Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible Part in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is Part #8 of Genesis, chapter 17 and we are continuing to look at Genesis 17:7-8:

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

In our last Part we looked at the word “everlasting,” because God referred to an everlasting covenant in verse 7 and the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession in verse 8.

We saw that God Himself is said to be “from everlasting to everlasting,” in Psalm 90 and He has an “everlasting kingdom,” according to Psalm 145:11-13.

God’s salvation program is also everlasting, as it says in Psalm 103:17:

But the mercy of JEHOVAH is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

God has mercifully granted salvation to individuals chosen before the foundation of the world who were selected according to the good pleasure of His will and their sins were laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ and He died and paid the penalty for those sins. That mercy is “from everlasting to everlasting.” We can understand the Part about it being “to everlasting,” because it says in Matthew 19:29:

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

This is the typical Gospel message. Even false gospels use the language of “everlasting life” because it is so prevalent in the New Testament. For instance, in the well-known verse of John, chapter 3, it says in John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is generally understood that if God saves you, you will live forever. You will be given eternal life. We also understand that it does not mean we will not die physically in this world. It is acknowledged that God is saying that at the point of salvation, we receive a new eternal soul that cannot die. Of course, this is not accurately understood by many, but when a saved individual dies, his soul (which is eternal from the point of salvation) continues to live on in the presence of God in heaven until God completes all things for this world and brings about the resurrection of the last day. That person, who is alive in his soul, is already living with God in his soul existence in heaven, will receive a new resurrected body that will live forever. He will have a new eternal spiritual body, as well as his eternal soul, that will live on forever. He has eternal life. So, we do understand when Psalm 103:17 says that the mercy of JEHOVAH is “to everlasting,” it is from our present time in to eternity future.

However, we wonder why God says our salvation is also “from everlasting.” You see, this is another one of those statements that can only be understood in the light of the fact that Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Jesus died from the foundation of the world, which was not accomplished “in time,” but it took place prior to the creation of the world and, therefore, it took place in eternity past. We have no way of understanding the “movement” of events that took place in eternity past because it is outside of “time” and there is no progression like “second to second,” or “hour to hour” or “day to day,” as we experience in time. We must just understand that the Bible says that Christ died for His people at some point in eternity past and this is what God is referring to when He says He has had mercy “from everlasting to everlasting.”

Again, we must just stand in wonder at this infinite and eternal God who has an eternal kingdom. And His Word is from everlasting as we saw in Psalm 119, as well as His salvation program. There was an eternal nature to the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the Bible mentions an everlasting Gospel in Hebrews 13:20:

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus…

By the way, notice how God speaks of Christ coming from the dead. We have learned from the Bible that He rose from the dead to be declared the Son of God at the point of the foundation of the world in eternity past. Again, it says in Hebrews 13:20:

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

It is the blood of the everlasting covenant. When we read in Genesis 17:7, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee,” it does not mean that the covenant began when Abraham was age 99, but it stretched back to eternity past. Remember what it said when God had brought Noah through the flood, in Genesis 9:8-16:

And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

Here, God is applying the everlasting blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to Noah and to those that He saved from the flood, just as He applied it to Abraham in Genesis 17. It is an everlasting covenant. We tend to think of it as extending in to eternity future, but it is from everlasting past. It is from everlasting to everlasting that God has had mercy and that is how far His covenant stretches. In relationship to the things we just read in Genesis 9, it says in Isaiah 54:7-10:

For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith JEHOVAH thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall dePart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not dePart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith JEHOVAH that hath mercy on thee.

There is everlasting kindness. God’s kindness is upon us, His elect people, at this present time, but even when this entire earth and universe are removed, God’s kindness will continue upon His elect people. It is a kindness and a mercy that transcends time and it goes further than this life and this creation into eternity future. Therefore God speaks of an unshakeable kingdom that He has in store for His people and He begins with a reference to His covenant in Hebrews 12:24-29:

And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receive a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.

The things that cannot be shaken will remain and that is the everlasting covenant. It is the everlasting kingdom of God. It is the everlasting mercy and kindness that He has in store for His people. His everlasting Word and His everlasting nature will all remain. And because God has saved a people for Himself and delivered us out of death and destruction, He has caused us to be translated into His kingdom, which is an everlasting kingdom. It says in 2Peter 1:10-11:

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

You see, this is what salvation does. By the grace of God and by the work and faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have had that everlasting Gospel preached to us (the everlasting Word) and it has ministered to us an entrance or a door “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” We have been brought through that Door, which is Christ, safely into the eternal kingdom where we have eternal security through the salvation of our soul and the indwelling presence of the everlasting Spirit of God. It is the down payment or assurance to us that God will finish what He started and He will grant us our eternal resurrected bodies and He will place us in the new heaven and new earth, our everlasting possession. It is the spiritual “land of Canaan” where we will live for evermore. This is why we read in Genesis 17:8:

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

We also read in Revelation, chapter 21 where God speaks of the new heaven and new earth, in Revelation 21:1-5:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Do you see how God said He would dwell with us and we shall be His people and God will be with us and be our God. This agrees with Genesis 17:8 where it says He will give Abraham and his seed the “land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” This is God’s plan. This is the essence of His salvation program and this is what the future holds for us. It is not based on speculation. It is not just what we hope the future holds, but it is a fact – it is “true and faithful,” God said. These are the things that are in store for us and that future time will come. And it is not far off when God will fulfill the last Part of the promises He made to His people. To fulfill these promises He must destroy this present earth and all the unsaved people. It is not that we would desire this to be, although we do desire that God would fulfill His promises, but we do not desire destruction to come to our fellow man. And, yet, it must happen that God will destroy this present earth. He must bring all things of this creation to a close and then create a new heaven and new earth. He will place His elect, who will have both their new resurrected souls and bodies, in the new creation to begin our eternity future.

The Bible declares these things. They are absolute. They are not subject to doubt, but they are certainties that the God who cannot lie has declared in His Word. By the grace of God, we are that last generation, standing on the precipice or the very edge of the end of all things for this creation and, therefore, standing on the edge of all things for the new creation to come. How is it that any of God’s elect who have such great and wonderful promises just ahead be cast down in soul? I know we can be (cast down) and I know we are going through difficulties. There are grievous tribulations and afflictions and these are trying times, but none of us should be downcast. Whatever our circumstances, we ought to be encouraged and comforted and strengthened in our inner being as we look ahead to these wonderful things to come.