September 29, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Hebrews 1-4

Weekly Memory Verse: Ephesians 2:10

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

As a note of interest to many in this study, Promise Keepers is coming to San Diego this weekend.  I have already purchased my pass, and am looking forward to going to the conference.  If anyone else is going, be sure to let me know. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NASB95)
¹¹ He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NASB95)
¹ For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ^[1]

In the chapter for today, Rick’s main focus is that we were created to last forever.  I believe that this is true of us both physically and spiritually.  It is interesting that in other passages in the Bible, such as Genesis, actual physical death was almost unheard of until the great flood.  People lived to be a thousand years old and were fertile until they died.  If you study or think about the human body, almost every single cell in the body is regenerated several times through your lifetime.  In other words, after a certain period of time, you have a brand new body, it is designed by God to last forever.

What we fail to realize is that our time on earth is only a blip in the idea of eternity.  Yet it is during this little blip that we make the decision to live with God in heaven, or to defy Him and live for Satan thus spending eternity in hell.  The time on earth is very short, merely a short time less than a hundred years.  Try to imagine how short that time is in comparison to all the recorded history on earth.  Consider also that the earth hasn’t been here very long.  In the light of eternity, the history of the earth is just a blip.  Time is a figment of our lives here on earth, we measure it by hours and minutes which are based upon the time that the earth rotates.  God is outside of time, I wonder if when we go to be with Him if we will also be outside of time, going forward in fellowship with Him for eternity or going forward in hell for eternity.

Philippians 1:3-7 (NASB95)
³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, ⁵ in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. ^[2]

The time on earth is a time where we prepare for immortality.  That is where the cults and the false religions make great gains over Christians.  They appeal to the desire that is written in the hearts of men to live forever, and promise that if a person holds to their false beliefs they will attain immortality.  The other side of this coin is to think that there is not an eternity, therefore each person can live for himself because there is nothing beyond this earth.  The bumper sticker, “those with the most toys wins”, comes to mind with this attitude.  Reality is that God created us to last forever, and we will all last forever, regardless whether we believe in God or not. 

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NASB95)
⁹ but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Matthew 25:34 (NASB95)
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Psalm 33:11 (NASB95)
¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

Hebrews 13:14 (NASB95)
¹⁴ For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

2 Corinthians 5:6 (NASB95)
⁶ Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—

1 John 2:17 (NASB95)
¹⁷ The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. ^[3]

The purpose that we have on earth is to worship the creator that made us.  This is our testing ground, this is the time that we decide where we want to spend eternity.  Heaven is so magnificent that we can’t fathom in our brains how glorious it will be.  The Bible gives us the indication that heaven will be tremendous and joyful, but doesn’t go into detail.  This is because we simply would not understand it.  Our purpose on earth is to prepare for the eternal destiny that God has created for us. 

Father, as we consider Your word today, let each one of us focus upon how that You have prepared a place for each of us to dwell forever with You.  If anyone in this group does not know You, I ask that they come to know You in a personal way.

In Him,

Joe Turner.