THE ETERNALITY OF GOD

God is an independent and self-existent being, the Creator of the whole universe, the source of all life. Unlike all created beings, whose life is limited by time, that is, there is a moment in history that marks the beginning of their existence and a moment that marks the end, God has no beginning and no end. All created beings are temporal beings, but God is an eternal being who transcends time. And thus says the Lord of Hosts in Revelation 1:8, “‘I am the First and the Last,’ says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.” God existed before ages; He existed in eternity past. God has always lived and will live forever. So time is not an issue for God. He is not limited by time; He is not bound by time, but rather He controls it. God transcends time – time itself being created by God. And so when we talk about the eternality of God, likewise his other attributes, we can only scratch the surface. The very fact that we are temporal beings, the fact that we are finite beings, limits our ability to fully comprehend the eternality of God. God has always existed; He is the origin of creation – it is He who created all things. But as for us, we are created beings who came into existence at some point in time, according to the sovereign will of God the Creator. And to any one of us God has allotted a certain number of days to live. We cannot live pass the day that the Lord has set to be the end of our life here on earth, the day when He takes his breath away from us, and we return to the dust from which He formed us. It is God who sustains the entire creation. He is the beginning and the end.

God is the Beginning and the End

Before God there was no one. Thus says the Lord in Revelation 22:13, “I am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Before God created the universe, He had always existed and He will remain for ever while the whole universe passes away. God breathed into existence the whole creation; in six days He created all things. But He has set a day when He will fold all things up like a coat and discard them. The universe is disposable, it is temporal. God made it and He will dispose of it at the due time. But He himself will remain; He will live for ever. Psalms 102:26-27 says, “O LORD, You live for ever; long ago You created the earth, and with your own hands You made the heavens. They will disappear, but You will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish. But You are always the same, and your life never ends.” As the Creator, God alone witnessed the creation of the universe and He is sovereign over all that He made. At his command all things were created, and with the same command all things will come to an end. But the Lord God who lived in eternity past, and who still lives today, will live for ever. God will be there when heaven and earth pass away. And thus says the Lord in Isaiah 41:4, “I, the LORD, was there at the beginning, and I, the LORD, will be there at the end.”

God is the One who determines the course of existence; He holds the entire universe in his hands. God gave a command and the ancient world was destroyed by a flood. The current world will also be destroyed by Him. It is written, “The heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.” (2 Peter 3:7). Man is held and limited by time. Our life here on earth is timed by God, the Creator and controller of time. Each person comes to life on a specific day and lives to the time when the Lord has set to take his breath away. And when that happens, they become nothing but dust. Our days are numbered, but God lives from everlasting to everlasting. Job 36:26 says, “We cannot fully know his greatness or count the number of his years.” During our lifetime, we are controlled by time. Our body can do certain things only up to certain age. We cannot wait too long in life for example to bear a child. We have to retire from our jobs at certain age because our body becomes weary and sick with age. But to the Lord, age means nothing. As 2 Peter 3:8 puts it, “There is no difference in the Lord’s sight between one day and a thousand years; to Him the two are the same.”

Our body ages with years, it becomes worn out and falls into decay when the Lord takes his breath away. A clear picture of our life here on earth is given by Moses in his prayer, when he says to the Lord, “Our life is cut short by your anger; it fades away like a whisper. Seventy years is all we have – eighty years, if we are strong; yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow; life is soon over, and we are gone.” (Psalms 90:10). Furthermore, we have to adapt our lifestyle to seasons and circumstances in order to survive. There is time for sowing and planting and there is time for harvesting. We have several seasons in a year, which we have to observe. We have to schedule our activities and adjust our lifestyles based on seasons and weather. If we do not sow at the proper time of the year, we should not expect an abundant harvest during the harvest season. If we do not dress for the weather, we put our lives in jeopardy.

There is a time for everything we have to do for a living and failure to observe it may result in harmful outcomes. We chase the time as we chase the wind. Yet we never catch it and we are never satisfied with the time we have; it is never enough to us. This is not the case with the Lord. It is He who controls everything – “He controls the times and the seasons.” Says Daniel 2:21. The Lord God Almighty is not bound by seasons and years. He can do whatever He wants whenever He wants, without putting his existence in jeopardy. He created the seasons and He controls them. God controls the weather. It is the Lord who commands the day to dawn; He keep the snow and the hail in their storerooms; He turns the waters to stone and freezes the face of the sea.

During our short time of wandering here on earth, we always wish we have more time to do certain things and we like to plan for the future. Some people want to live to certain age. Yet no one knows what tomorrow will bring. Our days come and go, and as they go we are no longer the same: they strip us of our youth and strike us with some wrinkles and health problems that make it hard for our body and mind to function properly. Soon we are gone. We are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. (Cf. James 4:4). Our life passes like a shadow. As Job 14:1-2 says, “We are all born weak and helpless. All lead the same short, troubled life. We grow and wither as quickly as flowers; we disappear like shadows.”

We cannot control time as it goes by. We have to limit ourselves to the days allotted to us by the Sovereign Lord. In addition every upcoming day remains a mystery to us, for we do not know what tomorrow will bring. We live day by day and are held by circumstances and our inability to understand what God is doing. The Lord, in eternity past, determined the length of our lives and set the time for everything. Everything that happens was determined by the eternal God long before the dawn of time. Our minds may yearn to understand what happened in the past and what is happening now, our hearts may yearn to see the future, but never are we able to fathom the mysteries of eternity past, nor to unveil the mysteries that the future holds. As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are mere mortals, limited by time – God is the only Eternal Being.

God is the Only Eternal Being.

God alone is eternal. He lived in eternity past, He still lives today and will live forever. Unlike the redeemed who are going to inherit eternal life, the eternality of God is part of his nature: He has always existed and there is no end to his life. Furthermore, God’s eternality does not come from someone else. God is a self-sufficient and self-existent being, whose eternality does not depend on an external cause. God is an eternal being, the Great I AM. When the Lord appears to Moses in the burning bush, He says to Moses in Exodus 3:10, “Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country,” Verse 13, “But Moses replied, ‘when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ so what can I tell them?” Verse 14, “God said, ‘I am who I am. This is what you must say to them: ‘The One who is called I AM has sent me to you.’”

What the Lord says to Moses in this verse describes the very nature of God, his aseity, his self-existence, his immutability and eternality. God is – there has never been a time when He wasn’t and there will never be a time when He is not – God is eternal, the Great I AM; He is life without end. As for us who have faith in Christ, although we are going to receive eternal life in the End Times, our eternality will be different from God’s: we are temporal beings, created by God – our life has a beginning and an end, that is, there is a day on which we are born, and there is a day on which we die. On the other hand our eternality depends wholly on God – we inherit it through faith in God’s own Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

God is the One True and Living God, the eternal God. The aseity of the Lord God Almighty and his timeless existence set Him apart from all created beings. The Lord is also different from the gods of this world – the latter are lifeless, man-made idols. As the psalmist says, “The gods of the nations are made of silver and gold; they are formed by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, and eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear; they are not even able to breathe.” Psalms (135:15-17). “But You, LORD, are the true God, You are the Living God and the eternal King.” Says Jeremiah 10:10. Isaiah 44:6, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no god.’” God speaks, He hears, He sees everything. Hebrews 4:13 says, “There is nothing that can be hidden from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to Him that we must all give an account of ourselves.”

Because God is not constrained by time He knows everything. He knows what will happen in the future, He knows the past and the present. The Lord is all-powerful and sovereign; He has ordained everything. God is life, the source and sustainer of all life. Thus says the Lord God in Deuteronomy 32:39-42,“I, and I alone, am God; no other god is real. I kill and I give life, I wound and I heal, and no one can oppose what I do. As surely as I am the Living God, I raise my hand and I vow that I will sharpen my flashing sword and see that justice is done. I will take revenge on my enemies and punish those who hate Me. My arrows will drip with their blood, and my sword will kill all who oppose Me. I will spare no one who fights against Me; even the wounded and prisoners will die.” The life of every living thing depends on God. He is the one who creates all things and He is the one who puts an end to all things. Furthermore, without God’s sustenance all things would cease to exist.

The Eternality of God sustains the life of all things

The life of all things is sustained by God alone. As the scripture says, “In Him we live and move and exist.” (Acts 17:18). No human being sustains the life of others. No human being is a necessary being. As a matter of fact, every day throughout the world, the Lord takes his breath away from many people and they die. But life goes on; it does not stop. Because no human being is indispensable. God is the only source and the only sustainer of all lives. The Lord is the only necessary being. His very existence is what makes life possible for all created beings. The entire creation lies in the Lord’s mighty hands. Job 12:10 says, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.” Verse 14-15,“When God tears down, who can rebuild, and who can free those God imprisons? Drought comes when God withholds rain; floods come when He turns water loose.”

If the Lord could cease to be, if his existence could be limited by time, all things would cease to exist, all things would vanish the very moment God’s existence comes to an end. But there is no beginning, there is no end to the life of God. God, the eternal God created all things and He Himself gives them life and sustains them. Genesis 2:5-7 says, “When the LORD God made the universe, there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because He had not send rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land; but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground. Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; He breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.”

God is the only life-giver, the only life-sustainer and the only one who takes life away – Day by day He renews the breath of life He gives to men; but when He takes it back, they die. And so, as Job 34:14-15 says, “If God were to take back his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust.” Would anything or anyone survive, then, if God the only life-giver and sustainer of all things was Himself limited by time? The answer to this question is no. The eternality of God’s beingness is what sustains the life of all created beings, it is what sustains the universe. God is the source of all life, the eternal being from whom all the living beings He has created draw their sustenance. God is always at work to sustain our breath of life. Apart from God there is no other source on which creation can rely to exist. So if God was to die, the entire creation would disappear forever; no one would be able to sustain himself for a nanosecond on this earth if that was to happen. For as Paul says in Acts 17:25, “It is He Himself (God) who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.”

God created everything, He controls all things and He sustains the life of everything He made. Our life lies is God’s hands. He is the Beginning and the End. The Lord alone is God; there is no one like Him. He is the Living God, the One True God. His Spirit is life. God is life and the source of all life. Psalms 90:2-6 says, “Before You (God) created the hills or brought the world into being, You were eternally God, and will be God for ever. You tell us to return to what we were; You change us back to dust. A thousand years to You are like one day; they are like yesterday, already gone, like a short hour in the night. You carry us away like a flood; we last no longer than a dream. We are like weeds that sprout in the morning, that grow and burst into bloom, then dry up and die in the evening.” To borrow the words of King David, “We pass through life like exiles and strangers, as our ancestors did. Our days are like a passing shadow, and we cannot escape death.” (1 Chronicles 29:15). So all things in creation will pass away, but the eternal God will live for ever. And we must also note that not only will God never pass away, but his attributes also remain the same – they are eternal.

The Eternality of God’s Attributes

Man’s demeanour changes as per circumstances and the person with whom they are dealing. We love someone today but tomorrow we hate them. At times we have good intentions but other times our intentions are evil. We are faithful one day and unfaithful the next. Certain moments in life we tell the truth and other moments we tell lies. One moment we obey and do the right thing, but the minute after we are disobedient and sinful. We go weary and sick. We fall and get discouraged. At times we are afraid, doubtful and troubled, other times we are fearless, certain and undisturbed. Unlike man, God never changes; his attributes remain the same. As the writer of Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8). God is eternally righteous, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, loving, merciful, gracious, faithful, compassionate, holy, good, sovereign and immutable.

The Lord is an eternal being. His nature does not change, his attributes do not change. All the attributes of the Lord are eternal. Thus declares the Lord in Isaiah 43:13, “I am God and always will be. No one can escape from my power; no one can change what I do.” In this verse the Lord affirms his eternality and his sovereignty. Psalms 111:3 affirms God’s everlasting righteousness. It says, “All He does is full of honour and majesty; his righteousness is eternal.” James 1:17 speaks among other things of the immutability of God. It is written: “Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.” 1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, because He is good; his love is eternal.” Psalms 100:5, “The LORD is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts for ever.” Psalms 117:2, “His love for us is strong and his faithfulness is eternal.” Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Psalms 119:90, “Your faithfulness endures through all the ages; You have set the earth in place and it remains.”

Isaiah 40:28, “Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The LORD is the everlasting God; He created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts.” Job 42:2, “I know, LORD, that You are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want.” God is eternally truthful and faithful; He never lies, He never fails. He plans and predicts all things, and He sees to it that everything comes to fruition. Thus says the Lord Almighty in Isaiah 46:8-10, “Remember this, you sinners; consider what I have done. Remember what happened long ago; acknowledge that I alone am God and that there is no one else like Me. From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.” Psalms 145:17, “The LORD is righteous in all He does, merciful in all his acts.” Psalms 46:1, “God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Psalms 145:13 says, “Your rule is eternal, and You are King for ever.” As the sovereign and eternal being, God alone is the one who allows other beings to live for eternity. The Lord our God is the dispenser of grace, the dispenser of eternal glory.

God the Dispenser of Eternal glory

We are mortal beings and our existence is limited by time. The day of our birth marks the beginning of our existence and death is the end of life for any one of us. Death came into the world through sin, after the fall of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. As the result of this first sin the entire human race was cursed and condemned to death. Because of our sinful nature, we are all short of the glory of God. But the Lord restores in his glory those who humble themselves and repent of their sins. Thus says the Lord in Isaiah 57:15, “I am the High and Holy God, who lives for ever. I live in a high and holy place, but also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope.” Because of his love for us, God has atoned for our sins by offering his own Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as the propitiation for our sins. And so everyone who believes in Christ will not die but receive eternal life.

As sinners, we were dead in our trespasses. But God through the sacrificial death of his Son on the cross gives a new birth and a new life to anyone who puts his faith in Jesus, anyone who renounces to self and lives for Christ. Christ came into the world, humbled Himself and took the place of a servant. He lived the life we couldn’t live and He bore the curses that we should have borne. He was nailed to the cross and He suffered in the hands of his own Father. Christ set aside his glory and sacrificed his own life so that all those who have faith in Him may have a new birth and a new life in Him. He obeyed the will of his Father in order to reconcile to Him all those who turn away from their sins. He was crushed for our transgressions. “Even though He was God’s Son, He learnt through his sufferings to be obedient. When He was made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, and God declared Him to be High Priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.” Says Hebrews 5:8-10. Christ is the source of eternal life. Everyone who believes that Christ died for their sins and was raised by the glorious power of God the Father is cleansed from their sins. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to them and they are treated by God as righteous. It is only by believing in Christ that one can inherit eternal life. No man possesses eternality, and no one can access eternal salvation by his own merit or works. For God alone is the dispenser of eternal glory, the source of eternal life. And to inherit this life one must turn away from their sins and believe in God’s one and only Son, the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

God’s Son is life. By Him all things were created and by Him all those who believe in Him are reconciled to God. Thus says the Lord in John 6:47, “I am telling you the truth: he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” John 5:24, “I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in Him who sent Me have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death to life.” Sin and rebellion bring judgement, and judgement brings destruction. But faith in Christ triumphs over condemnation; it brings life. Those who desire to live for eternity in the glorious presence of God have only one way to go: believing in God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. No man can live for ever unless he has faith in Christ. No man can receive eternal life unless he repents of his sins, gives them up and throws himself on the mercy of Christ. No one apart from Christ can guarantee us eternal life. Christ is the only righteous, the one who paid for our sins at the cost of his own life. He is the only way to escape God’s righteous wrath; He is the triumphant King of glory. Christ has defeated death on our behalf and has given us eternal life.

Those who reject the King of glory remain under the bondage of sin and death. They will be condemned. “For (as Paul says in Romans 2:7-11) God will reward every person according to what each has done. Some people keep on doing good, and seek glory, honour, and immortal life; to them God will give eternal life. Other people are selfish and reject what is right, in order to follow what is wrong; on them God will pour out his anger and fury. There will be suffering and pain for all those who do evil, for the Jews first and also for the Gentiles. But God will give glory, honour, and peace to all who do what is good, to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles. For God judges everyone by the same standard.” That is to say, those whose sins are not forgiven will die in their sins and go to hell, where they will face the second death. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

Have you put your faith in Christ Jesus? Are you seeking eternal life, glory and honour? I urge you today to turn away from your idols, repent of your sins, give them up and run to Christ the Saviour. Don’t try to convince yourself that all will be well with you even if you stubbornly go your own way. You will be destroyed, for the Lord does not tolerate those who dishonour Him, those who rebel against Him and refuse to abandon their evil ways. The Lord’s anger will flame up against those who reject his Son and He will cast upon them all the curses until they are destroyed completely. Repent of your sins and believe on Jesus, and He will give you eternal life. Christ is the source of eternal salvation, the truth that sets free. Christ is the Word – by Him all things were created, and through Him all things will be brought back to God.

The Eternality of God’s Word

In the beginning God spoke and the universe came into being. What makes the word of God so unique is its truthfulness, power and perfection. God’s word is not deceitful – it is the source of all life, the truth that sanctifies, because it is holy. Human doctrines are deceitful – they come from people who have rejected the truth. They are legends and human commandments, the doctrines of demons, which come from the deceitful spirits of this world. As 1 Timothy 4:2 says, “Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron.” Although diverse and popular, human doctrines are all futile. Their one and only purpose is to distort the truth and to drive those who follow them away from the truth, away from God. However, like anything else that comes from the world, they all pass away. No human doctrine lasts for ever.

But as for the word of God, Psalms 119:89 says, “Your word, O LORD, will last for ever; it is eternal in heaven.” The word of God was the same in eternity past, is the same today and will be the same for all time to come. The word of God is eternal. All things will pass away but it will remain forever. “As the Scripture says: ‘All human beings are like grass and all their glory is like wild flowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord remains for ever.’” (1 Peter 1:24-25). The word of God is alive, immutable, trustworthy and powerful. The word of God never changes. God’s word transcends time, because He has always existed. It is written, “In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to humanity. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.” Says John 1:1-5.

The Word of God is alive and powerful. By Him all things were created and by Him a new birth and a new life is given to all those who turn away from their sins and believe. The Word of God generates us, He makes us come into being through physical birth. The same Word of God gives to those who seek Him a new birth – the spiritual birth called regeneration, in which every born again person is blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thus says the Lord Jesus in John 6:63, “What gives life is God’s Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God’s life-giving Spirit.” That is to say, those who accept the word of Christ and put their faith in Him will not perish. But rather, they receive a new birth and a new life, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And in this way they will be able to share in Christ’s glory. But those who reject Christ and his teaching will be condemned and destroyed. For thus says the Lord in John 12:48, “Those who reject Me and do not accept my message have one who will judge them. The words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day!”

The word of God does not evolve to adapt to changes. It is not limited by time or circumstances. God’s word is sufficient and inerrant. It remains the same for all ages. It binds all generations and all nations on earth. Unlike human doctrines, which are limited by time and which also vary from one nation to another and can be different from one generation to another, the word of God is the same for everyone, for all nations and people of all generations. God’s word is not limited by geographical boundaries or time and no one can set himself above it. It is universal and without end. Thus says the Lord God Almighty in Mark 13:31, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” The doctrines of this world and those who follow them will pass away. But the word of God endures from everlasting to everlasting.

The Word of God is perfect and always true; it is always trustworthy. There is no flaw in God’s word, no loophole. Time does not affect it, circumstances do not render it inefficient. The word of God endures for ever. The commands of the Lord last for all time. As Isaiah 40:7-8 says, “Grass withers and flowers fade, when the LORD sends the wind blowing over them. People are no more enduring than grass. Yes, grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of our God endures for ever.” The Lord says in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” No matter what generation we belong to, no matter our citizenship on this earth, we are all ruled by the same word of God forever. And those who find pleasure in obeying it rejoice for ever. The word of God brings joy to their hearts, because they cannot be “carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent.” (Cf. Ephesians 4:14).

The word of God is the weapon that the Spirit of God has given us, both to attack and to defend ourselves; it is the truth that sets people free. As the writer of Hebrews says, “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12). If you hear God’s voice today, do not harden your heart. Trust in his word. Let your heart treasure the word of God like the Psalmist who says to the Lord, “Your commandments are my eternal possession; they are the joy of my heart.” (Psalms 119:111). Pray that God will give you understanding and wisdom. Pray that He will increase your hunger and thirst for his word. Feed yourself on God’s word and pray that He will help you put it into practice in your life.

Don’t be fooled by human doctrines – they are demonic and deceitful. They encourage people to give in to their sinful desires and evil passions. We need every single word that proceeds from the mouth of the Most High God. For the word of God “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Treasure the word of God, renew your mind in the Scripture day after day. For this is how we get to know God. And we cannot obey and serve God, we cannot glorify God if we do not know Him and his will. The only way to know who God is, to know his will and what He requires of us is by reading the Scripture. The more we know our God the better we glorify and serve Him.

If you are trapped in the waves of any human doctrine, I urge you now to turn away from your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus, the Word of life. He is the truth that sets people free, the only one who can cleanse you from your sins and justify you before the holy and eternal God. He is the only person through whom you can inherit the eternal promises of God. Don’t embrace the principles of this world! Don’t get carried away by human doctrines! As the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5:6, “Do not let anyone deceive you with foolish words; it is because of these very things that God’s anger will come upon those who do not obey Him.” Run to Christ, seek the truth and you will be saved. Only those who obey the eternal word of God will inherit God’s eternal promises.

The Eternality of God’s Promises and Purposes

The failure of man to keep his promises is something inherent in his nature. First of all, we make promises and willingly breach them, in order to serve our own interests. On the other hand, our plans or promises can also be easily frustrated by the Sovereign Lord at any given time. As the Scripture says, “You may make plans, but God directs your actions.” (Proverbs 16:9). Unless the Lord enables our plans and goals to come to fruition, they will forever remain a dream. However, no one, nothing can impede the fulfillment of God’s plans and purposes nor does the Lord Himself ever fail to fulfill his promises or to do what He plans. The very nature of God does not make such a breach possible – God is faithful and sovereign, He is eternal and good. And so the psalmist wrote, “The LORD frustrates the purposes of the nations; He keeps them from carrying out their plans. But his plans endure for ever; his purposes last eternally.” (Psalms 33:10-11).

Furthermore, when we talk about the eternality of God’s promises, we must contemplate the objects of those promises – they are not of the same nature as what the world offers to its children. The things the world promises its children are visible. Such things are temporal; they are subject to decay and destruction, they are all ephemeral. But the promises of God are based on the things unseen. And as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts for ever.” We, children of God, believe in the things unseen, things which by nature are eternal. We believe in the invisible promises of God our Father, and He never fails to keep his promises. The Lord our God is eternal and so are all his promises and purposes. They can’t be broken, they can’t be obstructed. Thus says the Lord in Isaiah 54:10, “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end; I will keep for ever my promise of peace.”

The Lord is faithful to his promises; his promises last for ever. Even when we are unfaithful the Lord remains forever faithful, “…because He cannot be false to Himself.” (Cf. 2 Timothy 2:13). By nature God is faithful. When the Lord makes a promise, He keeps it even when man is unfaithful to Him. Psalms 119:90 says, “Your faithfulness endures through all the ages.” For instance, God entrusted his message to the people of Israel. He promised that through Israel He would bless other nations. Although some of God’s own people were not faithful, God has kept his promise to Israel. He didn’t reconsider his decision despite the sins of Israel. The promises of the Lord are eternal, they last for ever. And this is a demonstration to us of the very nature of God. He never lies. As 1 Samuel 15:29 says, “Israel’s majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being – He does not change his mind.” The unfaithfulness of the people of Israel did not make the Lord change his mind; He didn’t cancel the covenant He had made with their forefathers. Nothing or no one can make God change his character. God is forever truthful. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not like men, who lie; He is not a human who changes his mind. Whatever He promises, He does; He speaks, and it is done.” We trust the Lord, we believe in his promises because, as Paul highlights it in Romans 11:29, “God does not change his mind about whom He chooses and blesses.”

The Lord is the Good Shepherd. He never abandons his sheep; He keeps them secure. The Lord never fails to do what He says He will do. Listen to the promise of the Lord to his flock in John 10:27-30. The Lord says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” This promise is the source of our assurance and confidence. Those whom the Lord chooses, He leads them on the ‘Road of Holiness’; He keeps them safe as they travel home. He will take them to Jerusalem, the Great City, the holy and eternal city of God, where He Himself will be their King for ever. And so Isaiah 35:10 says, “They will reach Jerusalem with gladness, singing and shouting for joy. They will be happy for ever, for ever free from sorrow and grief.” Everything of this world is temporal, it is subject to decay and destruction. The world crowns its children with withering wreath. But the crown of glory promised to us by our heavenly Father is secured for us in heaven. It's the crown that lasts forever.

The promises of God are eternal, and so are his purposes. The work of Christ on the cross has an eternal purpose. The eternal purpose of God for mankind is redemption. The Lord promises eternal life to those who turn away from their sins and put their trust in Him. Hebrews 9:12 says, “When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, He did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, He took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us.” We, Christians, have been purified by the blood of Christ and never again will we be unclean in God’s sight, never again will we be treated by God as unrighteous. As Paul says in Ephesians 3:12, “In union with Christ and through our faith in Him we have the boldness to go into God’s presence with all confidence.” Because we believe in God’s Son, we have been born again as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal, through the living and eternal word of God. (Cf. 1 Peter 1:23). Christ’s own righteousness has been imputed to us. We are saved, free from our captivity to sin and death, reconciled to God, and nothing can ever make us lose our salvation.

The gift of life we receive from our Lord is eternal. The physical and temporal body we now have will be destroyed by death; it will fall into decay. But when our Lord returns, those of us who died believing in Him will be raised with a glorified body that will last for ever, and believers who are still alive will be instantly transformed – they will receive a glorified and immortal body in the place of the mortal one they now have. As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, “We shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die.” So when our Lord Jesus Christ returns to establish his Kingdom, all the saints (dead or alive) will be glorified. A new earth and a new heaven will appear and there Christ Himself will be their King for ever.

The Eternal Dominion of Christ

There is no other eternal kingdom apart from the Kingdom of Christ. Psalms 66:7, “He rules for ever by his might and keeps his eyes on the nations.” The reign of the kings and rulers of this world lasts only for a time, not even for their lifetime, because no son of a man and a woman is born a king. Even if a child is born into a royal family, although he may be the heir to the throne, he is not a king at birth but a prince. And until the day he sits on the throne he can never be called a king. In addition, his kingship will end when he dies or is dethroned. Also Earthly kings receive their authority from God. As Paul says in Romans 13:1, “No authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.” It is God who makes and unmakes kings. He raises kings and rulers, and at his commands their kingdoms fall into ruins; they are overthrown by his power. God delivers them to destruction. Job 12:18 says, “He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners.” Verse 21, “He disgraces those in power and puts an end to the strength of rulers.” Verse 23-25, “He makes nations strong and great, but then He defeats and destroys them. He makes their leaders foolish and lets them wander confused and lost; they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards.”

The Lord rules supreme over all earthly kingdoms and powers of the heavenly world. Enthroned above the winged creatures and seated at the right-hand side of the Father in Heaven, “Christ rules there above all heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; He has a title superior to all titles of authority in this world and in the next.” (Ephesians 1:21). Daniel 7:14 says, “To Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” Christ is the long-awaited King, the Promised King, the Messiah, the Redeemer of his people, the only One born a King, whose birth and eternal dominion were announced by the prophets. Isaiah 11:1-5 says, “The royal line of David is like a tree that has been cut down; but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new King will arise from among David’s descendants. The Spirit of the LORD will give Him wisdom, and the knowledge and skill to rule his people. He will know the LORD’s will and honour Him, and find pleasure in obeying Him. He will not judge by appearance or hearsay; He will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless. At his command the people will be punished, and evil persons will die. He will rule his people with justice and integrity.”

Jeremiah 23:5-6, “The LORD says, ‘The time is coming when I will choose as King a righteous descendant of David. That King will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. When He is King, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called ‘The LORD Our Salvation.’” Micah 5:2-5, ‘“The LORD says, ‘Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a Ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times. So the LORD will abandon his people to their enemies until the woman who is to give birth has her Son. Then those Israelites who are in exile will be reunited with their own people. When He comes, He will rule his people with the strength that comes from the LORD and with the majesty of the LORD God Himself. His people will live in safety because people all over the earth will acknowledge his greatness, and He will bring peace.’” Christ is the King of peace, the King of glory, born with a crown. His Kingdom is not of this world. Christ did not receive his crown from the hand of men; He did not become a king. He has always been the King and will be King for ever. That’s why from his birth He is worshiped. Matthew 2:1-2 says, “[…] Soon afterwards, (meaning his birth) some men who studied the stars came from the east to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the baby born to be King of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship Him.’”

The Lord our God has always been and will always be the King. His kingship does not depend on someone and is not limited by time. Christ is King for ever. His dominion is from everlasting to everlasting. Exodus 15:18 says, “You, LORD, will be King for ever.” Psalms 45:6, “The kingdom that God has given You will last for ever and ever. You will rule over your people with justice.” Psalms 146:10, “The LORD is King for ever. Your God, O Zion, will reign for all time.” Lamentations 5:19, “But You, O LORD, are King for ever, and will rule to the end of time.” Daniel 4:3, “How great are the wonders God shows us! How powerful are the miracles He performs! God is King for ever; He will rule for all time.” Daniel 4:34-35 says, “[…] He will rule for ever, and his Kingdom will last for all time. He looks on the people of the earth as nothing; angels in heaven and people on earth are under his control. No one can oppose his will or question what He does.” Psalms 9:7, “The LORD is King for ever; He has set up his throne for judgement.”

God’s Eternal Judgements

Christ is the eternal King and the Judge of all. As the only Lawgiver, Christ alone is the Judge of the entire human race. He will judge the living and the dead. Thus says the Lord in John 5:25-29, “I am telling you the truth: the time is coming – the time has already come – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life. Just as the Father is Himself the source of life, in the same way He has made his Son to be the source of life. And He has given the Son the right to judge, because He is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.”

In Revelation 20:11-15 our Lord reveals to John what must happen on the Day of Judgement. And so John tells us, “I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Even the Devil, the prince of this world will be “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10).

The day is coming when the Lord will judge each man according to his deeds. He will pass judgments on both the living and the dead. All will stand before the eternal God to receive their reward. He will declare them either innocent or guilty. And every verdict rendered by the Lord is final, it is eternal. The guilty will face eternal disgrace while the innocent will receive an eternal crown of glory. However, no one is able to escape guilt on his own. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). But those who believe in Christ are no longer guilty before God. To them Christ has imputed his own righteousness so that they may share in his eternal glory. As Paul says in Romans 8:1, “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.”

The eternality of God provides hope and confidence to those who put their trust in God’s only Son. But those who reject God’s Son remain forever under curse; they will suffer eternal disgrace. On the Day of Judgement, “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might, when He comes on that Day to receive glory from all his people and honour from all who believe.” (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10). The Lord Jesus Christ will cast all his enemies into the eternal fire of hell. “There (says the Lord) ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out,’” (Mark 9:48). But those who are saved through their faith in Christ will not be humiliated. Their salvation is everlasting.

If you want to escape eternal damnation, renounce to yourself today, carry your cross and follow Jesus. He is the eternal Son of God who died on the cross so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but have eternal life. Only those who have faith in Him are justified before the holy and eternal God. Anyone who rejects the Son of God, the Messiah, the Only Lord and Saviour will be crushed by God’s righteous and holy wrath. Do not harden your heart, for the Day of the Lord is coming. Throw yourself on the mercies of Christ before it is too late. For God’s righteous judgements are eternal. Once the Lord stretches out his hands to punish, no one, nothing can stop Him. If you do not turn away from your sins, you will store up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment is revealed. On that day the Lord will unleash his wrath upon the sons of disobedience, upon all those who refuse to turn away from their idols and impurities. Anyone who rejects the Son of God, anyone who refuses to worship and honour Him will be destroyed. It is a terrifying thing to fall in the hands of the Lord God Almighty.

Do not wait for the Day of the Lord to fall upon you! Do not wait for the Day of the Lord to surprise you! It is written: “How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the LORD! What good will that do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall – only to be bitten by a snake! The day of the LORD will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.” (Amos 5:18-20). Turn to Christ, repent of your sins and give them up. Christ is the only means by which sins are forgiven. Christ is the only one who can appease God’s righteous wrath on your behalf. His mercy triumphs over judgement. Have faith in Christ and on the Day of Judgement you will receive from Him your crown of glory and you will spend eternity in the glorious presence of God.