When we come face to face with such a concept as the eternal nature of God, it is a logical thing to wonder how such finite beings with such vaporous lives should respond to God and the glory of His eternity. The most obvious thing in the world is that if a human being catches a glimpse of the eternity of God that should in and of itself drive him or her to his knees in utter humility and worship. If worship is the bowing before a superior being to give adoration and praise from the heart, then being before an eternal God should inspire worship in all but the hardest and most deceived hearts.
Isaiah 43:13 – “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
1 Timothy 1:17 – “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
It is an awe inspiring and perhaps fearful thing to be before a God that is from eternity and is the self-existent One. As such, all things come from Him and who is there to deliver out of His hand? He lives forever and He will not die at any point and so His actions cannot be reversed. As the eternal King He is the only God and to Him alone is to be honor and glory both now and forever. Yet the true fear of God, that is, a real and loving reverence and awe of Him is only given by grace. So we should spend much of our time in this life praying for grace in order that we may worship and adore Him from the heart in all of life. Whatever we do before such a God should be worship.
Romans 1:20 – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
It is not that the eternal nature of God can really be denied. The Word of God tells us that His eternal power and divine nature (those two go together) are clearly seen and understood through what has been made. In light of that, all men are without excuse. People know this well enough that they are without excuse. While they do many things to suppress the truth of God, they do not get away from it. They hate this teaching and speak against it with utter hatred, but they never really escape it. All should worship God because of this.
Ephesians 3:8-19 – “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”
The eternal nature of God is seen in that He has brought forth His manifold wisdom to be made known through the church in accordance with His eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus Christ and the plan God carried out through Him is a plan formulated from all eternity. It is in light of this that Paul bowed his knees before the Father in order to pray for others. It is in light of the eternal nature of God and His eternal plan that Paul prayed what he did in verses 15-19. It is because he desired the glory of God through Christ in the church that he could pray and worship as he prayed in this way. Believers do not come into existence by accident and they do not have duties before God that are to be done in such a way that they or others believe that their actions are because of any other reason than that they are fulfilling the eternal purpose of God. That should lead the believer to adoration and worship to mediate on the eternal God carrying out His eternal plan in and through them. Part of that plan is that they would know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge in order to be filled up to all the fullness of God. Knowing the love of Christ is eternal life and being filled up to all the fullness of God surely points to the life of God in the soul of man. These things are His eternal purpose and we have received grace to be instruments of His eternal glory as we are the dwelling place of His love forever.
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