Things Eternal

“There are three things that are eternal: God, His Word, and the souls of men.” I heard this statement several times from my Bible school teacher, and it stuck with me. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I need a perspective reset—to remind myself: so many things in life really don’t matter all that much.

You see, so much of life is a matter of priority. And of course, as sinful humans, our priorities are often mixed up a little (or a lot!). Realizing what is eternal can transform our focus, and our lives, clarifying what is truly important.

God is Eternal.

This seems like a “duh!” statement, but let’s consider. The fact that God is eternal is really the foundation of a Biblical worldview. In the quest to reckon with the great questions of life, every individual must choose: believe in eternal God, or eternal matter. Something cannot come from nothing. The choice to believe in eternal matter means that you’re an accident, your life has no meaning, and there is no ultimate truth or higher authority. But if there is an eternal God Who created all things, then you were created with purpose, your life has meaning, and there is truth outside of yourself.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God (Psalm 90:2).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men (John 1:1-4).

Mankind has invented gods since the early days of our history. Yet the One true and living God stands apart as the uncreated Creator of all things. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He created time, choosing to operate within it for our sakes, yet standing apart from all restrictions.

It is mind-boggling to contemplate the eternality of God! In fact, you can really tangle your finite mind up when you think about how He never began and never will end! But how wonderful to know that God has forever been and will forever be. He is changeless and powerful. He is above and apart from us—yet He deigns to love and walk with us.

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones (Isaiah 57:15).

What area of our lives does this most impact? Our worship. You and I were created to worship. It’s impossible for us not to. When a person or society rejects the God of the Bible, the result is misplaced worship. Money, sports figures, politics, affluence, stuff, “likes” on social media, even ourselves—the devotion of our heart will go somewhere. Our actions follow our hearts. Our affections dictate our decisions, every day of our lives.

This is the challenge: am I worshipping the eternal God of the Bible, or is my hearts devotion elsewhere? Anything else that we give our love, our adoration, our focus—in short, our worship—to is fleeting and temporal. Jesus died for us so that we could spend eternity with Him.

Something that always blesses my heart is to spend time meditating on Who God is. As you read your Bible, ask God to reveal Himself to you. Yes, even if you’ve been a believer for many years! Refocus on your God. Meditate on His majesty, His glory, His goodness, His promises, His faithfulness. He is so much better than anything or anyone else that seeks your worship. May nothing, may no one, ever be more important to us than our Lord Jesus.

His Word is Eternal.

The Bible is unlike any other book that has ever been written, for its Author is divine. It’s incredible when you think that the God of heaven wrote down His thoughts for us to have. You can spend a lifetime reading and studying the Word of God, yet you’ll never reach the depths of His truth.

In our world, there are so many voices vying for our attention. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds all of the noise overwhelming sometimes! Information and opinions, news and media, constant bombard our brains day after day. Who to believe? What is really true? Everyone has a different viewpoint.

There is one voice that rises above the others, and always will. Its source is not human, but the one, true Creator-God. Like His character, His word is absolutely true and righteous. And like its Author, it is eternal.

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever (Psalm 12:6-7).

Did you see that? God promised to preserve His words—each one. You can completely trust the word of God. It is pure, true, uncorrupted, and perfect, and will be through all eternity!

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89).

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever (Isaiah 40:8).

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever (2 Peter 1:23).

The devil and his minions hate God’s word, and have made every effort throughout history to destroy it and ruin its credibility. From the death penalty for possessing and translating it, to philosophers and atheists seeking to set it at naught, the Bible has been the most hated (might I also add, loved) Book ever. Yet, it withstands every attack.

The French philosopher Voltaire predicted, “One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.” Guess what? Voltaire is long dead, and thousands still read, treasure, and obey the Bible. (In an ironic twist, Voltaire’s home later became a storehouse for Bibles and gospel literature!)

Psalm 138:102 says, “I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” When I was a young girl, this verse used to bother me a little. How could God exalt anything above His name?!

The reason He magnifies His word above His name is because His name would mean little to us without the Bible. God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in this age through His word, and it is vitally important that we trust and worship the right Jesus. The One revealed in the scriptures, not made up by a religious leader or man’s imagination. On matters which affect our eternity, it is foolishness to trust anything other than one eternal God and His Book.

If God exalts His word above His name (see Philippians 2:9-11 for what He says about His name), and He will preserve His word through all eternity, then it should be the most important voice in our ears. We should give the Bible the most exalted position in our lives.

This is the challenge: do I allow the word of God to influence my life? Do I base my choices on the temporal, fleeting opinions of faulty humans, or the unchanging Word of God? Do we read it? Study it? Believe it? Love it? Live it? Share it?

The Human Soul is Eternal.

Scripture teaches very clearly the eternality of the soul and the fact that every soul will spend eternity in one of two destinations, heaven or hell. Jesus often spoke of hell (at least 16 references in the gospels), and thus we must too, though it is an uncomfortable topic. Revelation 20-22 presents those destinations as the only two options for each person.

The knowledge that every soul will live forever gives great weight to the commission Jesus left His followers: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Romans 10 reminds us, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!“

God has chosen the preaching of the cross as the means to bring sinners to salvation (1 Cor. 1:18, 21). And He has left us with the responsibility of giving His message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20).

We are not all called to be “career” missionaries, but we are all called to be faithful messengers of the gospel wherever God has put us. And yes, sometimes that is an uncomfortable task to the flesh. But it’s also one of the most exciting things we will ever do! There’s a special and peculiar joy that comes when we open our mouths to tell of Jesus’ love and power to save!

In Conclusion.

In eternity, we will find God, His word, and the souls of men. This life is not all there is; it really is just preparation for eternal life. For one who has lived a life of devotion to God, loving and adoring Him, eternity will just be the blessed continuation of that as we see Him face-to-face. I love to think that we may well spend eternity listening to Jesus explain the treasures in His word that were impossible for us to fully grasp on earth. And I pray that heaven will be fuller, sweeter, because we told as many precious souls as we could that Jesus died and rose again for their salvation.

All that, my friends, is worth living for!

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:17-18).