Forever is Forever
December 23, 2023 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
I am convinced that I have little comprehension of the concept of “forever.” Nothing in my life has been “forever.” School is not forever. Relationships are not forever. My health and youth have not been forever. The clothing I wear does not last forever. The cars I drive do not last forever. Is there anything in this earthly life that is “forever”?
Then we open our Bibles and hear this word applied to God, his kingdom, and his promises. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that the word “forever” is foreign to our daily experience. So much that, if you are anything like me, we don’t think much about eternal things. Let’s push ourselves to consider that which is “forever.”
Moses closes his celebration song after crossing the Red Sea by declaring, “The LORD will reign forever and ever” (Ex. 15:18).
The psalms echo the same sentiment multiple times. One example is in Psalm 45:6, speaking of the Messiah, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.”
The psalmist uses the language of forever also for the praise due God. Psalm 145 opens with, “I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.”
Daniel ties the saints to the eternal nature of Messiah’s kingdom when he declares, “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever” (Dan. 7:18).
The apostle Paul uses the phrase “forever and ever” five times in his letters, all extolling the glory of God. He writes in 1 Timothy 1:17, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (cf. Gal. 1:5; Eph. 3:21; Phil. 4:20; & 2 Tim. 4:18).
The apostle Peter echoes the same doxology as Paul, “To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet. 4:11).
The phrase forever and ever is used multiple time in the Revelation of John. For the worship of God we see it in 7:12, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” And in 11:15, “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’”
The worship and glory of God is not the only “forever” thing in Revelation. 14:11 speaks about judgment, “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” And then the future hope of the followers of Christ is forever, “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:5).
There are dozens of other passages we can consider as well, especially if we look at the use of the word “eternal” (coincidentally, the English words forever and eternal come from the same Greek word root that means “age”). But we get the point from these select passages. God is forever. His kingdom is forever. His glory and praise are forever. And, if we are in Christ, we will enjoy the “forever” blessings of God.
We can contrast the biblical concept of “forever” with the modern preoccupation with the “new.” We hunger for new because the satisfaction and enjoyment of the old does not last forever. But God does. God never grows stale or boring or even familiar. His kingdom never grows soft or becomes compromised. His glory will always be magnificent and fascinating. And for all eternity, in his presence, we will never lose interest. God and our relationship with him are “forever.” It is truly mind-blowing and nothing in this earthly life compares to the grandeur of such a promise.
So let’s “look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Such a perspective will lead us to worship the Lord with the psalmist, saying, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).
