Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

28 October 2025

Reading From II Timothy 2

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.”—II Timothy 2:10-13

We are born again, we grow in love, knowledge and holiness, and we endure to the end, standing upon the promises of His Word in order to share in the glory of the Lord as His eternal family. Part of the born again experience and the process of sanctification is dying to oneself. We repent (turn away) from our old way of life. That old, sinful lifestyle is dead to us. As we surrender our lives to His control, He removes things about us that are not holy and we walk with Him in the newness of life.

If we are truly saved, we will continue in the faith, obeying Him out of love, we will be found following Him when He calls us home. It is important that we study the Bible to gain His knowledge and wisdom. We put that knowledge and wisdom into practice in our daily lives and our experiences in mortality will prepare us to judge and reign with Jesus in immortality, the New Heaven and the New Earth.

The goal of our faith is glorification, to share in the glory of God by being united with Him in perfect harmony. As born again believers, the Holy Spirit lives within in and is fused with our spirits. The Church is the Body of Christ. We are the hands and feet of Jesus upon the Earth and because of the spiritual unity we have with Him through the Spirit, He calls us “Himself” in II Timothy 2:13. The depth of this oneness is mysterious to our finite minds in the context of our present reality, but we will know and experience so much more beyond the veil at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

“Heavenly Father, speak to our hearts. Holy Spirit, guide us into all truth. Illuminate these deep truths to our hearts and minds and teach us to walk in Your ways with Your eternal perspective. In Jesus’ holy Name, Amen.”

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.—II Timothy 2:7