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How long is forever?

Classik

Classik

Member
Alright. People who would miss Heaven are forever separated from God...or would forever not enter Heaven. The people who would make Heaven would also forever remain with God (unless something happens....dunno).

So, how long really is forever? It is very scary.


This is probably one of the reasons I dislike the mathematical limits. (Limits: to infinity stuff):D.

Forever is beyond 500yrs, 1billion years, 1 trillion years, 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000yrs etc. It is therefore so scary.

How long, then, is forever.
 
Well, the Lord lives outside of time, He just created it here for us on earth so there would not be years or even minutes... Which is strange to think about. I just think of it as always. Always being with our Lord.

Ah, I do look forward to Heaven. It will be more wonderful than any of us can even imagine.
 
Classik said:
How long, then, is forever.
Click to expand...
Interesting question, Classik. It really got me to thinking. The fact is, in the Old Testament, it was common to consider "forever" to encompass only one man's or woman's time on Earth as being "forever." Some of that language is figurative, or exaggerated emotionalism, such as when Jonah said his captivity in the whale was "forever" (Jon 2:6). It probably seemed that way, certainly. The difference is, when referencing God, "forever" actually meant "forever." In the New Testament, the Greek aion means "forever," as in a perpetuity of time -- eternity, in other words. So how long is forever?

We can't really answer that question from out context. We know that when a person physically dies, his soul lives on, one way or another. Either in eternal punishment or eternal love and service to the Lord, each soul will live on. (By the way, I am not going to respond to arguments about the soul of the damned being destroyed utterly -- that's not the point of Classik's thread, so please, restrain yourselves.)

So, how long is forever? God says the righteous -- the saved -- will "dwell in the house of the LORD forever" (Ps. 23:6). He says He "love justice, and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever" (Ps. 37:28). He says He uphold "me in our my integrity, and You set me in Your presence forever" (Ps. 41:12). His love endures forever. Forever is as long as God is. That much seems obvious to me. How long is God? Eternal, immortal, God only wise.

Best answer I got, Classik.
 
RachelKeeth said:
Well, the Lord lives outside of time, He just created it here for us on earth so there would not be years or even minutes... Which is strange to think about. I just think of it as always. Always being with our Lord.

Ah, I do look forward to Heaven. It will be more wonderful than any of us can even imagine.
Click to expand...

Thanks. This is interesting: the Lord lives outside of time. HIS children in Heaven will remain with HIM.

However here on earth...do we live outside of time? The answer would be no. If sinners who missed heaven would remain in the world...would they live outside of time? *Being in this world* wouldn't the forever thing affect them? So how long would the separation last? Just a thought. (anyone can answer).

Eternal separation is just one horrible thing.

Thanks again
 
thisnumbersdisconnected said:
Interesting question, Classik. It really got me to thinking. The fact is, in the Old Testament, it was common to consider "forever" to encompass only one man's or woman's time on Earth as being "forever." Some of that language is figurative, or exaggerated emotionalism, such as when Jonah said his captivity in the whale was "forever" (Jon 2:6). It probably seemed that way, certainly. The difference is, when referencing God, "forever" actually meant "forever." In the New Testament, the Greek aion means "forever," as in a perpetuity of time -- eternity, in other words. So how long is forever?

We can't really answer that question from out context. We know that when a person physically dies, his soul lives on, one way or another. Either in eternal punishment or eternal love and service to the Lord, each soul will live on. (By the way, I am not going to respond to arguments about the soul of the damned being destroyed utterly -- that's not the point of Classik's thread, so please, restrain yourselves.)

So, how long is forever? God says the righteous -- the saved -- will "dwell in the house of the LORD forever" (Ps. 23:6). He says He "love justice, and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever" (Ps. 37:28). He says He uphold "me in our my integrity, and You set me in Your presence forever" (Ps. 41:12). His love endures forever. Forever is as long as God is. That much seems obvious to me. How long is God? Eternal, immortal, God only wise.

Best answer I got, Classik.
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking time to answer. How about post #4?
 
Classik said:
Thanks. This is interesting: the Lord lives outside of time. HIS children in Heaven will remain with HIM.

However here on earth...do we live outside of time? The answer would be no. If sinners who missed heaven would remain in the world...would they live outside of time? *Being in this world* wouldn't the forever thing affect them? So how long would the separation last? Just a thought. (anyone can answer).

Eternal separation is just one horrible thing.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

Umm.. So do you not believe that unsaved sinners go to hell? I believe they will spend eternity there, just as Christians will spend eternity in heaven.
 
"When we've been here ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
then when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."
 
RachelKeeth said:
"When we've been here ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
then when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."
Click to expand...

Rachel:

Great, time honored hymn by John Newton.

Blessings.
 
I honestly believe that the after life is an existence outside of space/time.

I was listening to a physicist speak once about time travel and interstellar space travel. He, like me, thought that both of these will never be achieved by humans. As he explained his point of view, he kept saying things like "... to a person outside of space-time..." and then describing what this 'person' would see/feel/know/experience.

As I listened, it occurred to me that he was describing attributes very muck like God's in the Bible. It made so much sense, that I believe he was unknowingly talking about God, and, to a certain extent, our experiences in the spiritual realm once we leave this body.

To that end, "forever" is not a measure of time, but a kind of existence, unlike ANYTHING we can imagine, describe or experience.
 
Edward said:
Having never existed outside of our time domain (that I can remember;)) I couldn't say how it would be to not experience time as we know it. I've watched vids of people who had a near death experience and describe not having the sensation of time while they were in a heavenly realm before they came back to their body here on earth.

That's a hard thing to imagine for me. The best I have imagined is all associated with time. A long time, yet this is probably somehow wrong alltogether, lol. I wonder what I will be doing 200, 000 years from now? IDK. Serving the Lord in some capacity, perhaps on some distant planet being an angel of sorts with other beings? Then I think of the scripture...eye has not seen, or mind comprehend the things in store for us and I have to chuckle and get back to things at hand. Good question though.
Click to expand...

may i suggest that you have always existed outside time
our souls are eternal - let me explain:

God is eternal and present everywhere
where He is, is always Now - the beginning of time, the end of time and in the middle
all happening Now for Him

we are individual souls which exist in that Now
we are here, now
in this moment, (every moment) the entire history of our lives, intersects eternity
right here, right now we are in eternity
in eternity, the clock ticks marking the movement of time
the wheel spins around a central hub

time moves by, events come and go, events transform into the next
but the experience is always in the now
and it is back into the Now, that we will return at the end

God knows how our stories will turn out
that story would be ever-present in His omniscient vision

i have read the scriptures and what i understand
is that at the end of the universe,
all sin will be destroyed and our love will be part of the glory of His creation
actually, that is occurring Now with God,

200,000 years from now, i want to be with God, i want to be there right now
 
Edward said:
Having never existed outside of our time domain (that I can remember;)) I couldn't say how it would be to not experience time as we know it. I've watched vids of people who had a near death experience and describe not having the sensation of time while they were in a heavenly realm before they came back to their body here on earth.

That's a hard thing to imagine for me. The best I have imagined is all associated with time. A long time, yet this is probably somehow wrong alltogether, lol. I wonder what I will be doing 200, 000 years from now? IDK. Serving the Lord in some capacity, perhaps on some distant planet being an angel of sorts with other beings? Then I think of the scripture...eye has not seen, or mind comprehend the things in store for us and I have to chuckle and get back to things at hand. Good question though.
Click to expand...

Good attempt. Thanks
 
RachelKeeth said:
Umm.. So do you not believe that unsaved sinners go to hell? I believe they will spend eternity there, just as Christians will spend eternity in heaven.
Click to expand...

I believe that.:nod. However the hell isn't in Heaven. It's somewhere under the earth or wherever
 
Pizzaguy said:
I honestly believe that the after life is an existence outside of space/time.

I was listening to a physicist speak once about time travel and interstellar space travel. He, like me, thought that both of these will never be achieved by humans. As he explained his point of view, he kept saying things like "... to a person outside of space-time..." and then describing what this 'person' would see/feel/know/experience.

As I listened, it occurred to me that he was describing attributes very muck like God's in the Bible. It made so much sense, that I believe he was unknowingly talking about God, and, to a certain extent, our experiences in the spiritual realm once we leave this body.

To that end, "forever" is not a measure of time, but a kind of existence, unlike ANYTHING we can imagine, describe or experience.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this:wave
 
Aloysium said:
may i suggest that you have always existed outside time
our souls are eternal - let me explain:

God is eternal and present everywhere
where He is, is always Now - the beginning of time, the end of time and in the middle
all happening Now for Him

we are individual souls which exist in that Now
we are here, now
in this moment, (every moment) the entire history of our lives, intersects eternity
right here, right now we are in eternity
in eternity, the clock ticks marking the movement of time
the wheel spins around a central hub

time moves by, events come and go, events transform into the next
but the experience is always in the now
and it is back into the Now, that we will return at the end

God knows how our stories will turn out
that story would be ever-present in His omniscient vision

i have read the scriptures and what i understand
is that at the end of the universe,
all sin will be destroyed and our love will be part of the glory of His creation
actually, that is occurring Now with God,

200,000 years from now, i want to be with God, i want to be there right now
Click to expand...

Welcome to CF.net:wave
 
Classik said:
If sinners who missed heaven would remain in the world...would they live outside of time?
Click to expand...
Yes, because everyone lives eternally. Either in eternal reward in heaven, or eternal judgment in hell. Eternity, essentially, is outside of time. So the condemned also live outside of time, just as believers do. They fates, however, are very different (obviously).
 
Eternity is a very hard thing, as humans, to grasp.

Time is actually all we know, we have never experienced a time-less world.

Ponder this. Is eternity the unending continuation of time? Or the unending continuation of a time-less environment? In other words, if humans were immortal, and the earth didn't rotate (daytime forever), would we still have time? Seconds? Minutes? Hours?

Maybe eternity is the continuation of a time-less world, but furthermore, the inability of us to RECOGNIZE the fact that time is/isn't even involved. In basic terms...When we get to heaven, we may understand we are in a place without time, but it is irrelevant. Time won't be relative. 60 hypothetical seconds could feel like 60 years, or vise versa. Regardless, we won't even care. We may not even ponder it, and I bet we won't even COUNT it. Gosh that would get old and dreadful.
 
thisnumbersdisconnected said:
That.
Click to expand...

Do you think it would be fair to say that Forever refers to an unending continuation of time? Or should we treat both(eternity) as one in the same?

If Forever is an unending continuation of time, then technically we could record it's length. Each day would be known as forever, but the next would set a new standard for the term.

As you may be able to tell, I enjoy pondering these kinds of things lol.
 
duari91 said:
Eternity is a very hard thing, as humans, to grasp.

Time is actually all we know, we have never experienced a time-less world.

Ponder this. Is eternity the unending continuation of time? Or the unending continuation of a time-less environment? In other words, if humans were immortal, and the earth didn't rotate (daytime forever), would we still have time? Seconds? Minutes? Hours?

Maybe eternity is the continuation of a time-less world, but furthermore, the inability of us to RECOGNIZE the fact that time is/isn't even involved. In basic terms...When we get to heaven, we may understand we are in a place without time, but it is irrelevant. Time won't be relative. 60 hypothetical seconds could feel like 60 years, or vise versa. Regardless, we won't even care. We may not even ponder it, and I bet we won't even COUNT it. Gosh that would get old and dreadful.
Click to expand...

I was thinking: what would this world look like in the absense of time! Scary. Now science is all about time: robotics, rates of chemical reaction - everything. God being omnipotent (and the Father of Science...I would say) created everything. I wonder how
 
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