Will we eventually live in a world where NOTHING exists?

[Frump]

Ok this might be a nonsensical observation but it's one I've progeressivly been noticing as years go by.

It seems like as time goes on, things eventually go out of style, and ONLY go out of style. I'm not just talking about things like typewritters being replaced by computers or payphones being replaced with cellphones.

But I'm talking about OTHER things.

For e.g. I do a lot of silk flower arangements, and used to I could go to Walmart and get LOST in all the silk flowers where I bought there, there were atleast 3 isles FULL of silk flowers, then there was a dollar rack off to the side. Then when they remodeled the store a few years ago, they got rid of over half of them and got totally rid of the dollar rack then just had left about a half an isle of silk flowers. Now they've remodeled again and only have one tiny little shelf of silk flowers.

And the flowers are just ONE e.g. but the whole store just looked EMPTIER now where as it used to be full.


Also I make a lot of crafts and just made some things about a year ago for the first time since 2003. Well, back in 2003 I could go to the hardware store and find, ANYTHING, now, I had such a hard time finding the basic things like, upholstery tacks, liquid gold paint, KNOBS, and things like that. WIth them telling me, "We don't carry that anymore!"

I was eating at Pizza Hut the other day and looked around at how EMPTY it looked compared to years ago, I remember there was a juke box, 5 or 6 video games, etc.. now ALL that stuff is gone.


I just notice now days things are just looking emptier and emptier.

Whenever I shop it's usually 99% of the time on Ebay just b/c that's the only place I can find anything.

But these are just a few examples of what I've noticed a LOT of here lately and over the years, things only go OUT.

I know the old saying is out with the old and in with the new, but I really don't see much coming IN.

Another e.g. is like in our Mall here. I remember used to there was a play area for kids with a little merry go round, little rides for kids to ride on, now all that stuff is gone, it just looks so desolate!

So I'm wondering will we eventually live in a world where NOTHING exisits?

[*ROGER*]

I notice a lot of teenagers and young people are snottier, brattier, spoiled and more self-absorbed. I don't think the world is changing for the better. Everything is ME, ME, ME.

Like you said, if there comes a time when nothing exists, I'm actually glad I'll probably be dead by then. I'm middle aged now, and I'm not looking forward to dealing with more empty headed youngsters, digital living and self-absorbed ways of life.

[MacLeaper]

Interesting observations. Perhaps it's good in some ways if these are reminders to break away from the material world so much and look beyond the temporal to the eternal. This is a world coming one day where the only truly importants in existence will be God and His people- of course, that is in Heaven, which God has opened to us through Christ's death and Resurrection and the salvation we receive through putting our faith in Him.
This is actually the viewpoint that Christians are commanded to have- to not set our minds on things below, but rather to set our minds on things above. When we put our faith in Christ, The Bible says that we "died and our life is now hidden with Christ in God." (See Colossians 3:1-4. Verse 4 emphatically declares that Christ is our life. )
Of course, Jesus also addresses the issue of material things in the world versus things of spiritual importance in the Sermon on the Mount. (See Matthew 6:19-33) Ultimately, He promises that if we seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness, then all these things that we need will be added on to us.

[Frump]

Well I sorta miss the ol days, b/c as I look around now things just look so EMPTY! Little simple things that used to bring pleasure are gone.

Of course the cell phone still exists which does every thing practically.

My uncle jokes about how one do nothing will exist but a cell phone that everyone's brain will be connected to and ppl won't even live in houses lol


If there is a God, thats one thing I used to fear about Heaven, will we be bored to pieces, will there be ANYTHING up there, will we get to DO anything than praise and worship God all the time?

This used to be one of the biggest reasons I feared death, bc even if I made it to heaven and even if there is an afterlife.... I love good meals, I love seeing good movies and being with friends, I love my hobbies, walking in the woods, going shopping, and the way ppl make heaven sound is just everyone on a cloud playing a harp all the time.

[MacLeaper]

I think that's an erroneous picture of Heaven that people put forth. Honestly, that's a question that Christians ponder as well at times. But I don't think the God of the universe, who is able to do abundantly more than we can think or ask, will have us bored in Heaven. We will certainly be praising and worshipping God constantly- but I think we will have other things to do as well. The Bible speaks of Christ's followers being granted the right to judge the nations (though this is more during the millennial reign, if I understand correctly).
As 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, "But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'—"

I love the way C.S. Lewis described Heaven at the end of "The Last Battle" (the last book in "The Chronicles of Narnia" series.)
[Aslan the Lion is speaking to the children after they have died in the Shadowlands [i.e. Earth] and are now going with Aslan into the new and real Narnia.]

“And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

You might also enjoy reading Rev. Billy Graham's answer to this very question.

[MrCleveland]

I too, may be gone when nothing is available.

I feel Gen Y is the the last generation to know the things that were great and not have a care in the world!

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by Frump

If there is a God, thats one thing I used to fear about Heaven, will we be bored to pieces, will there be ANYTHING up there, will we get to DO anything than praise and worship God all the time?

It's better than the alternative.

[Frump]

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

It's better than the alternative.

That's true, but I've heard SOMEONE say that the true HELL of hell would eventually be the boredom also.

B/c think about it, after being tortured for millions and millions of years you might eventually adapt to it and build up a resistence, I mean after millions of years it would just be your LIFE, so I've heard ppl say you would adapt and over a LONG period of time it would mean nothing to you anymore, b/c it would just be your normal day to day life. So eventually the boredom would be the REAL hell.


But oh well maybe we will luck out and the Hindus will be right or some other LESS sever religion, after all there's as good of a chance they coudl be right. Like Christians, they believe what they believe on FAITH, so if it's one faith against another, one has just as good of a chance of being right as the other, then maybe NONE of them will be true lol

[MacLeaper]

Like Christians, they believe what they believe on FAITH, so if it's one faith against another, one has just as good of a chance of being right as the other, then maybe NONE of them will be true lol

I can't speak for Hindus, but to clarify for Christians, it is certainly a belief system based on faith- but this doesn't mean that there isn't some evidence that leads to faith in Christ.

As to the reality of Hell, there is also the weight of eternal regret and agony to consider. Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 and the description of Hell in Revelation 20, Mark 9:47-48 and many other passages are all quite sobering.
Revelation 21-22 gives us the most extensive view of Heaven in The Bible and there are a number of other places to look for glimpses of Heaven in the rest of The Bible. (Psalms 16, for one.)

And for the record, though I don't agree with them on many points, Hindus also believe in a form of Heaven and Hell. In fact, they believe one can visit these places many times over the necessary lessons are learned.
(Keep in mind that Hindus also believe in reincarnation and believe that if a person has been evil in this present life, they may die and then come back to Earth as a lower life form, perhaps as a beetle or something. They have to repeat the process until eventually they can attain oneness with Brahman. [According to the advaita or monism school of thought anyway.]

The Bible differs sharply with Hinduism when it states that it is appointed once for man to die- and then comes the judgment. (see Hebrews 9:27)
And as Hebrews 9:28 goes on to say- Just as man is appointed once to die and then comes the judgment- so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Of course, Christ also stands in stark contrast to Hinduism because He makes it clear that He is the Only Way, Truth and Life and that no one comes to The Father except through Him. And He has been sacrified once for all sins- there is no need for humans to continually attempt to purge away our own sins through karma and reincarnation because Christ has already purged all our sins through His death and Resurrection- we need only to put our faith and trust in Him and recognize that we have no good on our own- nothing we can do can ever satisfy God's standard of perfection. But Jesus met that standard for us.
This is actually one thing that makes Christ different from any other religion. It's not about us trying to appease God by our own attempts at goodness- it's about God knowing that we never can do enough and that we in fact, choose to do wrong instead- and Him loving us anyway to give us salvation even though we don't deserve it- and Him paying for it too. It's the beauty of grace and as John Newton observed, it's amazing!

[Frump]

Yeah that's why I called Hinduism a less extreme religion, it DOES seem a little more fair, whereas in Christianity you get punished and tortured FOREVER for finite crimes, even just for THOUGHTS.

Atleast if Hindusim is right we would get a second chance, and not be messed up FOREVER just over some little something or some thought we had.

[MacLeaper]

Well, it doesn't really matter what we think is fair- it only matters what is true. And of course, everyone has to choose for themselves what they will believe on that.

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by Frump

Yeah that's why I called Hinduism a less extreme religion, it DOES seem a little more fair, whereas in Christianity you get punished and tortured FOREVER for finite crimes, even just for THOUGHTS.

Atleast if Hindusim is right we would get a second chance, and not be messed up FOREVER just over some little something or some thought we had.

You also get a second change with Christianity. You ask for forgiveness and accept Jesus as your savior.

[James28]

A world where absolutely nothing exists, huh? How about we are eventually living in a world where it is practically difficult and virtually impossible to create any new ideas, period?

[Frump]

Originally Posted by James28

A world where absolutely nothing exists, huh? How about we are eventually living in a world where it is practically difficult and virtually impossible to create any new ideas, period?

It wouldnn't surprise me if someday we lived in a virtual world where we are all plugged into a...machine of some sort, where houses don't even exist anymore.

But this thread is a little old, so I guess I'm seeing things coming and going in cycles now, somethings are coming back.

Like at WalMart here they HAVE BROUGHT BACK FABRICS!!! I was sooo happy!!

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by Frump

Yeah that's why I called Hinduism a less extreme religion, it DOES seem a little more fair, whereas in Christianity you get punished and tortured FOREVER for finite crimes, even just for THOUGHTS.

Atleast if Hindusim is right we would get a second chance, and not be messed up FOREVER just over some little something or some thought we had.

The punishment in what the Bible describes as the Lake of Fire (which is not the same thing as Hell) lasts forever because people continue to sin there. It's not just a place where sin is punished. It's a place where sin continues. People will continue to curse God and to blaspheme Him.

It's much more than simply being punished over some "little something" or "some thought" we had.