Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek

29 April 2024

Reading From Psalms 102-104

“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s…

…He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

Psalm 103:1-5, 10-14

     There is more to men and women than their physical bodies.  God made the body of Adam from the dust of the earth and when He breathed into Him, the first man came alive.  It is the breath of Almighty God that makes us spiritual beings.  Each of us have a spiritual essence that inhabits our physical body.  Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, every generation has been born spiritually dead but also our physical bodies begin a countdown to death and are susceptible to disease.  Disease, when it it is carried to its eventual conclusion, results in physical death. 

     If a person chooses to place their faith and trust in Jesus, they are born again and new life is breathed into them by the Spirit of the Living God.  From that moment forward, we are alive in Jesus.  Our spirits will never die.  Even though we will die physically (unless the Lord raptures us), our spirits will live eternally and be reunited at the Last Day with our resurrected bodies.  I believe that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Because a thousand years is as a day and a day is as a thousand years to Him, we know that He is not limited to time and space and exists both inside and outside of such constraints since He is all-powerful and everywhere at once. 

     Therefore, I believe that when a human dies physically, they instantaneously find themselves with the Lord and every human who has ever lived at the Judgement Seat of Christ.  From there we will either depart from Him into Outer Darkness or be perfectly united with Him forevermore in the New Heaven and the New Earth to rule with Him and be partakers of His divine nature.  Until that glorious day, as we walk with Him, we are being made into His image from glory to glory. 

     Those who reject the Good News of salvation in Jesus will suffer in eternity apart from the Presence of the Lord.  This is the second death, known as Hell.  It is a terrible place of darkness, fire and torment for those who choose not to turn to God for forgiveness and new life.  It is said that God does not send people to Hell, they go there of their own free will.  God is the Creator of the universe.  If we choose to go our own way in this life, we must also accept a destiny that does not include Him.  But for those who dare to trust Him and call upon His Name, we are instantly united with our brothers and sisters in Christ from throughout time and space and we are united with the Father through the Spirit.  That unity will be made perfect at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Heaven.

     Sanctification, the process of spiritual growth and being made holy, is a wild, messy process because He is working with frail, fallen humans prone to wander, distraction and sin.   Yet through it all, He brings spiritual, mental, emotional and physical healing to us.  Our Great Physician treats the whole person, body and spirit.  Thanks be to God for His compassion and mercy spoken of here in the Psalms!  He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.  Don’t give up.  Rather, be encouraged.  God’s not finished with us yet. 

“Thank You Jesus for the new life You provided with Your suffering, death and resurrection!  You have conquered sin and death for us.  I am grateful for Your love, acceptance and forgiveness.  Thank You for Your healing power.  You heal me in every way and eventually that healing process will be complete when I have been blessed with my resurrected body!  I praise You for the works of Your mighty hands.  I love You Lord.  Thank You for loving me.  In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

–II Corinthians 5:8

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. –II Peter 3:8

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

 –John 20:22

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. –Ephesians 2:4-7

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” –Revelation 21:8

Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” –Matthew 25:45-46

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. –Philippians 1:6

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. –II Corinthians 3:18

Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. –James 1:15

All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.
When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

–Psalm 104:27-30