MEANING TO MEDITATE TO CONFORM: “ETERNAL” 

This series of blogs on “MEANING TO MEDITATE TO CONFORM” is our invitation to you to come along and slowly think through these words so that we conform to the nature and character of God.  We will present a word each week to meditate on and conform our hearts. 

WORLD DEFINITION 

The word ‘eternal’ certainly has the dictionary definition of ‘lasting forever’ or ‘something without beginning or end’, but is not a word that gets high use.  It is at times used as a metaphor to talk about love even though the commitment to such things is lacking.  It is also used with people, events, issues that are tedious or annoying because they last so long.  There does not seem to be a meaningful way this word is used.  This is a word related to time and even time itself is seen as eternal (Greek worldview).  This is an abstract word most definitely.  

The world is tied to time.  The conversation, even when using the word, is tied to time and existence and usually in a negative context.   

CHURCH/FOLK DEFINITION 

There is a huge leap for Christians in that eternal is tied to God and the word is connected to other words and makes a big difference.  The word ‘eternal’ is attached to the word ‘life’ most often in the Church.  The Church use comes from the Bible use.  The Bible is full of references to ‘eternal life’ and is one of the Apostle John’s favorite ways to refer to the Kingdom of God and all that Jesus was doing.  The phrase is definitely used elsewhere in the Bible (Romans 2:7, 5:21, 6:22-23, Jude 1:21 among many others), but John uses it most of all.  God is eternal so His Kingdom is eternal and everything related to Him is eternal… hence John sees God offering eternal life.   

Basically, in the Church, eternal life in Heaven is with God and eternal life in Hell is without God.   

Eternal = God  

Eternal = Heaven 

BIBLE/THEOLOGICAL INFLUENCE 

God the Father/Jesus the Son/the Holy Spirit is the Only Uncreated Being that exists.  He inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15) and is the Only Eternal Being.  From Him, all other things come.  There are other spiritual beings, but none uncreated.  God (eternal) brings order to chaos by setting the order in time.  Time structures creation and can relate to the Eternal God.  Those things that are connected to God and have a relationship have continuance of life (eternal life).  When Christ comes again, He will reorder things according to His will and Heaven and there will be a merging of time and eternity into one. 

We scarcely can comprehend what is beyond us.  We must firmly believe that eternal life is only connected with Jesus Christ because He is the source and author of eternity. 

MEANING 

Eternal is what is beyond the horizon of what we can perceive or understand.  It is beyond what we can see and put into words and is the domain of God beyond time and space and physicality.  

Conforming to the eternal means understanding that the physical life is corruptible and perishable and there is something eternal and incorruptible and imperishable and it is this that is connected to the eternal God.  God Himself is eternal.  Our perspective, soul-condition, view of identity, and much about how we view the purpose of life is directly informed by the eternal which is a perspective beyond us.  It calls us to another level.  Nothing else but God is eternal. 

What are you conforming to?  The eternal nature! 

This series of blogs on “MEANING TO MEDITATE TO CONFORM” is our invitation to you to come along and slowly think through these words so that we conform to the nature and character of God.  We will present a word each week to meditate on and conform our hearts.