@vivify said
Maybe it means locked in a freezer to prevent spoilage.
Maybe it means exactly the opposite of "eternal life."
As in "eternal death." The old saying about being "born again" (more correctly, born from above) touches on this: Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once.
If you think of it in biblical terms, what was the very first lie? The evil one told Eve, "you shall not really die." Every religion in the world essentially attempts to answer the same ingrained human question: "What happens AFTER this life ends." In other words, they are all built upon the supposition "you shall not really die."
I think if you take the whole of the Scriptures, the teaching is really simple. Those who depart this life without the provision of salvation provided by the Creator will one day stand in judgment and then be destroyed. Forever. Gone. Those who obtain the provision of salvation provided by the Creator will stand in judgment, then be granted never-ending life in the presence of the Creator Himself.
If I may quote a passage without seeming to "pick and choose" please allow:
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death..." --Death. We've all earned it because we've all sinned. That's our paycheck for having the opportunity to go through this world.
"...but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Gifts are not earned. They are simply accepted, or, sadly, rejected.
What did God tell Adam would happen if he sinned in the Garden of Eden?
He told him he would DIE. He didn't say, "if you disobey you will die, then be resurrected from your physical death to be tormented in flames for eternity."
ETERNAL torment of a living being seems kind of unjust for a being that may have lived only some decades on earth. We're talking BILLIONS of years without end!
Take note of what the Lake of Fire in Revelation symbolizes. Here are the only places in which it is mentioned in the entirety of the Bible:
First appearance: Revelation 19:20
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."
Second appearance:Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Third appearance: Revelation 20:14-15 (shows the Lake of Fire symbolizes the 2nd death):
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Fourth and final appearance: Revelation 21:8
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, SHALL HAVE THEIR PART in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
I believe the teaching is clear. Simply put, we all physically die. Then we face judgement. Those who rejected God's gift will give an accounting of why they didn't see the need to accept. Their accounting will be judged as lacking and they will be punished for every evil before being destroyed forever (they will have Their Part in the Lake of Fire). Those who are under the umbrella of God's salvation will be forgiven, and rewarded for the good deeds they have done in this life, as well as granted everlasting life in the presence of the Sovereign Creator of the Universe.
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