Eternity

I was listening to a preacher not long ago talking about eternity and how it would be unfair that Cain killed only one person (Abel) and has been in hell for 5000 years longer than Hitler who had millions killed.

He believes that hell is not "eternal" in the sense that it never ends but that it only lasts long enough to completely destroy the wicked, body and soul. (Which would be eternity for them at least.)

Now, while I don’t agree with this man’s view on Hell he did get me to thinking about eternity. What does it mean to be in eternity? Could it be that God had actually committed Cain to 5000 extra years of damnation and Hitler has only had 60 or so years down there? It just didn’t seem right.

Well, of course it isn’t right, but it isn’t the easiest thing to understand, as you can imagine. Even the beautiful song "Amazing Grace" leads us down this path when it states: "when we’ve been there 10,000 years…"

How can we understand eternity? Is it possible to be there 10,000 years? Is it possible for Cain to be there longer than Hitler?

You must first realize that there is no comparison that can be made between time and eternity. We want to think of eternity as a long, long, long, long time but we miss the point. Eternity has nothing to do with time whatsoever.

When we get to heaven we will already have been there as long as anyone else and we will stay there as long as anyone else, that is the nature of eternity. If it never ends then it never had a beginning. Am I losing anyone yet?

Brother Kent Hovind offered this example on one of his DVD classes: Think of this. In mathematics a line is described as going forever in both directions and a ray begins at one point and then goes forever in only one direction. Ask yourself, which is longer, the line or the ray? Of course neither is longer. They both go for eternity.

So just as the ray is as long as the line so is Hitler in the same boat as Cain, neither has been there longer than the other. In fact, the words "longer" or "shorter" have no meaning in regard to eternity. (Assuming Hitler and Cain are even there, God may have forgiven them, we don’t know for sure yet)

Of course there is no real way to completely understand what eternity is. I believe it is something that must be experienced before it can be fully understood. As the Apostle Paul states In 1^st Corinthians

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

Glory to God! I look forward to that day.

We only see partly but then we will see in full. The things of God are far above our meager ability to understand. I am glad I am saved by his grace and through his precious blood. That one day soon we will experience a day that never begins or will never end.