Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

2 December 2026

Reading From I John 1

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

—I John 1:5-10

     In God there is only light, there is no darkness in Him.  We can trust Him because He is completely holy, completely pure, completely loving; all His thoughts and intentions toward you are holy, pure and loving.  He does not have a hidden, nefarious agenda.  He will never pull a fast one on you or lure you into a bait and switch scenario.  He is who He says He is and He is faithful to do what He said He will do. 

     We know the difference between light and darkness, right and wrong, bad and good, godliness and sin, truth and falsehood from studying the Scriptures, the dependable plumbline of faith and practice.  We can measure anything in our lives by the standard of the Word of God.  If I know the Gospel, say that I am a Christian, and yet continue in a life marked by sin, then I’m actually living a lie. 

     What is the solution to a blatant hedonistic lifestyle?  What is the solution to a hypocritical lifestyle?  The answer to both is genuine faith, honest confession, and real repentance.  I must make the choice to believe in Christ and His Word, confess that I am a sinner in need of His undeserved forgiveness and favor, turn away from my sin and toward the Savior, and receive Him as Lord of my life.  If I have truly made this decision to follow Jesus in Spirit and in truth, then He is faithful to forgive me and begin to transform me to be more like Him.  I am born again and on my way to Heaven.

     In order for salvation to be made complete, I must be born again, grow in the knowledge and application of His Word in my life, and continue in the faith, enduring to the end.  If I am truly born again and working out my salvation, then I am a child of God and connected to His eternal family.  One day He will take me home to be with Him forever in the New Heaven and the New Earth.  Justification, sanctification and glorification are necessary for total salvation.  To walk in the light means to live as Jesus did.  It means to experience His love and message in my own life and then share that with others.

     God is gradually restoring His eternal family to the kind of pure, uninhibited relationship enjoyed by Adam and Eve in Eden before sin entered the world.  “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”  As we become more like Jesus, the unity within the Body of Christ will increase.  We will grow closer to God and closer to each other.  An increase in holiness means an increase in unity for the eternal family of God.  It is our destiny to be one with God and one with our brothers and sisters.

“Lord God, please help me to be more faithful to You.  I pray that You would cleanse me of my sins and fill me to overflowing with Your Spirit once again.  May I show my love for You by my obedience.  I pray that holiness unto You and compassion for others would be my priorities.  Make me more like You, Jesus.  Transform me from glory to glory as I participate in Your divine nature.  In the faithful Name of Jesus Christ I pray these things, Amen.”

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

—John 17:22-23