“For I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

You may notice how often, in crucial texts in the Bible, the word “always” appears. This so-called indefinite adverb teaches us about the work of God, about the obedience of the Lord Jesus and about the life of a Christian.

Take note of the little words in the text—the ones that, from the pulpit, the minister will regularly bring to our attention in his explanation. That could be “so,” through which the reader becomes extra attentive to what follows that word, for example: “So be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand” (Mark 13:23). It can be “but” where the reader is carried along in a change of perspective to that of God: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love…” (Ephesians 2:4). The word “always” also belongs to those words which give the Bible text an added dimension.

Close Bond⤒🔗

In his gospel, the apostle John illustrates the intimate bond between the Father and the Son in various places for us. The Father is pleased in the obedience and submission of the Son. John, in particular, does not miss seeing the depth of that love. It was given to John to make public the close, fervent prayer of John 17, words that a Christian may also listen to, as it were, with bated breath: “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” A short time after speaking these words, Jesus allowed himself to be arrested.

Even though the world understood nothing of it, the bond between the Father and the Son remained strong during his sojourn on the earth:

I declare to the world what I have heard from him. They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. John 8:26-27

Jesus taught “just as the Father taught me” (John 8:28). Therefore, after Pentecost, the summons sounds: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).

In the Law←⤒🔗

What follows from the mouth of the Saviour in John 8 is that small word "always":

And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. John 8:29

In the midst of the enmity of the Pharisees and the unbelief of the Jews, He knows himself carried by the Father: “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me” (John 16:32). The Father does not let go of the Son. As for realizing what is involved in his obedience, we simply can not “always do the things that are pleasing to him.” Day and night Jesus continues in the way of the law of the LORD. Only in this way could he fulfill the law and be a complete Saviour for those who go to God through him (Hebrews 7:25).

Always Lives←⤒🔗

In this verse in Hebrews 7, we again encounter the word "always." His work is complete, “since he always lives to make intercession for them.”  This Advocate in heaven does not have some sort of office hours, and is not a High Priest who must first make offerings for his own sins, but is the “Son who has been made perfect forever.” Also here, the indefinite adverb “always” (“forever”) is a comfort for the church.

We read that what is valid for the Son, also applies to the Father. Our time-bound thinking does not apply to him. For while the garment of the earth will wear out and God will roll up the earth and the heavens as a robe, the writer of Hebrews confesses, “But you remain” (Hebrews 1:11); and “But you are the same, and your years will have no end” (Hebrews 1:12).

Always Hears←⤒🔗

This God is not only always; he is at the same time always active: “Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). Therefore Jesus could say, “‘I knew that you always hear me’” (John 11:42). Therefore, Jesus says, “For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 18:10), for the comfort of the little ones and the vulnerable ones in the Kingdom.

Always - it is a little word that gives comfort to those who can not do without Him, not for a moment.

Continual Resistance←⤒🔗

For the comfort of Christ’s congregation on earth, we read of God’s activity: “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). Its blessing is not limited by time. “Always” is a word that gives comfort to those who can not do without him, not even for a moment.

The tenacity in seeking what is lost strikes us even more because the opposition to God’s work also "always" continues. In his long address to the High Priest and to the Jewish Council, Stephen says,

You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Acts 7:51

Always Wandering←⤒🔗

The judgment over our lives goes deeper when we see that, not only the deacon, Stephen, but God himself speaks out about his people: “Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts; they have not known my ways’” (Hebrews 3:10). This sharp word is more a summons to repentance than a statement of fact: “Today, if you hear his voice” (Hebrews 3:15).

When Jesus again uses the word "always" in Luke 18, he teaches us to persevere in prayer, not to lose hope or to become weak in prayer. He tells the parable of the unrighteous judge with an eye “to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).

Always Practice←⤒🔗

A Christian living after Easter may take this stimulus to heart. God does not desire that just a piece of our lives is dedicated to his service, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9a). Being blameless is about our heart, our understanding, our will. The Christian faith touches all of our existence, our thinking, speaking and acting. We confess the Risen One with our lips and with our lives—or we are not confessing him at all. Paul was very firmly convinced of this. Over against the governor, Felix (Acts 24), he says that because of “a hope in God … that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15), he himself “takes pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man” (Acts 24:16). In order to stand in the judgment of God, a life of regeneration is necessary, without which “no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

Always Abundant←⤒🔗

“Always abundant” is the message of 1 Corinthians 15, the message of the resurrection, of the certain victory of Jesus Christ, whereby God’s children may “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58), For whoever stands on the promises of God, death does not have the last word.

It is the paradox of the faith that the Christian carries with him throughout all of his life, because the cross and the resurrection belong to each other. That means “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:10), and that “we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:11), because the suffering of Jesus carries forward in the lives of his children. Not one disciple is more than the Master. At the same time, it is true that “we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:16), because God has equipped us and has given us the pledge of the Spirit. We are “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Always Accountable←⤒🔗

What does all of this mean? It means that a Christian is continuously focused on God and on the preservation of the neighbour. Because Jesus “suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12), the writer of the letter to the Hebrews urges us: “let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

That praising of God in our hearts causes the believer to not flinch when he or she is questioned, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15), until he returns; and this may be said of those who are his: “and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Always. Meanwhile God also says: “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).