June 3, 2022

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15

Consider the timelessness of our Father in Heaven. He inhabits eternity. Yet He is intimately close to the mortal who has a contrite and humble spirit. The fullness of God’s character is expressed in great contrasts. He is high and lofty, yet with us in our bleakest, lowest moments (see Psalm 139:8, Jeremiah 23:24); a mighty lion and a gentle lamb.

His wonderful, grace-filled plan includes reviving our sin-sick hearts and setting us apart, making us ready—a bride without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27)—to abide with Him throughout the ceaseless ages. He has mercifully given you and me the calling and the opportunity to:

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

We are mortal, but God has implanted something phenomenal in our thinking: a cursory understanding of the borderless vastness of eternity. Solomon, under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, said:

I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts... Ecclesiastes 3:10-11a

Paul’s letter to Timothy continues: “I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord or lords, who alone has immortality” 1 Timothy 6:13-16a

This clear statement about our God, who alone has immortality, stands as a correction to the widespread teaching stated thus: “I have a soul that will never die.” This statement is rooted in the serpent’s lie to Eve: “You shall not surely die.” The human soul, or being, is a body to which God has given life (Genesis 2:7). Because of sin, we are all under the sentence of death. The soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). The gift of everlasting life—immortality—is only for those who humbly accept the exchange: the death of the Sinless One, Jesus, in our place. We cannot fathom such love, yet the thrill of gaining eternity rings true in every heart won to God. At our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:52b-53 (see also 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and John 3:16)