4 The Everlasting Father
4
The Everlasting Father
Our Lord’s name is “Everlasting Father” and this takes care of the dimensions of life. “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should be called “Everlasting Father” appears to be a theological contradiction; if Jesus is the Son, he can’t be the Father. Each member of the Godhead—the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit—is separate from the other members and yet equally God. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father.
The answer, of course, is in the unique use of the word “father” by the Semitic peoples. An Old Testament Jew reading Isaiah’s prophecy would recognize the word “father” to mean “originator of” or “author of.” Jesus called Satan the “father of lies” (John 8:44), and Jabal was called the “father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock” (Gen. 4:20). In calling Jesus Christ the “Everlasting Father,” the prophet was saying, “He is the originator of that which is everlasting. He is the author of the eternal.”
Eternity
Eternity is a concept so vast in its scope that the human mind can’t even begin to grasp it. That which is eternal has neither beginning nor ending, and God is eternal. Man has a beginning, but no ending. Man will live forever, either with God or apart from God, either in eternal glory or eternal darkness. The Puritan preacher Thomas Watson said, “Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset; eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise.”
When you trust Jesus Christ to save you from your sins, you become a part of eternity; you receive the gift of eternal life. Jesus has “fathered” eternity in the lives of all who have trusted him, and this involves much more than simply having our sins forgiven and knowing that we have a home in heaven. Those who belong to Christ have become a part of the very life of God and have entered forever into the realm of the eternal.
Because Jesus Christ is “Wonderful,” he takes care of the dullness of life. As the “Counselor,” he handles the decisions of life. The “Mighty God” enables you to meet the demands of life, and the “Everlasting Father” provides new dimensions to your life. You are part of the eternal.
Made for Eternity
God made us for eternity. “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without which men will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end” (Eccl. 3:11 NASB, see margin). This verse seems to suggest that God made man’s heart so that man is dissatisfied with life on the surface and has a deep craving for that which is changeless and eternal.
In our higher and better moments, we know that there’s something more than this brief physical life, that we are made for something greater than what time can offer, and we search for this missing dimension. In one sense, all of man’s quests in science, philosophy, exploration, and even religion are evidences of this deep thirst for the eternal. How many people have died yearning for another lifetime in which to accomplish what they wanted to do! Like the architect of British colonialism in South Africa, Cecil Rhodes, they die saying, “So much left undone!”
Yes, we were made for eternity, and we can’t be truly happy and satisfied until we’re sharing in eternity. Life is swift and brief, and a man of depth always wants to accomplish more. How you solve this tension between time and eternity determines your philosophy of life and your religious faith. Some people do away with eternity and the God of eternity and live only for time. But then they lose depth and inspiration because they know that a creature like man is made for something grander than three score years and ten. If this philosophy is taken to its logical limits, it leads to, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” If there is no God and no eternity, then why bother to make the most of today? Get it over with as quickly as possible!
Is there any solution to this tension between time and eternity? Yes, there is: Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God.
When Eternity Invaded Time
God created us for eternity, and Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal and to share the eternal. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us” (1 John 1:1–2).
Certainly the eternal God was revealed in creation and in the giving of the Law, but each of those revelations had its limitations. Creation reveals the existence of God and that he has power and wisdom, but creation says little or nothing about the love of God or the grace of God. The Law reveals that God is holy and just, and that he desires his people to be holy, but the Law can’t change the sinner’s heart or control his motives and actions. God has revealed himself in the events of history and shown his people that he cares, but even here the revelation in history lacks the personal touch that man so needs.
In sending his Son to earth, God caused eternity to invade time. This was not a temporary visit; when Jesus came, he wedded dust and deity, time and eternity, into one. The eternal Word was made human flesh, and that union will last forever. As the perfect man here on earth, Jesus Christ showed us what it is like to live by and for the eternal. He lived as no other man lived, and even the publicans and sinners saw that he was different. As you read the Gospel records, you see the eternal Son moving in the world of time, proving that the eternal is real and satisfying.
Jesus was not simply born; he “came into the world.” He invaded time from eternity. His words are “words of eternal life” (John 6:68). His deeds had in them the quality of the eternal. He spoke as no man ever spoke, and he lived as no man ever lived. His values were vastly different from those of contemporary religious leaders, and because of this he challenged the established religious system. Jesus looked at people through the eyes of the eternal and never permitted himself to be shackled by the passing opinions of time. The publicans and sinners weren’t outcasts to him; they were lost sheep needing the care of a shepherd, sick people needing a physician. Jesus wasn’t impressed with the stones of the temple because he was building a temple that would last forever. When he looked at the lily or saw a sparrow fall, Jesus thought of the eternal Father in heaven.
Almost everything Jesus talked about or touched took on a new dimension because he is the “Father of Eternity.” Ordinary bread and wine were touched by eternity when Jesus blessed, broke, and shared, saying, “This is my body, broken for you; this cup is the new covenant in my blood.” When he rebuked his overprotective disciples and said, “Permit the little children to come to me,” he lifted childhood to its highest level. “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3).
God made us for eternity; there’s more to life than what meets the eye. In Jesus Christ, we see eternity revealed because he is our eternal life. But how do you and I experience the eternal? After all, we’re sinners, and sinners receive eternal death, not eternal life (Rev. 20:11–15). Everything that partakes of sin leads to death, so, until you and I can remove this terrible thing called sin, we can never move into the marvelous dimension of the eternal.
When Time and Eternity Met
Jesus came to earth to reveal the eternal, and he died that we might share the eternal. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Sin is the great obstacle to our experiencing eternal life. Sin isn’t eternal; only God is eternal. Sin is outside God and therefore produces death, for God is eternal life. Our nature partakes of sin and therefore is a stranger to the eternal. We were created in the image of God, and there is a hunger for eternity in our hearts. Until we do something about our sins, however, we will never share his eternal life.
God solved the sin problem for us when he sent his Son to die on the cross. Time and eternity met at Calvary. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God “foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) and “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). God’s great plan of salvation was no hasty afterthought; his people were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), “according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:11).
When Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem, time and eternity met in a person, a gift that was given. When he died at Calvary, time and eternity met in a price that was paid, and that price met the demands of God’s holy law and opened the way for sinners to be forgiven and share in eternity.
Mere religion can never take away sins or give the sinner a share in eternity. Religion belongs to time; we need a Savior who breaks into time from eternity and who is able to take away our sins. We have such a Savior in Jesus Christ. He is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:9). By the shedding of his blood, he “obtained eternal redemption” for us (Heb. 9:12), and he has promised us an “eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:15). When we trust him, he gives us the gift of eternal life. “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28).
In order to become the “Father of Eternity” to us, he had to suffer on the cross. Our birth into eternal life required his death. The gift of eternal life was not purchased cheaply.
A Life of Eternity
But Jesus Christ is the “Father of Eternity” in another way. He lives now to give eternal purpose and quality to our everyday lives. Sin is the great waster; Satan is the great destroyer. Most of the people in the world are merely existing, not living. What they live on and live for doesn’t satisfy fully and can never last eternally. The vast majority of people live on substitutes, and the substitutes are robbing them of the true experiences of life that God wants them to enjoy. Instead of investing time into eternity and enjoying satisfying dividends here and now, most people are only “spending” time or wasting time, and thereby robbing themselves of the eternal. The person who trusts Jesus Christ is unwilling to give so great a price for so small a return.
For the Christian, Jesus Christ is the controller of time. “My times are in Your hand” (Ps. 31:15). Jesus himself lived that way when he ministered here on earth. You can’t read the Gospel of John without realizing that he lived according to a divine timetable. “My hour has not yet come,” he said to Mary at the beginning of his ministry (John 2:4). To his brothers he said, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready” (John 7:6). The unbeliever has no compelling divine schedule to follow. When his enemies tried to arrest Jesus, they found it was impossible “because His hour had not yet come” (John 7:30). The religious leaders wanted to arrest him while he was preaching in the temple, but they failed because “His hour had not yet come” (John 8:20). When Jesus announced that he was returning to Judea because Mary and Martha needed him, his disciples were amazed and afraid. “Rabbi,” they protested, “lately the Jews sought to stone You!” His reply revealed the quiet confidence of his heart in the plan and purpose of the Father: “Are there not twelve hours in the day?” (John 11:8–9). In other words, “I’m not walking by sight, but by faith. My Father has a plan and I will follow it.”
The climax came in the Garden of Gethsemane when he made that final surrender as he faced the cross: “Father, the hour has come!” (John 17:1).
“My times are in your hand!” Does God still plan for his own and guide them through life? Yes, he does! Is it reasonable that the God who created time at the beginning should abandon his magnificent creation until the final day of judgment? According to Hebrews 1:2, Jesus Christ “framed the ages” (literal translation). This means that even the ages of history are under his control. David looked back and wrote, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25).
At the end of their pilgrimage, the saints of God can look back and see the hand of God at work all the days of their lives. This doesn’t mean that everything done was in the will of God, or that there were no detours; but it does mean that God ruled and overruled in their lives to accomplish his eternal purposes.
The fact that Jesus Christ controls time reveals the importance of prayer and the Word of God in our lives. As we fellowship with God, he speaks to us and reveals what he wants us to do. When we pray, we lay hold of eternity. The heart and mind, yielded to the Spirit, become the meeting place of time and eternity. We can honestly say, “My times are in your hands.”
Not only does Jesus Christ control time, but he conquers time. For the unbeliever, time is an enemy; for the dedicated Christian, time is a friend. Jesus Christ entered into time that he might save us and accomplish God’s eternal purposes in our lives (Eph. 2:8–10). Time became our ally, not our enemy.
How does time fight against people? One way is by delay. Men cannot control time. The seconds, minutes, and hours move along at their appointed pace; man can do nothing to hinder or change it. The child wants to hasten time; the elderly may want to slow it down. The suffering cry out, “How long, O Lord, how long?” Some people, like Peter Pan, want to stop time and remain in the so-called innocent joys of childhood. Others want to speed time along so they can enjoy the pleasures of adulthood. Time is difficult to define, impossible to control.
But the Christian never worries about delay, because his times are in the hands of God. As he contemplated the sorrow of his dear friends at Bethany, Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?” In fact, Jesus deliberately delayed his trip to Bethany so that Lazarus had been in the grave four days by the time he arrived. Jesus went through life unafraid because his times were in the hands of the Father. You and I can go through life with this same confidence, because he has conquered time.
We need not fear delay, and we need not fear decay, which is time’s second weapon. The hymn writer wrote, “Change and decay in all around I see.”[1] Change and decay are enemies that most people fear. Psalm 90 is a vivid description of the ravages of time as contrasted with the calm changelessness of our eternal God. In his majestic paraphrase of that psalm, Isaac Watts writes:
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away,
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.
When we’re young, change is a treat; as we grow older, change becomes a threat. But when Jesus Christ is in control of your life, you need never fear change or decay. Paul knew this secret when he wrote: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17–18). When you’re part of the eternal, the decay of the material only hastens the perfecting of the spiritual, if you walk by faith in Christ.
Time’s ultimate weapon is death, and Jesus Christ has conquered that enemy as well. This is why Paul can shout triumphantly, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55). Man has invented ways to overcome delay and decay, but he has yet to conquer death. Only Jesus Christ can do that. “I am the resurrection and the life!” he said, and then he proved it by raising Lazarus from the grave (John 11:25–26, 43–44).
In that dramatic scene at Bethany, we see the Lord defeating all three of time’s weapons. He defeated delay by waiting two days before setting out for Bethany. By the time he arrived, Lazarus had begun to decay, so much so that his sister protested, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days” (John 11:39). But Jesus overcame decay and death, for he raised his friend from the dead and restored him to his loved ones again. Jesus Christ has completely conquered time!
Jesus is able to conquer time because he is eternal: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 21:6). He is not limited by time or space because he dwells in eternity. He is above time and therefore is able to conquer and control time. Because he entered into time, he is able to bring eternity into our little lives and move us into a vast new dimension of experience. “He who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
Time flows from the future (tomorrow) into the present (today) and then into the past (yesterday). Man comes out of the past; only God lives in the future. The present, then, is the meeting of the future and the past, and that meeting can be fraught with either triumph or tragedy. When Jesus Christ is in control of your life, each moment has eternal significance because he gives us a quality of life that comes out of eternity.
“Eternal life” means much more than living forever, for even the lost are going to exist forever. “Eternal life” means “the life of eternity.” It’s the experience we have in Christ here and now!
Jesus Christ made us for eternity. To reject him is to miss the very purpose for which we were created. He came to earth to reveal eternity, and he died to give us eternal life. He lives to make eternity a real and exciting experience for us day by day, as he controls and conquers time.
But there’s another ministry that he performs as the “Father of Eternity.” One day he will return to take us to a glorious eternal home where there will be no time, no delay, no decay, and no death.
When Time Is No More
Salvation from sin through faith in Christ is not the end; it’s the beginning. The best is yet to come! “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus shall we always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16–17). “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52).
For us, this last change will be the final change. Time will be no more. We shall share in eternity in our completeness, with a glorious new body that will know nothing of decay or death. We will live with Christ in the eternal now. The lost, sad to say, will be separated from God forever, experiencing the second death, eternal death. Such is the tragedy of life without Christ.
As the eternal Holy Spirit works in our lives, we participate in the eternal plan and work of God. As we obey his Word, our lives take on the quality of the eternal. We live in time, but we live for eternity. “He who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). Life is neither “spent” nor wasted; life is invested in the eternal. No matter what we experience in life, as we walk by faith it becomes part of an eternal investment that will glorify God forever. The eternal is so glorious that the temporal with its burdens and problems doesn’t discourage us or defeat us. The outward person is perishing, but the inward person is being renewed day by day.
Jesus Christ is the “Father of Eternity.” As your Savior and Lord, let him give birth to the eternal in your life. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).