Thankful for Eternit

The last sermon in the series Thankful: The Essentials Every Believer Should Be Thankful For

Since our services were interrupted by the weather this morning, I decided to give my final "sermon" in our series here. I apologize if it seems stilted or not put together properly, but I do not use manuscripts so I am simply attempting to expand my notes into a form you can read.

I thought long and hard about what this series should wrap up with. What was the final thing we should be thankful for as a believer? Throughout this series we have examined our need to be thankful for Jesus' sacrifice (and we examined what He sacrificed) , Grace (and the amazing nature of this gift), and Provision (the payment provided for us on the cross). We live in a world in which all of these things can be taken for granted. Our society and the busyness it offers allow our minds and hearts to quickly forget the gifts given us by God.

I believe that was the point of this series, reminding us of what God has given to every believer. It is easy to be mindful during this part of the year of the material things we have. It’s easy to be thankful for family and friends. It's even easy to be thankful for food and shelter, but so much of what the believer has to be thankful for isn’t measured in physical terms. Many of these blessings are abstract thoughts and ideas. They are theological ideas people have debated for centuries and still come away unclear at times. 

So to finish the series I kept asking, "How do you finish being thankful?" That word finish kept ringing in my ears because for the believer, finish isn't final. Finish is something we may never truly experience. Believers have the promise of eternity.  

I think eternity is a great ending for this series because it is the one abstract thing that every believer has some understanding of thankfulness for. Even those individuals we would call backsliders, those believers who are walking the wrong path, understand the promise of eternity. For years, the promise of eternity is what the church has focused upon. Most people have this appreciation of the eternal aspect of being a believer, but I think sometimes our view of eternity and the characteristics of eternity are limited. So today I want to examine quickly 3 aspects of eternity the believer should be thankful for.

The first aspect of eternity believers should be thankful for is eternal love. Romans 8:38-39 reads, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
We live in a world that measures love by all of the wrong standards. We call things romantic that are selfish at best and sinful at their worst. Love is that we fall into and fall out of which means in the end we must end up pretty low. We find ourselves jaded and hurt, wondering why love continues to let us down. Love in our world is fickle, something that fades and goes away. There are many relationships in this world, many marriages, that end over the words, "I just don’t love you anymore." This is why it is so important to realize and be thankful for the eternal love of God to humanity.
We have discussed before several times the quality of God’s love. We know that it is unconditional. We understand it is spoken through action rather than words. We could describe God’s love from here until our death, but I think the most important characteristic of that love is it exists into eternity. Here in Romans Paul tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing, did you catch that? Nothing in this world or any other can separate us from the love of Jesus. The love offered to believers by God is one of complete faithfulness and presence in the lives of believers. God’s love is eternal; it does not end. It goes on and on and on. It is this love that provides the other things we have talked about in this series. His love doesn’t stop. You can’t run Him off. You can’t make Him not love you anymore. Try as you might, it will not succeed. In 1997, my dad was in an accident. My world fell apart and I blamed God. I did everything within my power to make God mad at me. I tried to run Him off! In the end, He came to me and offered again the gifts of grace and love. His love never failed me even as I purposefully failed Him. The most amazing thought to me is His love did not begin and it will not end. His love is truly eternal, without beginning or end. He loved you before you were born. He loved you when you weren’t even thought of. He loved you as He was orchestrating the processes inside of your mother to bring you into this world. God’s love has always existed and will always exist. This isn’t a feeling, not a warm emotion. His love is an undying and unwavering devotion no matter how badly we fail! His love is eternal.

The second aspect of eternity every believer should be thankful for is everlasting life. Notice I say everlasting rather than eternal. I do this to be exact. Something that is eternal has no beginning or end, but something everlasting just has no end. Our life from God is everlasting, but it isn't truly eternal. John 5:24 - “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."  I love this verse and the truth it contains. Simply put, our everlasting life as given by God is a present reality. Every time eternal life is mentioned in scripture it is a present possession. The scriptures always say, "have everlasting life," or, "has eternal life." This gift is never presented as, "Will have," or, "Going to have." Everlasting life is scripture is always a present belonging. Why is this important? If everlasting life is a present reality, it isn’t something we work for. We can’t lose our eternal life; it’s not possible! Once you have eternal life, you have it. It doesn’t go anywhere. You can’t be so good you get more everlasting life, you can’t be so bad you’ll get less. You can’t be kind of saved! It's like being pregnant, you either are or you aren’t. Think of it this way. You get sick with an illness, and your body produces antibodies based on elements of that disease. Technically you’re never rid of a disease completely. You’re symptom free, but there are always traces of that disease in your body in the antibodies that were created. That’s salvation! You may accept Jesus, your life changes, and then something happens and you fall away. You may be symptom free of salvation, but if your salvation was genuine, it isn’t gone!  We should be thankful for everlasting life because it is something we have now and not in the distant future. That should change how we live now!

The final aspect of eternity for us to be thankful for is our eternal home.  John 14 says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.”  This is one of my favorite funeral passages, but we sometimes read it wrong. Sometimes we get so caught up in the old language of mansions that we miss what the passage is really saying. The words are house and rooms. One house with many rooms. The promise of our eternal home is a promise of fellowship and dwelling together. Heaven won’t be lonely because we will be living together under our Father's roof as a family of believers. No more loneliness in a crowded room. No more feeling left out. In our eternal home, we will have perfect fellowship with one another. The passage here in John 14 also shows an individual's worth in the sight of God. He isn't just preparing a room; He is preparing my room, your room, or our room. Each individual is important enough to God to be prepared for. That is amazing! I believe the biggest aspect of our eternal home is also the one we miss the most. What makes this our home is not the beauty, our own rooms, or anything else material we may hear of. What makes this our home is the presence of God. For all the years of my life until she passed, mom was home. Wherever she lived, I considered to be my home place. This is also how it should be with God. What makes a place our own is not our name on the deed or the door, but who also lives there. Our eternal home is our home because God is there so why do we wish God wasn’t around sometimes? Why do we try to do things in secret? God is not someone to be run from or kept in the dark. God is the one who is what makes something home for us. Without His presence, we are visitors and foreigners wherever we stand. Seek the presence of God in all you do, and home will be wherever the faithful believer is.

In the end, believers should be thankful for eternity. Why? First, we serve a God who has eternal love for us. Second, through that love He has given us everlasting life. Finally, that everlasting life allows us to spend eternity in our eternal home that is secure and prepared for us in the presence of God. Blessings be upon you!