Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

24 October 2025

Reading From I Timothy 4

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

—I Timothy 4:13-15

     Paul reminds Timothy of the spiritual impartation that he received through the laying on of hands.[1]  God means for us to cultivate a vibrant spiritual life.[2]  We do this by nourishing and training ourselves spiritually.[3]  He has given us many tools called spiritual disciplines that help us learn, grow and become strong in our faith.[4]  Our relationship with God needs to be a partnership in order to be healthy and balanced.[5] Salvation is an event (the new birth experience), a process (sanctification), and a future goal (glorification).

Spiritual disciplines help focus our hearts and minds on the priorities of God.[6]  The inward disciplines include meditation, prayer, fasting and study.  The outward disciplines (inward realities resulting in outward lifestyles) are simplicity, solitude, submission, and service.  The corporate disciplines are confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.  These lists are not exhaustive, but are helpful, even necessary, for cultivating a rich spiritual life.[7] 

     As we grow spiritually and walk in humble submission to the will of the Lord, His holiness gradually invades every area of our lives.[8]  We become more like Jesus as He transforms us from glory to glory,[9] conforming us back into His image[10] and removing sin and its corrosive effects.[11]  This process will be complete after the resurrection, the Second Coming of Jesus and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.[12]  Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve who have become sons and daughters of the Most High God through belief, repentance, confession and acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord will receive resurrected bodies fused with their spirits and the Holy Spirit.[13] 

     We are told in the Scriptures that our bodies will be like the Lord’s resurrected body.[14]  After He was raised from the dead, the disciples of Jesus could feel His hands and His feet where the nails had been, Jesus could eat with them, but He could also walk through walls.  Later in the book of Acts, the Apostle Phillip teleported from ministering to the Ethiopian on the road to Gaza to the town of Azotus.  If God can work these miracles in this fallen, sinful world, imagine what will be possible for us in the New Heaven and the New Earth![15]

     It is vital for our eternal future that we distinguish between the destiny of born again children of God and the destiny of Satan and his demons.  Satan wanted to be worshipped as God, was cast out of Heaven for this transgression, and tempted Eve and Jesus with such deception (Isaiah 14:12-15, Rev. 12:4, Ez. 28:17, Luke 10:18, Genesis 3:5, Luke 5:4-8). The cruel irony of the temptation of Eve was that she had already been made in the image of God, but Satan deceived her by making her think God was keeping something more from her. He tempted her with a distorted, warped version of what she already had.  The goal and destiny of our faith is not to be God, but to be like God and perfectly united with Him in holy harmony.  We will judge[16] and reign[17] with Him, worshipping Him, enjoying His Presence and have miraculous adventures in the New Heaven and the New Earth forever.[18]  Our Heavenly Father wants His children to progress until they reach perfection and perfect unity with Him in the New Eden.

“Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing Your children along in our understanding of our identity, community and destiny in You and Your eternal family.  Help us to understand the deep mysteries of Your Word.  Guide us into all truth.  Thank You for blessing us with all that we need to grow up in our salvation, sanctification and ultimately glorification.  Show us Your glory.  Reveal more and more to us.  We hunger and thirst for righteousness.  In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray all of these things.  Amen.”

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

—II Peter 2:9-10

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

—Revelation 1:6

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

—II Peter 1:3-11

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[1] II Kings 2:9, Romans 1:11, Acts 2:38, I Thessalonians 2:8

[2] Micah 6:8, Matthew 3:8, Romans 6:4, Philippians 2:12-13

[3] Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4, I Timothy 4:8

[4] Colossians 2:7, II Peter 3:18

[5] Isaiah 1:18, Philippians 4:5

[6] Hebrews 12:2, Colossians 3:2

[7] Dallas Willard, Richard Foster

[8] I Thessalonians 3:12-13, I Peter 1:15-16, II Corinthians 7:1, Galatians 5:16-17, Romans 12:2

[9] II Corinthians 3:18

[10] Romans 8:29, Ephesians 4:11-15

[11] Colossians 1:22, I Corinthians 1:8, Ephesians 5:27

[12] Matthew 24:13, John 11:25-26, Philippians 1:6, I Thessalonians 4:14, Revelation 19:6-9, 20:6, 12-13

[13] I Corinthians 6:17, 15:20-28

[14] Romans 6:5-6, I Corinthians 15:42-49

[15] Revelation 21:1-4, II Peter 3:13

[16] I Corinthians 6:3

[17] II Timothy 2:12, Revelation 20:4-6, I Peter 2:9, Daniel 7:27, I Corinthians 4:8

[18] I Corinthians 2:9