Revelation 1:8: “I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
Jesus Christ is the Ever-Living One. He was in the beginning with God and He has everlasting life. Christ, therefore, qualifies for the inheritance of everlasting promises. He can reign for ever and ever, Luke 1:33; 54-55; Revelation 11:15; 22:5. No man, nor nation, in the flesh, can qualify for the everlasting promises, for death of the flesh is appointed to all men, Hebrews 9:27, 1 Corinthians 15:22.
FOR EVERMORE
A study of the words “for ever” and “evermore,” etc., will reveal that they do not always indicate endless, or eternal time. For example, Mark 13:31; Revelation 20:11, 2 Peter 3:7, 10-12 indicate that the earth will pass away and be burned up. Yet, Psalm 104:5 says: “[Who] laid the foundations of the earth, [that] it should not be removed for ever.”
This apparent contradiction can be resolved when we understand that in regard to the flesh and to the material creation, “for ever” means “throughout life” or “as long as this situation exists.” For example, when Judah promised his father to bear the blame “for ever” if anything happened to Benjamin, (Gen. 43:9), he meant “as long as I live.” The servant who remained in his master’s house for the sake of his wife promised to serve “for ever” which meant “for the remainder of my life,” (Exodus 21:5-6).[1]
Eternal Promises
There is some misunderstanding amongst those who think that there are eternal, everlasting promises made to transient conditions of this material world and to perishable flesh. That is not so and cannot be, since all material things change and the fleshly life perishes, (Isaiah 40:6; 1 Peter 1:24; 1 Corinthians 7:31; Romans 8:1, 6, 10).
The most misunderstood of these promises are those which God made with Abraham.
In Genesis 13:15-17 God promised Abraham:
“15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” (Genesis 13 See also Genesis 12:7; 17:8.)
The promise to Abraham’s fleshly seed of the material land was fulfilled. Joshua declared that all of God’s promises were fulfilled: Joshua 21:45; 23:14. Solomon also declared that they were fulfilled: 1 Kings 8:56. These were referring to the promises of a material nature upon the fleshly descendants of Abraham.
Conditional Temporal Promises
The promises of temporal and material blessings upon the fleshly heirs of Abraham were conditional. They depended upon the heirs keeping the faith of Abraham. For those who departed from the faith, broke the covenant and walked in disobedience, there were concomitant promises of cursings and of being cut off from the lineage of promise. These conditional promises are clearly delineated in Deuteronomy 27:9-28:68.
The same is true of the promises to David concerning his kingship over Israel. In 2 Samuel 7:8-16 God promises that David’s house and his throne will be established “for ever.” This was literally fulfilled in the dynasty of Solomon. In 1 Kings 5:4 Solomon states that he has rest on every side, without an adversary. The fleshly lineage of David is fulfilled in the genealogy of Christ. In Christ, the fleshly lineage ended in the beginning of the Spiritual lineage in which it was possible for the promise to become truly eternal.
[1] This truth was also clearly given in a reprint of an article by Ostis B. Wilson, in Faith and Victory, (Guthrie, Oklahoma, June, 1996), 12-13.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.