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A RIGHT PERSPECTIVE IS AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
A. Introduction: We are working on a series about developing the right perspective. Perspective is the
power to see or think of things in their true relationship with each other.
1. Your perspective comes out of your view or reality. Reality is the way things really are, not just the
way they look or seem in the moment. Your perspective is limited if you don’t have all the facts
about the situation—and none of us have all the facts about anything.
a. Only God has all the facts about everything past, present, and future because He is Omniscient
(all-knowing) and Omnipresent (present everywhere at once). Jer 23:23-24; Ps 147:4-5
1. The right perspective (a right view of reality) sees things the way God sees them. We get a
right perspective from the Bible, because God reveals facts about reality (the way things
really are) in His written Word.
2. In a prayer to God the Father, Jesus said: “Your word (O God) is truth” (John 17:17, KKJV).
The Greek word that is translated truth means the reality lying at the base of appearance.
b. Almighty God give us this information in part to help us face life’s very real hardships and
challenges with hope, peace, and joy. According to the Bible, this is reality:
1. Nothing can come against you that is bigger than God who is with you and for you.
Everything that you are facing is temporary and subject to change by God’s power, either in
this life or the life to come. He causes everything to serve His purposes for good for you.
2. God is perfectly present with you, loving and reigning, and upholding all things by the word
of His power. And He will get you through whatever you are facing until He gets you out.
c. The right perspective is actually an eternal perspective. An eternal perspective knows that there
is more to life than just this life—and the greater and better part of life is the life after this life.
1. No one ceases to exist at death. At death, we separate from our body and pass into another
dimension, either Heaven or Hell, depending on how we responded to Almighty God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, in this life. James 4:14; I Pet 1:24; Luke 16:19-31; II Cor 5:8; etc.
2. The life to come is sometimes called the afterlife. Calling it the afterlife puts this life and
that life out of right proportion with each other, because this present life is actually the prelife to the main event—the life to come. This life matters, but the life to come matters more.
2. To have the right perspective, an eternal perspective, we need to understand that a plan is unfolding
which will be completed in the life to come—God’s plan to have a family of holy, blameless sons
and daughters with whom He can live forever in mutual, loving relationship. Eph 1:4-5; Rom 8:29
a. Almighty God created human beings to become His sons and daughters through faith in and
dependence on Him. And He created this world to be a home for Himself and His family.
b. Humanity has chosen independence from God through sin, beginning with Adam. Due to the
first man’s sin, a curse of corruption and death permeates the family and the family home.
1. Rom 5:12—When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death
throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned (TLB).
2. As a result of Adam’s sin, all human beings are born into a fallen world. This means that all
of us must deal daily with the changes produced in creation by our first parent’s sin.
A. Weeds, decay, natural disasters, and death are currently part of the earth’s makeup. And
we all have bodies that are mortal and subject to sickness, injury, old age, and death.
B. On top of that, all people are born with an inclination to put ourselves first, which leads
to sin before God and conflict with each other. And we must interact with people who
make unwise and sinful choices that can directly affect our lives in negative ways.
C. Additionally, fallen angels, who have rebelled against God, work behind the scenes in
this world influencing people, governments, and world events.

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3. All of this makes life on earth challenging and toilsome. You can do everything right and
things still go wrong, because that’s life in a sin damaged, sin cursed world.
c. Soon after Adam and Eve disobeyed God and brought sin and death into the world, God began to
reveal His plan to recover the family and the family home through Jesus (Gen 3:15). This plan
was activated when Jesus died and rose again. It will be completed at Jesus’ second coming.
1. The point for now is that, to have the right perspective, we must live with an awareness that
we’re part of an unfolding plan that won’t be completed until Jesus returns to this world.
2. We don’t have all the details yet, but this we know: Things in this world aren’t the way God
created them to be, but the Bible assures us that they won’t always be the way they are now.
3. Deut 29:29—There are secret things that belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things
belong to us…so that we may obey these words of the law (NLT).
B. We’ve been talking about Paul the apostle, a man who faced unimaginable hardship and danger as he
preached the good news of salvation through Jesus throughout the Roman Empire. II Cor 11:23-29
1. Despite his hardships, Paul was able to call his many troubles momentary and light because he had
the right perspective—an eternal perspective. He knew that there is more to life than just this life.
a. He wrote: Our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for
us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can
see right now; rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see
will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever (II Cor 4:17-18, NLT).
1. The Greek word translated look means to watch, observe, contemplate. It has the idea of
mental consideration. Paul didn’t deny what he could see, he looked past what he could see.
2. Paul realized that hardships are part of life in a fallen world. But he knew there is more to
reality than what he could see with his eyes and chose to focus his attention on those realities.
A. Unseen realities include invisible realities, things that are beyond the perception of our
physical senses, such as the present Heaven. Unseen realities include God, who is
invisible, working behind the scenes (invisibly) in our lives and in the lives of people and
world events, causing it all to serve His ultimate purpose for a family.
B. Unseen realities include things that are yet to come—reunion, restoration, recompense,
and reward in the life after this life. Paul wrote in Rom 8:18-21—Yet what we suffer
now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later…All creation anticipates the
day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay (NLT).
b. Like Paul, in the midst of hardship, we must learn to look past what we see and feel to reality as
it truly is: God with us and for us, loving and reigning, and causing everything to serve His
purposes of good, His plan for a family in a perfect world.
1. When this becomes your view of reality—not just a verse that the preacher reads—you will
live with the awareness that there is more your situation than what you see and feel in the
moment. And it will give you hope and peace in the midst of trouble.
2. Isa 26:3—You (Lord) will keep in peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on
you (NLT); Ps 94:19—In the multitude of my (anxious thoughts within me) your comforts
delight my soul (Amp).
2. When Jesus was on earth, He talked about taking control of our anxious thoughts in the face of life’s
challenges, by putting our focus on the way things really are, not just how they seem in the moment.
a. Jesus urged His followers to live according to unseen realities. In one of His most famous
teachings, Jesus told His listeners not to worry about where the necessities of life will come from
because they have a heavenly Father who cares for them. Matt 6:25-34
b. Jesus exhorted them to consider (learn thoroughly, fully observe) that God takes care of birds

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and flowers—but that you are more valuable to Him than birds and flowers. Jesus’ point is, if
your heavenly Father feeds the birds and clothes the flowers, He will surely take care of you.
1. Jesus opened this teaching by saying: Don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have
enough food, drink, and clothes (Matt 6:25, NLT). The Greek word translated worry is from
a word that means distraction. To worry means to be distracted.
2. Jesus told them: Don’t be distracted by what you see. Look past what you see and feel to
reality as it truly is: God watching over and caring for His creation, including you.
3. Jesus made another statement about God the Father’s care for us: Not even a sparrow worth only a
half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your
head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of
sparrows (Matt 10:29, NLT).
a. According to Jesus, God values His creation. He knows about and takes care of His creation.
But, Jesus said, sparrows still fall to the ground (die). Jesus made this statement in the context
of telling His apostles what would eventually happen to them because they were His followers.
b. Jesus said: You’ll be arrested, handed over to the courts, and beaten in the synagogues. You
will stand before kings and governors, and you’ll be delivered up to death (Matt 10:16-27). But
“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch
your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28, NLT).
1. Soul is not a thing in you. We have an outward portion (body) and an inward portion (soul)
to our makeup. Soul the immaterial part of you—it’s you, minus your body. II Cor 4:16
2. Because of the effects of Adam’s sin, our body will die whether we’re killed or die of
sickness or old age. And we, minus our body, will pass into the unseen Heaven of God.
c. Jesus died to break the power of sin and death over us by offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice
for our sins. He joined us in death at the Cross to bring us out of death through His resurrection.
1. Heb 2:14-15—(Jesus took on flesh and blood) so that by his death he might destroy him who
holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in
slavery by their fear of death (NIV).
2. In connection with the second coming of Jesus, all who have died in Jesus will be reunited
with their original body, raised from the grave and made incorruptible and immortal (no
longer subject to corruption or death). I Cor 15:51-55
4. Jesus didn’t die to make this life the highlight of our existence. He died to restore us to our created
purpose as sons and daughters of God, who are fully glorifying to our Father, as we live in loving
relationship with Him—first in this life, and then in the life to come.
a. If we reject His offer of salvation through faith in Him, we will experience the ultimate death,
which is separation forever from God who is life. Every other problem fades in comparison.
b. We aren’t minimizing the real hurt, pain, and loss in this life. We’re talking about having a long
-term (eternal) perspective, based on unseen realities, that helps us deal with the short-term
(temporary) challenges of this life. There’s restoration, reunion, recompense, and reward ahead.
c. We struggle with this because none of us want to go through pain or loss. But it’s unavoidable
in this life. And knowing that it’s all temporary gives us hope in the midst of hardship.
C. Perspective is the power to see things in their true relationship with each other. Part of having a right
perspective is seeing this life in relation to the life to come. But just as important is seeing yourself as
you truly are in relation to God. You are God’s dearly loved son or daughter.
1. We wrongly use our circumstances to assess God’s love for us. We assume that bad circumstances
indicate He loves us less or not at all, on account of our sins, shortcomings, and failures.
a. But God’s love for us doesn’t depend on our behavior—good or bad. God doesn’t have love—

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He is love (I John 4:16). God can do nothing but love. He loved us before we existed: Eph 1:4
—Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ (NLT). And
God loved us enough to die for us while we were rebellious sinners (Rom 5:8).
b. In good times and bad, Paul saw himself as he truly was (and is) in relation to God—as God’s
dearly loved son. Paul had the right perspective. He knew that nothing could separate him (or
any of us) from God’s love which He expressed through the Cross of Christ. Rom 8:38-39
c. And Paul was convinced that nothing could stop God’s plan from coming to pass in his life.
Paul didn’t mean a happy life in this life. He meant in the ultimate life—the life to come—
unending life with God the Father in a world with no more loss, pain, sorrow, or death.
2. Remember Jesus’ words right before His statement that we are more valuable to God the Father than
sparrows? Jesus said that God knows how many hairs you have on your head. Matt 10:30
a. This isn’t a statement about God’s Omniscience (the fact that He is all-knowing). It’s a
statement about God’s intimate concern for the people He created—including you and me.
b. Last week we talked about Israel’s king David. He spent many years being relentlessly chased
by men intent on killing him. But David learned to live by unseen realities. He knew that God
had been with him every moment of his life, loving him. Note what David wrote:
1. Ps 56:8—You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each on in your books (NLT).
2. Ps 139:15-16—I can never escape from your spirit! I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there…You
watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of
the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your
book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed (NLT).
3. Whether it looks or feels like it or not, God is right there with you, loving you and working in your
life. But you need to understand that help from Him can look different than what you’re expecting.
a. We want our troubles stopped now. And God does sometimes change our circumstances—but
often in unexpected ways. And sometimes He changes us in our circumstances. I Kings 17:1-7
1. Elijah the prophet was in Israel during a time of a famine that was brought on unrepentant
idol worship in the land. God directed Elijah to a specific brook where ravens fed him.
2. This provision isn’t as glamourous as sounds. God did provide for Elijah, but it was water
from a brook where animals also walked and drank and bread delivered in the feet of birds.
b. Note also what Paul wrote while imprisoned in Rome: I have learned how to get along happily
whether I have much or little…I have learned the secret of living in every situation…For I can
do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need (Phil 4:12-13, NLT).
D. Conclusion: The Bible is filled with accounts of real people who lived real lives and got real help from
God—deliverance from or in their circumstances. Their stories were written to give us hope. Rom 15:4
1. These people learned to look past what they could see and feel in the moment to God with them and
for them. They had the right perspective. They had an eternal perspective.
a. To have the right perspective you must know: Life is challenging because that’s life in broken
world. You matter to God. Circumstances don’t show God’s greater or lesser love for you.
b. To have an eternal perspective you must know: There’s more to life than just this life. A good
plan is unfolding. We don’t have all the details yet, but we can trust that the best is yet to come.
2. We have more to say next week, but for now, take time to think about these things. Let God’s
Word change your view of reality to the point that you are convinced: God is perfectly present with
me, loving and reigning in my circumstance, upholding all things by the word of His power. And
He will get me through until He gets me out!