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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 35
25 January 2009
The Everlasting God
(Message
delivered by Rev Hien Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Jan 25,
09)
Text: Gen 21:22-34
What do you and I think of
when we celebrate the Lunar New Year? We cannot deny the fact that time
has gone by so fast. I received my aunt’s email from the USA yesterday,
reminding me of the Lunar New Year in my country when I took some photos
of her nice apricot flowers, and I replied to her that it was in 1985,
24 years ago! Time has quickly flown. For children and young people, a
New Year is exciting with new adventures, new knowledge, and new
challenges, but for old people, a New Year reminds them of their old
age. They are getting older and weaker and some day they shall pass away
soon.
It is always good for us to
recall our LORD’s grace, goodness, mercy, guidance, protection,
provision and blessings upon us, our family, our church, our work, and
our study so that we may give thanks and praise to the LORD our God for
His faithfulness and that we may continue trusting and hoping in our
LORD for the New Year. Thank God and praise the LORD because He is still
the same, eternal, almighty and sovereign, and we shall continue
trusting in Him and serving Him. Sadly, without God and His comforting
Word, many are worried and frightened due to the global economic
downturn or recession and their uncertain future! We have learnt the
name of the LORD our God, who is our Almighty Creator and Maker, Supreme
Ruler and the Most High, who is All we need. Today we are learning His
name, Elohim Olam (Isa 40:28) or El Olam (Gen 21:33),
which means the Everlasting God. Then what does His name mean to
you and me and what are our proper attitudes?
The Meaning and Background
of El Olam
The Hebrew term Olam
means hidden time, a very long time, permanence; the beginning or end
of which is either uncertain or else not defined; eternity,
perpetuity. It has 439 occurrences in the Old Testament and the KJV
translates as “ever” 272 times, “everlasting” 63 times, “old” 22 times,
“perpetual” 22 times, “evermore” 15 times, etc.
The equivalent Greek term is
aiōnios,
which means eternal, everlasting. “The everlasting God”
(Rom 16:26), “everlasting life” (John 3:15-16), “eternal life” (Rom
2:7).
When God’s Word reveals that
He is El Olam, we must understand that God is everlasting,
immortal, faithful and unchangeable. God and His Word endure for ever
and are the same for ever despite the fact that the world and everything
will pass away.
El Olam
was first mentioned in Genesis 21:28 when Abraham called upon the name
of the LORD, the everlasting God, to express his praise to the immortal
and unchangeable God, who was faithful to keep His Word and His
covenant. God was with Abraham and granted him a son, Isaac, and greatly
blessed him as He promised when he obeyed God’s Word (Gen 12:1-3). Even
Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain came and spoke to Abraham,
“God is with thee in all that thou doest” (Gen 21:22).
Let us meditate on God’s Word
and learn more about our everlasting God:
Our God is the everlasting
God, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting
God (Elohim Olam), the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his
understanding” (Isa 40:28) and “Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Ps 90:2).
God’s name is “from
everlasting” (Isa 63:16).
Our Saviour Jesus Christ is
“called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). He is our “everlasting King”
(Jer 10:10) and is “King for ever and ever” (Ps 10:16), His
throne is “for ever and ever” (Ps 45:6). “He ruleth by his
power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious
exalt themselves” (Ps 66:7), and His kingdom is “an everlasting
kingdom” (Ps 145:13; Dan 4:3; 7:27; 2 Peter 1:11), and “The LORD
shall reign for ever and ever” (Exod 15:18).
The Holy Spirit is called
“eternal Spirit” (Heb 9:14).
God’s Word “shall stand for
ever” (Isa 40:8) and “liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter
1:23), and Our Lord “hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
God’s gospel is “the
everlasting gospel” (Rev 14:6).
God’s covenant is an
“everlasting covenant” (Gen 9:16; 17:7; Ps 105:10).
God’s mercy is “everlasting”
(Ps 100:5) and “from everlasting to everlasting” (Ps 103:17).
God’s righteousness is “an
everlasting righteousness” (Ps 119:142).
God’s ways are
“everlasting” (Hab 3:6; Ps 139:24).
God’s power is “eternal
power” (Rom 1:20).
God’s salvation is “an
everlasting salvation” (Isa 45:17), “eternal salvation” (Heb
5:9).
God’s redemption is
“eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12).
God’s love is “an
everlasting love” (Jer 31:3).
God’s dominion is “an
everlasting dominion” (Dan 4:34).
God’s consolation is
“everlasting consolation” (2 Thess 2:16).
God’s purpose is “eternal
purpose” (Eph 3:11). Praise the LORD our everlasting God!
Our Proper Attitudes
Humbly Worship the Everlasting
God: Our God, our
Creator, is worshipped in heaven, so let us worship our
everlasting God, “The four and twenty elders fall down before him
that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever,
and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O
Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all
things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev
4:10-11).
Give Thanks and Praise to the
Everlasting God: We
are helpless sinners who deserve to be condemned to Hell of fire for
ever, but by God’s grace, mercy, and goodness alone, we have been loved,
chosen and saved, so let us give thanks and praise to our everlasting
God always.
“O give thanks unto the LORD;
for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever”
(1 Chron 16:34; Ps 136).
“Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and
ever” (Ps 145:2; cf. 52:9). “O LORD my God, I will give thanks
unto thee for ever” (Ps 30:12).
We must thank God for being
unto us “an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” (Isa 60:19)
and for His everlasting love, “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me,
saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with
lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer 31:3). It is so comforting!
Trust in the Everlasting God
and His Word: The
world, human beings, human words, philosophies or theories and
everything in it are bound to change and will pass away some day, but
the LORD our God and His Word remain the same for ever, “They shall
perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a
garment; … and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail” (Heb 1:11-12), and “For ever, O LORD, thy
word is settled in heaven” (Ps 119:89), and Jesus confirms,
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”
(Matt 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33 ). Then do you and I believe in
God’s Word or human words?
As God is everlasting and
unchangeable, His wisdom and knowledge are the same for ever, His power
and authority are the same for ever, and His faithfulness and His Word
are the same for ever. God’s Word endures for ever because God Himself
endures for ever and He is able to preserve His Word for ever, “The
LORD shall endure for ever” (Ps 9:5; 102:12), so “His name shall
endure for ever” (Ps 72:17), “the truth of the LORD endureth for
ever” (Ps 117:2), and “Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever”
(Ps 135:13), and “the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is
the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:25),
and “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a
furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD,
thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Ps 12:6-7).
Therefore, it is best and
wisest for you and me to put our trust in our everlasting LORD and His
eternal Word rather than in frail human beings
and their empty words, “Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the
LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength” (Isa 26:4), and “I trust in
the mercy of God for ever and ever” (Ps 52:8).
Fear the Everlasting God and His Eternal Judgement:
It is serious and horrible to be judged
and condemned to Hell for ever, not one year or a million years, but for
ever without end! May God grant you and me a heart of fear of Himself,
“And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me
for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them” (Jer
32:39). Those wicked people and sinners shall be punished forever in
Hell with everlasting regret, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels… And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment” (Matt 25:41, 46)
and “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thess
1:9), “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7).
If you and I have done the things against God and His
Word, let us wisely repent right away and come back to our Saviour Jesus
Christ, who is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever”
(Heb 13:8), and then trust in His everlasting grace and strength to live
a holy life, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants
to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life”
(Rom 6:22).
Conclusion
Dear friends, everything, even human beings, will
change and pass away, but our everlasting God and His eternal Word
endure for ever and remain the same. May God help you and me look unto
Him, trust in Him and His Word, fear Him and His eternal judgment,
endure everything, and faithfully worship Him, do His will and serve Him
with our thankful and submissive hearts until our Saviour Jesus Christ
comes again, without being distracted by the things of this world
“for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are
not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18), “but he that doeth the will
of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). Amen.
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