(A repeat from last year)
According to the unbelieving naturalist, the human race is doomed. Planets, solar systems and galaxies will all end in destruction according to naturalism, and the universe itself will not continue forever. Thus, humanity and its consciousness of things and of itself will one day cease to be, with no evidence that we ever existed, or anyone to mourn our passing.
It's a bleak scenario, especially since the longing for permanence is woven into the fabric of our being. "He hath set the world (eternity) in their hearts" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The Hebrew word for world in this passage is "owlam," and more literally means a duration that is everlasting. God made us as eternal beings, and the notion that we will not exist forever flies in the face of who and what we are. Naturalism is an aberration in the human heart, as is the philosophy of meaninglessness which springs forth from it.
It is intrinsic in us that we matter, and that we leave an everlasting imprint on the path of life whereupon we walk. This is logically impossible for a doomed race, and the Bible interjects its light into the darkness, declaring that we are not doomed. We are rather destined to glorify God, and believer and unbeliever alike can be sure that we will forever honor the Creator. The latter will do so in the hell of their own choosing, having rejected God, but nevertheless revealing the Divine love which must necessarily reject and banish all who jeopardize the sanctity of a creation that will one day perfectly dwell in righteousness (II Peter 3:13). Believers will glorify the Lord as our Redeemer, and as the One who is responsible for the light that eternally shines forth from us in innumerable displays of the infinite Christ. We will forever exist as His "vessels of mercy," and the yearning of our hearts for permanence and significance will carry us along on wave upon wave of joyful fulfillment (Romans 9:23).
"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him" (Ecclesiastes 3:14). The universe will never end, although it will one day be purified and made qualitatively new (Psalm 104:5; Revelation 21:1). And we will never end, nor will our existence be without a meaning more profound and significant than we will ever fully understand. God made us for Himself, and for His glory, pleasure and the fulfillment of His will. Indeed, the Apostle Paul exulted that our Lord made and redeemed us in order to shower forth the inexhaustible riches of His kindness upon us (Ephesians 2:7). Those riches are "unsearchable," and thus the giving and receiving will never end (Ephesians 3:8). There is meaning in our life and existence, an eternal meaning which will fill this moment with "joy unspeakable and full of glory" as we open our eyes to see that we were made for forever (I Peter 1:8).
"We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
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