Day 7
God is ETERNAL
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Psalm 90:2
This past October, I became a grandfather. If you are a grandparent, you, too, know the joy of seeing your child become a parent for the first time. The day that this precious gift from God breathed his first breath outside of his mother’s womb would forever be his calendared day of celebration. This date would go onto a birth certificate, be on a future driver’s license, and eventually be placed to the left of a dash on a tombstone. One day, his mortal body will become immortal, resembling his Creator in a way uniquely his own.
When we breathe our last breath on this earth, we will then begin our eternal life in an eternal home. The promise of God in John 3:16 is that those who repent, believe, and put their faith in God, through the Person of Jesus Christ, will not perish but will have everlasting life. A life that will never end and will last forever and ever.
The difference between us and God is that only God is eternal. Although He created all in the beginning (Genesis 1:1), His eternal nature was before the beginning. Our existence has a starting point – God’s doesn’t. David Jeremiah explains it this way: “The eternity of God refers to His existence backward throughout time and beyond, further than we can imagine, and forward into the future, as far as we can imagine and beyond. God never had a beginning and will never have an ending. There never was a time when He was not, and there will never be a time when He ceases to be.”
God’s eternality includes His timelessness; He doesn’t view time as we do. I can remember playing football in the street with neighborhood friends. Time expired when the streetlamps came on; this is when Mom said that I needed to make my way back to the house. With God, the fourth quarter never comes to an end, and there’s no sounding of an obnoxious buzzer that denotes the game’s conclusion. Unlike a streetlamp that shines only during the dark hours of the night, a life in Christ and in heaven provides the Light of all eternity that never goes off.
Just as God is eternal and everlasting, so are the souls of all humanity. The truth of the Gospel is that when we die physically, we will spend eternity somewhere – in places of permanence – either Heaven or Hell. Our lives, lives that resemble a vapor or mist on this earth, will then begin a new chapter that will have no end. Where we spend eternity is decided before we die. Residency in Hell is as real and as long as eternal life in Heaven.
The beauty of a life in Christ, and salvation that is received by grace through faith, is that those who call upon the name of the Lord will go to that eternal place with the Eternal God. A place where we will worship Him forever and ever!
FURTHER REFLECTION:
Realizing that eternity is real, who do you know that does not have a relationship with God through the Person of Jesus? Would you be willing to pray for them or even pray that God would give you the opportunity to share the Truth of the Gospel with them soon?
Are you prepared for eternity? If you are unsure, find someone who can help you discover the assurance of your salvation.
PRAYER:
Eternal and everlasting God, thank You for Your Son, Jesus, who gave His life that I can spend eternity in heaven with You. When You redeemed me, this world was no longer my home. While You have placed me here for this temporary time, my citizenship is in heaven, and my purpose in life is to glorify and honor You. I am a partaker of a divine nature, and You have made me into a new creation in Christ. Help me not to be consumed by worldly pleasures but to store up treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy. Amen.
FOR FURTHER STUDY: Ecclesiastes 3:11, Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:16, James 4:14
by: John Hogan