Our Eternal God预览

I do not pretend to be able to understand or fully conceptualize all of that—we all have huge limitations in our understanding of these things. Nonetheless, from what the Scriptures tell us, these things must be true of the God who made time, who is eternal, who never changes, and who knows the end from the beginning.

If all this is true, what does it mean for His people? What are the implications for us? There are, of course, many, but let me suggest four key implications. The first is that the eternity of God gives us perspective.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul gave a very intriguing exhortation. The immediate context is actually a discussion of marriage, but Paul wanted his readers to see that our perspective on everything in this world is shaped by the fact that this world is not eternal:

This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (1 Cor. 7:29–31)

We are all naturally focused on the short term in our outlook, easily dazzled and consumed by the things immediately before us. But as we look upon the eternal God and hear His promises of a life to come, of heaven above, of a new creation in which we will live with Him, our eyes are lifted to see the bigger picture. His promises teach us to say no to the pleasures of sin, which are so fleeting, and no to the idols of this world, which will fade away. More than that, these realities also teach us to value knowing, loving, and serving the eternal God.

We all veer toward ending pleasure and fulfillment in the measly things immediately before us because we fail to lift our eyes to the bigger realities—the greater joys—that the Lord sets before us. The eternal God has spoken to us in His Word. He has entered our world in the person of His Son. He has invited us to receive eternal life and to join in His kingdom, which will have no end. By all this, in His grace He teaches us to number our days and He gives to us a heart of wisdom. The eternity of God gives us perspective.