From Eternity to Eternity

According to the Bible, every one of us, whether we are aware of it or not, is on a wonderful journey from eternity to eternity. God leads us through from eternity, before time began, through many phases of time and on again into eternity. Our destination is a place of total rest and total security in God if we respond to His sovereign calling and choice throughout this journey.

Our journey began at the first verse of the Bible:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1, NKJV).

For all of recorded history man has speculated what is behind the universe and what keeps it in being. Countless different answers have been offered. Was it started with a big bang, or just by chance or by some other mindless physical process which just continuing on and on? Nobody knows how it started and how it will end. Unfortunately no answer was ever found to be correct.
The Bible's Answer

The Bible's answer is very clear and precise. It give three important concepts. Behind the universe there is:

1. A Person.

2. He is a Creator.

3. He is also a Father.

Your view of the origin of the universe will determine your whole perspective on it and on your life and on yourself. Are your existence just a chance happening with no real purpose? Are you just a victim of physical forces which you can't control? What is your reason of being here?

If you believe the Bible record then you have a reason and a purpose. That will change your whole outlook on life. If you believe the Biblical truth that behind everything, including you, there is Creator, a Person and a Father whom you can relate to, you will be truly secured in Him and in life.

The Eternal Presence of God

The psalmist said, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God: (Psalm 90:2, NKJV, emphasis added).

Notice that the psalmist did not say "You were God" or "You will be God". but he said, "You are God". God lives in eternal presence. He has no beginning or ending. He exists forever.

At the beginning of the Book of Revelation John recorded what He said:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8, NKJV).

At the end of the Book of Revelation Jesus says again, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last" (Rev. 22:13).

Because of the fact that God lives in eternal presence you can never get outside of God. He was before you, He is with you for the rest of time and on into eternity.

The Faithfulness of God

The writer of Hebrews said, ".... looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, ..." (Heb. 12:2).

Our faith begins with Him, and culminates in Him.

Paul said, ".... Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

God accepts responsibility for everything He has begun. He never begins something that He is not going to see through to the end. He never leaves any of His purposes and works half finished. If we are in the centre of His will and faithfully doing what He tells us to do, we have the confidence that He will see it through to the finish.

God is our Salvation

It is important to understand God the Father is our salvation.

Isaiah said, "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation'" (Isaiah 12:6).

Moses and the psalmist said the same thing - "The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation" (Ex. 15:3, Psalm 115:14).

I feel sorry for people who try to find salvation in a Church, in a dorctrine or in a denomination or in a person. How unstable and incapable they are to provide the salvation that we can trust.

Peter said, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Our problem today in the Church is that we are prone to be self centered and earth centered. The truth is that Jesus Chirst and Him alone, is the centre and we revolve around Him. As long as we simply rely on our own ability and effort and the best that we can do, we'll never be secured in our salvation.

God is in Total Control

Paul said, "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:36, NKJV, emphasis added).

Notice that not a single word in the whole verse is more than one syllable. You can't say any thing more important or more profound than these words tell us!. Everything comes from God, through God and comes to its fulfillment in God. In other words, God has total supreme control over the entire universe! From the greatest to the smallest, from living things to non-living things - everything that exists is under God's total control.

Here are some statements in the Scripture that point this out:

1. God controls the stars:

The psalmist said, "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them by name" (Ps. 147:4).

"Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing" (Isaiah 40:26).

There are millions of stars in the universe and yet He names them one by one!

2. God controls the lives of the sparrows:

Jesus said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will" (Matt. 10:29).

He also said, "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God" (Luke 12:6).

The sparrow is so common in almost every country that nobody thinks much about them. Yet the Father keeps track of their existence. From the two statements made by Jesus we can see clearly the mathematics involed in the pricing of the sparrows. If two sparrows cost one copper coin, logically, two copper coins would buy you four sparrows. Yet one more sparrow was thrown in for free!

God controls the course of human history

Human history is not a series of unplanned events outside the sovereign control and plan of the almighty God.

The psalmist said, "The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations" (Ps. 33:10, 11).

God's plan for Nebuchadnezzar

God raised up a Gentile king, Nebuchadnezzar to fulfill His plan. Nebuchadnezzar was called to be His servant to judge His people because of their disobedience.

"Because you have not heard, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, ...." (Jeremiah 25:9, NKJV).

Nebuchadnezzar had a head-on encounter with the power and wisdom of God. Because of Nebuchadnezzar's pride God humbled him so that for seven years he was forced to act like a beast, going naked in the field and eating grass:

"That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws" (Daniel 4:33).

The next two verses said Nebuchadnezzar came to his senses and summed up the lesson he learned about God:

"I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain his hand or say to Him, 'What have You don?'" (Daniel 4:34, 35).

God's plan for Job

God's plan also applies to individual lives as seen in the case of Job. He was permitted to go through tremendous trials and sufferings. But in the end he received from God which worthed more than those things he lost (Job 42:12 - 17).

Furthermore, he received a personal revelation of the living God:

Job said, "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You" (Job 42:2).

Believers are part of His Plan

Those who believed in Christ are part part of His plan:

Paul said, "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ..." (Eph. 1:11).

God works out everything in conformity to His will for us:

Paul said, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28, NKJV).

For it to be true we have to meet three conditions:

1. We have to love God.

2. We have to be called by God - We must know our calling.

3. We have to walk in the purpose of God in our calling.

All true Christians fulfilled the above conditions. It follows that if you are not a genuine believer in Christ - "Not all things work together for your good"! In that case you should re-examine yourself and subsequently restore your personal relationship with the Lord, your God!