A Conscious Eternity

 

 

Is there a conscious eternity

For born-again believers?

And how many, please tell me,

Are already receivers?

 

I have mulled over this

Time and time again

And while I do believe there is

It still causes me pain.

 

Pain re my own demise

And as to my state

And what is the true nature

Regarding my fate.

 

Pain to lose a loved one

To the clutches of death

And to ponder on the nature

Of his or her rest.

 

 

Is he or she conscious

Somewhere we cannot see…

Somewhere wondrously grand

That we long to be?

 

To be with Christ

What does this really mean?

And from Paul’s firm assurance,

What can we glean?

 

A desire to depart

And to be with Christ

‘Tis far better, he emphasized,

Shouldn’t this suffice?

 

Yet I am still baffled

And definitely not sure

But desperately want to believe

More and more.

 

There must be more

To life than merely here;

To be born, live and be interred

In yon cemetery there.

 

There has to be more

Than just a fading memory

Of a beloved having transitioned

And having been buried.

 

And they that believe

Shall never die

Yet believers die incessantly;

Tell me why.

 

A conscious eternity!

Who possess it at present?

For our deceased beloved ones,

Is it current?

 

Or, are they in the grave

Waiting for a time to come

When Christ will split the clouds

And gather in his kingdom?

 

 

 

Raising the dead first

Then those that remain,

Tell me, is this literal or spiritual?

What is your claim?

 

Sometimes I get it

But then I am not sure,

What is the nature of all this?

Please tell me more.

 

It must be all true

But the timing eludes me,

When does one really transition

From here to eternity?

 

 

Is it at the point of death

That we transition

Or some indefinite time after

As some envision?

 

Check the following texts:

What do they mean?

Tell me in some form or fashion

What you glean.

 

John 11:25-26

Jesus said unto her,

I am the resurrection, and the life:

He that believeth in me,

Though he were dead,

Yet shall he live:

And whosoever liveth

And believeth in me shall never die.

Believest thou this?

 

Philippians 1:23-24

For I am in strait betwixt two,

Having a desire to depart,

And to be with Christ;

Which is far better:

Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh

Is more needful for you.

 

2Corinthians 5:8

We are confident, I say,

And willing

Rather to be absent from the body,

And to be present

With the Lord.

 

Is there a conscious eternity

For born-again believers?

And how many, please tell me,

Are already receivers?

 

Stewart Russell © March 18, 2025