Over the past several months we have replaced the front axle and rear brakes on our Chevy Trailblazer; we have replaced the power steering pump (three times due to defective parts) and rack (twice) on our Chevy Impala; we have replaced broken fence posts and rotting rails in our field fence; we have restained our faded deck and replaced a rotting step.  I also put five gallons of driveway sealer on our asphalt drive pad.  We also built a new seven-foot lighthouse (a 1/30 scale model of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse on the N.C. coast). Our old one had rotten and was about to fall down.  I also finally took time to replace the washers in our outdoor spigots so they would shut off completely. I also had my annual trip to the dermatologist to have spots frozen with liquid nitrogen and Kathy had a couple trips to the dentist to get a crown for a broken tooth. 

      My sister just had a heart valve replacement and another good friend is going in for a replacement in October. Another friend just had a knee replacement and two others are soon going in for the same .  Oh yes, and our car is headed in next week for a brake job and to replace a leaky oil pan seal and then at the end of October to the body shop to fix a dented-in driver’s door and broken mirror. Kathy was just getting into the parked car downtown when a pickup backing out from across the street rammed into her. Her foot was not yet inside so got bruised as well. We are very grateful she was not still standing by the car!  And the list goes on!  I’m sure you could compile a similar list. 

     A few weeks ago in  my “Wisdom of the Week” I mentioned a law of science that resulted from the Fall in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. It is the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the “Law of Increasing Entropy ” which simply observes that things don’t last–they wear out, run down, rust, break and fall apart–and that includes our physical bodies.  Entropy is the natural tendency to become more and more random and disorganized. Entropy is a property of everything in the universe.  The Psalmist observed that “even the heavens will perish…All of them will wear out like a garment” (Psa. 102:25,26). God, speaking through Isaiah the prophet, said: “For the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear our like a garment…” (Isa. 51:6). 

     It is all because of sin and the curse placed upon the earth (Gen. 2:17; 3:14-19) and will remain there until Christ returns to earth to reign for 1,000 years and then on into eternity on a remade, restored earth where there will be no sin, no sickness, and no death (II Pet. 3:10-13; Isa. 11:1-9; Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5). Meanwhile, material things, including our bodies, are temporal–they don’t last, and the things we store up on earth are susceptible to destruction by moths and rust and being stolen by thieves (Mt. 6:19,20).  The Apostle Paul warned that we are not to “fix our hope on the uncertainty of riches” (I Tim. 6:17), and, along with Job and Solomon, declared, “We brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either” (I Tim. 6:7 cf Job 1:21; Eccl. 5:15) Eccl. 5:15).  

     However, even in this corruptible world, some things are incorruptible. There are a few things that last, that are unchanging: God, His Word, the souls of people, and the believer’s inheritance in heaven. .The Psalmist, after speaking of things wearing out like a garment and changing, continues with this statement: “But Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end” (Psa. 102:27).  Speaking to the prophet Malachi, God said, “For I, the LORD, do not change” (Mal. 3:6). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).  God is eternal. He has always existed and will continue to exist, and He is immutable (unchanging). 

     God’s Word is also unchanging. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever”  (Isa. 40:8).  The Apostle Peter wrote: “For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is through the living and abiding word of God” (I Pet. 1:23) and then he goes on to quote Isa. 40:6-8. Jesus Himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away”‘ (Mt. 24:35).  When God revealed His word through the 40 human authors, it was exactly what He wanted us to know and everything we need to know about Him, about His plan of redemption through Jesus Christ, and about how to have eternal life through Him. With the book of Revelation, His “Once-for-all-delivered-to-the-saints faith” was complete (Jude 3). God spoke and He did not “stutter.” He said exactly what He meant and, since He does not change, His Word does not change. It is applicable to every generation in history–including ours. We are to conform our lives (and our culture) to His Word, not His Word to our lives or culture!

     The souls of people will also last forever. Though our bodies may die, our souls will continue living on. We had a beginning, as we were conceived in the womb, but we will live on eternally in one of two destinations, heaven or hell.  And our bodies will be resurrected and equipped for living forever.  Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life; those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:28,29).  In speaking of that judgment, Jesus said: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt. 25:46).  Eternal life awaits both believers and unbelievers.  The souls of people will last forever…where will you spend eternity? 

     The fourth thing that will last forever is the inheritance of those who have, through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for their sins, received eternal life (Jn. 3:16; 5:24).  When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, we become children of God (Jn. 1:12), “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (Ro. 8:17). Although the things of earth are temporal and no matter how much we may have accrued here, at the time of death, we leave all that behind (You won’t see a U-Haul behind a hearse!), we can send it on ahead. We can lay up treasures in heaven (Mt. 6:20) by “Seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Mt. 6:33), by faithfully serving the Lord and following the course He lays out for us (Eph. 2:10 cf II Tim. 4:6-8). And, in contrast to the things of earth which do not last, listen to this description of our inheritance in heaven: “…an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (I Pet. 1:3).   Now, that is something to get excited about and for which to praise God!  Do I hear an AMEN?

Forever His,

Pastor Dave