Courtesy of Yosemite Park and Curry Co.
P e rm an en t Th in g s By B. B. SUTCLIFFE Portland, Oregon
R HAT are we coming to?” ‘‘Where will it all end?” A tragic note is heard in these oft-repeated questions. Men desire sta bility and permanency, and find only change and disintegration. Supposed verities of yesterday are on the scrap heap today. The futility of the pres ent order is aptly described in the line of Lyte’s hymn, “Change and decay in all around I see.” But in the midst of the change and decay, the Christian gains courage by calling to mind the things that endure. - >• God Himself The eternal God Himself remains changeless-and imperishable. His very name, “I AM,” speaks of eternity. He is the uncreated One, existent through all the millennia of yesterday, present through all the centuries of'time, and enduring through all future ages. There is a vast store of comfort for the Christian when he is told that “the eternal God is thy refuge, and under neath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27). His power is also eternal, and its manifestation is seen through all of nature. For instance, it is said that
the earth weighs six septillion tons (a “six” with twenty-one noughts after it). This immense weight m o v e s through space at the rate of twelve hundred pniles a minute, while spin ning with incredible speed upon its own axis, meanwhile whirling around the sun; yet it never varies in timing by so much as a hairsbreadth. The earth is a very tiny thing compared with millions of heavenly bodies of gigantic size, also whirling through space, each in its own orbit, and each with the same precise timing as the earth. How are all these heavenly bodies controlled in their courses, and regu lated with amazing accuracy? It is by the eternal power of God. “The invis ible things of Him *[God] from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,, even his eternal power and Godhead” (Rom. 1:20). Assurance comes to the Christian when he re members he is in the hands of God whose power is eternal. His purpose is likewise eternal (Eph. 3:11). God is not moving about in a labyrinth without a settled objective, but He moves’ intelligently in an or
dered path, forcing each event of his tory to yield its quota toward the final fulfillment of His eternal purpose. God's Son Likewise, God’s Son is eternal. As He was yesterday, so He is today; and as He is today, so He will be through all eternity. .He is the “same yester day, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). The life He lived, the Scrip, tures that speak of Him, the influence He exerts throughout the world, all bear witness that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is imperishable. The more the record is examined, the rtiore clearly is revealed the changeless character of His person. Of Him it is written, “The heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail” (Heb.’l:10-12). Here is revealed the glorious fact that God’s Son existed before the sun began to shine, or the moon to give its light, or the heavens were sprinkled with planets; and when all these shall wax old as a garment and shall per-
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