2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but is on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 4648
Fix Our Eyes: to look at, contemplate
From the Greek word 'skopeó' (skop-eh'-o)): regard attentively, take heed, beware, consider, mark, have regard to.
FIX OUR EYES
Hebrews 11:13 (regarding the people who believed the promises of God before the Promise came in the person of Jesus Christ) "All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." Their faith was counted unto them for righteousness (Romans 4:3-22 [Abraham]; Hebrews 11:39-40 [untold numbers of faithful believers]).
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Romans 8:24 For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.
We should never lose sight of the Promise, for having placed our hope in Christ, we are now bound to Him and look forward to meeting Him face to face. When this fleshly veil is removed from us, and our glorious bodies are revealed, then we shall meet Him as He is.
WHAT IS UNSEEN
As the song by MercyMe states, "I can only imagine" what God has in store for us. But we are given glimpses of heaven, peerings into the glories of our eternal destination.
>Revelation 22:1-5
>Psalm 46:4
>Revelation 4,7,21
>Ezekiel 48:35
So much wonderfulness to look forward to. Don't you think so, too? But who will we see there?
>Hebrews 12:1-2 "a great cloud of witnesses" (those martyred for their faith) and "Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith".
>Revelation 19:1-16 "a great multitude", "the Lamb and His bride", the Rider on the white horse.
>1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 "the dead in Christ" (they who died before His second return) and "they who are alive at His second return".
>1 Corinthians 15:51-54 "we will be raised changed".
ETERNAL
But all of this wonderfulness is only for the believers of God's Promise. We urge you who do not believe, therefore, to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, to claim Him as your own Lord and Savior. To acknowledge that there is no other God and Savior. To begin to follow Christ and live the Word in the power of God's Holy Spirit. We plead, we beg, we ask that you reconsider your ways and walk faithfully in the path of life which God is setting before you. Eternity is forever.
*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 166
Eternal: age-long, and therefore: practically eternal, unending; partaking of the character of that which lasts for an age, as contrasted with that which is brief and fleeting.
From the Greek word ' aiónios' (pronounced ahee-o'-nee-os): "Eternal life operates simultaneously outside of time, inside of time, and beyond time – i.e. what gives time its everlasting meaning for the believer through faith, yet is also time-independent."
(Figuratively) the unique quality (reality) of God's life at work in the believer, i.e. as the Lord manifests His self-existent life (as it is in His sinless abode of heaven). [from Word Studies]
Eternity is forever. Heaven is forever. The lake of fire into which hell and death and their residents are thrown is forever.
In heaven is the glory of God, the King of Kings, the Spirit of God, God's faithful angels and all of God's people.
In the lake of fire is everyone who turned their hearts against God. This includes Satan/Lucifer/the devil, the angels who followed him out of heaven, and all the people who turned their hearts against the Word of God.
We have for our example of this the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus the Beggar, as related in Luke 16:19-31. We know from our reading here that the rich man in hell had all his senses intact. He was hot. He knew thirst. He knew pain. He could see. He could taste. He could hear. He could speak.
Lazarus in paradise with Abraham was near water. The water the rich man in hell asked for. Even in his agony and torment, the rich man demanded to be served; to be served by a man he ignored in life.
But the gap between heaven and hell could not be breached by either.
Even now the believers around the world are standing in the gap, praying for the lost and the dying unbelievers to receive Christ and live with Him forever and ever. When we kneel in prayer, we are not only humbling ourselves before our God, we are committing to pray for each other's souls; we are battling the forces of darkness every time we open our mouths and our faith in the Promise of God springs forth.
I Can Only Imagine - MercyMe
Fix My eyes - 4 King & Country
Home - Chris Tomlin
You Say - Lauren Daigle
Hope In Front of Me - Danny Gokey
No Matter What - Ryan Stevenson
Glorious Day - Casting Crowns
There Will Be A Day - Jeremy Camp
His Banner Over Me - Winds of Worship 4 Live From Brighton England
