Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Deeper Teaching by Kenton Cheek

We place too much pressure on our human relationships.  The satisfaction and fulfillment we are searching for can only be found in God.  Whatever your relationship with your earthly father figure is or isn’t, was or wasn’t, if we bravely reach out in faith and trust in God as our Heavenly Father, our Perfect Parent, we will never be disappointed.

If you have decided to trust in Jesus as your Savior, I would like to remind you of seven promises from your Heavenly Father to you.  If you make the decision to follow Jesus, the promises of God will be yours as well.  These seven promises come from a conversation between Yahweh and the ancient father of Israel, Jacob in Genesis 28:10-17

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

1. You will dwell in the land

This promise was given to Jacob and the nation that would be comprised of his descendants, but we are also children of Abraham along with Jacob in that we believe in God and trust Him in faith.  It is unlikely that I will live in the land of Israel in this life, but I will dwell in the New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and the New Earth which is the Promised Land for all born again children of God. 

2. All nations will be blessed through you

This promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”  The love and the message of Jesus blesses all nations as we obey the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.  Love God, love people, and love yourself.  Makes disciples here in Rainier, of people who are not like us, and all around the world. 

3. I am with you

At the moment we make the decision to turn away from doing life our own way and place our faith and trust in Jesus, we are born again and we become a son or a daughter of the God of the Universe.  He dwells within the core of our being and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the Day of redemption.  Our salvation will be made complete when we go to the Promised Land of Heaven.  Until then, He is with us wherever we go because we are His temple.  It has always been the desire of God to dwell among His people and making His home in your heart is part of the fulfillment of His dream.  The angels were descending on the staircase in Jacob’s dream.  God will meet you where you are at in your life.  “Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

4. I will keep you safe

Because you are sealed by the Holy Spirit, you belong to God.  He has the ability to protect you not only from physical harm according to His plan, but spiritual harm according to His promise.  We are living in a fallen world.  The earth is not functioning as God intended it.  As part of His eternal family, we are spiritually connected to God and with every single child of God who has ever lived.  The Bible says that we are seated together with Christ in Heavenly places.  The mess of the world around us cannot mess with our right standing with God through the all-sufficient, finished work of Jesus Christ in the garden, the cross and the empty tomb.  Whatever happens to us physically, our souls are hidden with Christ in God. 

5. I will bring you home to be with me

The angels were also ascending from earth to heaven in Jacob’s dream.  This shows us that God will transform us from glory to glory ever upward until one day we leave this present existence and are with Him in perfect unity and holiness.  Jesus comforted us in John 14, “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” God not only helps His children navigate our present reality, but will take us home to be with Him forever in the New Heaven and the New Earth.  What will this be like?  We will reign with Him in a place of indescribable love, beauty and harmony. 

Revelation 21:1-4 reveals to us, “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

6. I will not leave you

No matter what happens, know that God loves you and He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Human relationships come and go, marriages have troubled seasons, family ties are strained, but God is a friend who sticks closer than a brother and will never fail us.  We can build our lives upon the promises of His Word the Bible because He is trustworthy and true.

7. I will keep my promise to you

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is the Word of God in bodily form, the literal fulfillment of hundreds of messianic prophecies and promises made in the hundreds of years that the Old Testament was written in. 

I testify that God is real, that His Word the Bible is true, and that He loves you more deeply than you will ever know or imagine.  He desires to have a healthy, life-giving relationship with you, but He will not force you into this covenant relationship.  Only you are able to make the decision to trust in Jesus and become a son or a daughter of the only Perfect Parent. 

The eternal family of God is a bond that can never be broken, a community where we find our deepest sense of belonging, and where we discover not only our true identity but our eternal destiny.  Will you dare to believe in God today and accept His invitation to become His child?  His arms are open to you today.  Today is the day of salvation.  The Bible says that it is appointed for men once to die and after that the judgment.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.  Make the decision to trust in Jesus today.  He is the exact representation of our Heavenly Father.  Glory to His matchless Name!