Eternal Hope: Embracing God's Unchanging Nature

Every time we write out the year, it's a reminder that someone came into our world whose life was so significant that we define history as either being before him or after him. His name is Jesus, as you know, and what we commemorate today is the most significant events of his life, that having lived a perfect life, that Jesus went to the cross and he died a death he didn't deserve in his 30s so that you and I could be forgiven, receive a new start, and be adopted into a family that lasts forever, sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. [00:15:13] (49 seconds)


It's for anybody who's given their life to Jesus. If you've opened up your heart to Christ and said, Jesus, I can't. I'll never be good enough. My good will never outweigh my bad to the extent that I'm acceptable to you, to a holy father, but Jesus, you did it for me, and I trust you. I want to follow you. Forgive me. If you've taken that step, you're welcome to participate with us in this time. Those of you engaging online, if you want to go to your kitchen and get sort of a drink and a bread element, we just welcome you to participate with us. [00:16:36] (33 seconds)


You know, we come from all kinds of different backgrounds. I love the fact that grace is a diverse place. We're diverse generationally. We have a lot of babies being born, and we have a lot of senior adults and a lot of people in between. We're diverse ethnically. I think that honors God in a big way, and I pray it'll become even more the case that it makes us richer, it gives us a broader perspective, and it's a foretaste of what heaven is going to be like when there's people from every language and people group on the planet. We're diverse socioeconomically, educationally. [00:35:15] (37 seconds)


Before the mountains were born. Just think about, pause and just think. Before like anything in our world was created, before the mountains, were born, or you brought forth the whole world. From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. Here's what he's saying. That before anything existed, before anyone else existed, God was. He was there. He always was and always will be. No beginning and no end. In fact, you hear that in the very first words of the Bible. It just says, say those three words with me. You remember how they go? Genesis 1 .1, in the beginning. [00:41:05] (44 seconds)


The world, even before it was born, God in some way was alive and active. And the psalmist worships the Lord in another psalm and says, Lord, your throne was established long ago. You are from all eternity, alive forever. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's hard for us to even comprehend, isn't it? Some of you remember, you know, sitting in chemistry or physics class, and you're just sitting there going, this class feels like it's going to last, what, forever, right? I think some of you have the same experience I did. [00:42:22] (44 seconds)


And so the person that he was 2 ,000 years ago and 5 ,000 and an unfathomable amount of time to go back in history is the same God he is today. So when we read in the Scripture this morning in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are what? Weary and burdened. Yeah, some of you read that. And I will give you rest for your souls, for I'm gentle and humble in heart. And we read that. And he's unchanging. Like, that's who God is today. That's the invitation that Jesus issues to us as much as the first time he said that. [00:49:03] (39 seconds)


Jesus says, I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. It's pretty clear what he's saying about himself, right? Jesus claims the attributes of God. In fact, his contemporary, he's got that. Some of them were very upset about it. They thought it was blasphemy that Jesus was claiming to be God. One of the most startling comments he made is in John chapter 8, where Jesus is having a conversation with the religious leaders, and he says this. He says, I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, what? I am. [00:51:34] (42 seconds)