372. The Church Lives Forever
Joel 3:20 But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
Judah is the Kingdom of God, the Church of Jesus Christ on earth. It is the invisible (to human eyes) group of all believers in Christ. It is made up of all the believers in heaven and on earth, those who have trusted in Christ for salvation throughout history but are now passed on and of those all over the world today who are still living. Jerusalem is the same invisible church that will one day become visible as the New Jerusalem comes down from God in heaven. This is the forever world in which we shall dwell with God in His actual visible presence world without end.
The promise is this: eternal life; we shall live forever. This promise is repeated throughout Scripture, especially in the writings of John. We sort of take it for granted, but when we think about it, “dwelling forever” is very awesome. We are not able to imagine what life, full, rich, abundant life, that goes on and on without weakness, sickness or death could really be like. We get used to the transitoriness of life with it pains, discomforts, frustrations and disappointments, and we tend to think and resign ourselves to saying, “that’s life.” But the truth is: this is not life. The way we live now is not the way God intended life to be. No matter how high our standard of living today (higher than 99% of history’s people) it is nowhere close to the life God created and redeemed.
We have a vague idea and a vague hope of real life, but we can only see through a glass darkly. But when we see face to face we will be awestruck. The entire church will live forever with God in a perfectly beautiful and wonderful world without end. That promise gives us hope for this day.
Faith sees this life. Faith is the conviction of things not seen. The heroes of Hebrews 11 died in faith, “not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar…. they are seeking a homeland…. they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one…. God has prepared for them a city.” For now, today, we have received the things promised, eternal life, God’s life, dwelling forever, God’s Kingdom in our hearts by faith. God give us faith to see!