God is eternal. He always was and always will be AND He lives outside of time. So what does all this mean for us? 1. Only an eternal God could truthfully offer men eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)
If God wasn’t eternal, then His promise of eternal life would be empty. 2. We need to see from God’s perspective Everything that you and I do and see and experience is wrapped up in time. But God’s perspective is an eternal one.
Romans 8:30 tells us that “those whom he justified he also glorified.” “He also glorified.” That’s past tense. It’s already done. What if we saw one another like that?
3. We would be less concerned about the here and now “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.” (Matthew 6:25-34) Casting Crowns, “Already There” We don’t need to be concerned about what’s ahead because God is already there. We will face difficulties in this life. There will be trials, testings and challenging situations. But God is there with us. Because God is eternal – outside of time – He is never caught by surprise. The eternal God is your dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms. (Deuteronomy 33:27) You can trust God because He is alive – right now – in your tomorrow.
Christian Outreach Church, 9 April 2018
God Is Eternal “You thought I was like you.” (Psalm 50:21) Martin Luther wrote to Erasmus, “Your thoughts of God are too human.” One of the greatest differences between God and us is that He is eternal. Abraham ... called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. (Genesis 21:33) Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting. (Psalm 93:2) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God... (Isaiah 40:28) The Lord is the God who lives forever… (NCV) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Romans 1:20) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:1-2) We had a starting point. God had no beginning, and He’ll have no ending either.
God’s attributes impact one another. If God is not eternal then He’s not immutable. If God were not eternal, then He is also not almighty.
If we want to somewhat grasp eternity, then we need to somewhat understand time.
Time had a beginning. …eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began (Titus 1:2) (NIV: before time began) God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began... (2 Timothy 1:8-9) But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages... (1 Corinthians 2:7)
time-space-matter video
“God dwells in eternity, but time dwells in God. He has already lived our tomorrows, and He has lived all our yesterdays.” [A.W. Tozer (in The Knowledge of the Holy)]
Physicist John Wheeler said, “Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.” God’s experience of time is qualitatively different than ours, because He’s outside of time.
We human beings see one point at a time. God sees all things as present.
Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. (Isaiah 46:9-10)
Prophecies in the Bible are simply history written down before it happens.
Philosophers have disagreed for centuries as to the exact nature and definition of time. St. Augustine said this about time, “If no one asks me I know, but if I wish to explain it to someone who asks I do not know.” William Lane Craig said that apart from the idea of God, there is no concept “so profound and so baffling as that of time.” Because God is eternal, He exists outside of time. He can be in all times all at once.
