[[ Will not the great mercy of God be revealed at some point in the distant future?]]
There are many who think that but no- the unsaved will still reject God, and their sins will still be going strong- and the effects of their sins will have already done their immediate damage, but also future damage as well- The argument for ‘limited punishment’ comes from the thought that sins are finite- Here is a similar question posed o nthe site listed beblow:
‘Taking the example of a serial rapist, lets say his crimes were so evil that he deserves to suffer for 5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years. That is still NOTHING compared to eternity. Simply put, you cannot do anything bad enough to deserve hell. And certainly nothing you could do in your pitiful life of a mere few decades that could justify it.’
Check out the following for a good discussion on this subject
http://christianthinktank.com/way2long.html
” If someone commits a rape, the damage to the victim MIGHT end at death, but what that statement does not take into account is the eternally different stream/ripples of events which flow from that rape.”
This is very interesting, but I question the idea of unbounded (eternal) consequences. Yes, all sin is extremely serious, and have far-ranging consequences. But are they eternal?
More to the point is the concept of the “fundamental option,” the basic orientation of the human heart, either for or against God. If someone has rejected God in their heart of hearts, the vast universe of time will not change that decision. What, then is their destiny? C.S. Lewis has some interesting musings on that in one of his books.