For Ever and Ever

When the Lord Jesus Christ declares that “the kingdom, the power, and the glory” belong to God “for ever and ever,” he is saying, “forever.” The word in the original Greek that is translated into Spanish as “por todos los siglos” is aion, which means “age, ages, times, century, eternity.” It is a reference to that which has no end, to an endless, inconceivably long span of time.

Jesus is declaring that God’s lordship is eternal, for ever and ever. The Lord’s Prayer ends by inviting us to set our eyes on eternity. When this world, with all its cares and dangers, has come to an end, those of us who have lived and died in Christ Jesus will still have eternity ahead of us in which to live.

The kingdom of God is eternal and irrevocable, and one day each of us will be called to dwell in that eternal and perfect realm. That is the great hope of every believer. That certainty of a life to come keeps us motivated and full of joy despite all the sorrows of this fallen world. In light of the resurrection to come, Paul counsels us in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, stand firm and steadfast, always growing in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

God’s dominion and lordship can never be wrested from him. Therefore, we know that our reward, our eternal rest, are assured. One day, the age-old conflict between good and evil will come to a definitive end. God will wrest Satan’s false and illegitimate dominion from him and cast him into the lake of fire and brimstone “for ever and ever,” as Revelation 20:10 promises. Then God’s will shall be done on earth in the same way that it is done in heaven, as the Lord’s Prayer asks.

The kingdom, the power, and the glory belong to God. And not only do they belong to him, but they belong to him for all eternity. The angel promised Mary that the Son who was to be born from her womb would reign over the house of Jacob forever and that his kingdom would have no end (Luke 1:33).

That same Jesus who declares in the Lord’s Prayer that God’s kingdom is “for ever and ever” is himself also destined to reign “for ever and ever.” And all of us who join ourselves to him in this life will also be called to reign together with him and to share in his glory. That is the wonderful picture presented to us by the glorious hymn sung by the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders in Revelation 5:10: “And you have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, the apostle Paul invites us to encourage one another with that glorious picture of a redeemed people reigning with their Christ for all eternity.

Because the kingdom, the power, and the glory belong to our God, we can endure all the afflictions of this world, knowing that ultimately we are more than conquerors through him who loved us and gave himself for us.