What’s forever for?
“The creation of the world was to give vent to the gracious heart of Christ. And the joy of heaven is that we will enjoy that unfettered and undiluted heart forevermore.”
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly
Having a capacity for eternity opens life up to real meaning and purpose. The possibility of life “forever” transforms how we live our life today. Plus, it offers us great hope for tomorrow. In other words, because this life is not all there is, because God has created us with forever in mind, our lives have eternal significance, hope, meaning and purpose!
“The task is not to find the meaning of life within the finite but to relate the finite to the infinite, to find oneself in God, the eternal.”
Søren Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific Postscript to the Philosophical Fragments
“It is good news that we are not the random byproducts of a meaningless universe, but rather creations of a loving God who wants to live with us forever. That ‘God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son’ in order to reconcile with his rebellious creation. That by entering our world, the Son took on our sufferings and temptations, demonstrating in person that nothing—not even death—can separate us from the love of God.”
Philip Yancey
“What if the 2000 year-old story is only able to reconnect with our deepest desires for meaning, purpose, and identity, because it is the true story to which all other stories point?”
Justin Brierley, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God
“To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”
Karl Barth
Forever, amen!
