. That’s why we preach a message of hope. As a church our message isn’t “be good and come to church” or “Keep the commandments.” It’s this: Christ is risen – indeed! To know that eternity with God is real for those who trust in Christ, and to know that He has bought and paid for our ticket, is why we are joyful when we say, He is risen—He is risen indeed! Harry Pritchett tells the true story of his young friend Philip. Philip was born with Downs Syndrome. He was a pleasant child, but increasingly aware of the difference between himself and other children. Philip went to Sunday school at the Methodist church. His teacher taught the third-grade class with Philip and 9 others. Eight-year-olds are slow to accept others who are different. For months Philip was not accepted. But the teacher was creative, and he helped the group learn, laugh and play together. Yet Philip was not really a part of the group. The Sunday before Easter he brought ten plastic eggs to class. He gave one to each child, with the instructions they were to find a symbol for new life, put it inside the egg and bring it back on Easter Sunday. They would then open and share their new life symbols and surprises one by one. The next Sunday the children excitedly put their eggs on the table with their names proudly written on them. The teacher began to open them. He opened one, and there was a flower, and they ooh-ed and aah-ed. He opened another, and there was a little butterfly. The teacher said something nice and encouraging about each of the eggs. Then he opened Philip’s egg and there was nothing in it. The other children laughed and ridiculed Philip for not finding anything. The teacher had nothing to say. Everyone looked in Philip’s direction, and he said only four words that justified him: “The tomb is empty!” Philip suddenly became a part of that group of eight-year-old children. They took him in. He was set free from the tomb of his different-ness. Later that Fall, with that special brand of faith Downs children seem to always have, he trusted Christ as his Savior. Seven years later, Philip died. His family had known since the time he was born that he wouldn't live out a full life span. Many other things had been wrong with his tiny body. With an infection that most normal children could have quickly shrugged off, Philip died. At the funeral, nine teenagers—his friends—marched up to the front not with flowers, but with nine empty plastic eggs. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. God put eternity in your heart, and He will not leave that longing unsatisfied. He sent His only Son to this earth to die and to rise again in order to pay your death debt and assure you of the prospect of eternal life. For the Christian, death is not the end. It is really just the beginning. There is no body in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and on that great day, there won’t be one in yours, either! Who can claim such a promise? Those who believe in Him. Jesus said, Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you…Because I live, you will live also. [webmasters note: John 14:2-3, John 14:19]   [Back to Top]