What is everlasting? The fire. Who was it prepared for? The devil and his angels...demons. Says nothing about man having eternal life BEFORE Christ grants it to us.
Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Completely agrees with:
Rom_6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The penalty, the punishment, for sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life. Man does not have immortality without Christ. Yet many Christians say we don't need Christ for immortality.
Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
What goes up forever? The smoke. The smoke of their punishment. To believe that this is referring to immortal men being burned up pre-supposes that the rest of the bible is wrong. It's always been understood that the wicked are burned up, that they die:
Mal_4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
The wicked are burned to stubble. Little bits of ash.
The bible is clear. Man is not immortal and cannot be immortal or eternal without going through Christ...without being a believer in Jesus Christ.
Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction (olethros) from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
olethros - 3639 /ólethros ("ruination") however does not imply "extinction" (annihilation). Rather it emphasizes the consequent loss that goes with the complete "undoing." [http://biblehub.com/greek/3639.htm]