God's Incommunicable Attributes #3: Eternity
Eternity: God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time.
Time cannot limit God! He created time. God has no beginning and no end.
God is the Great I AM!!!
Exodus 3:14
“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’”
From studying language we can understand just how profound this name really is! “I AM” is constantly in the present tense. This means that God is forever present and in the present.
Now we live in the confines of time. Moment by moment. However, God at any one specific time is present…even though to us it may be in our past or in our future!
Also kind of fun little play on verb tenses: I AM = ME IS
OK maybe that is only funny to me…sorry.
Back to being serious:
Psalm 90:2
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Job 36:26
“Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.”
Revelation 1:8
“’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
God created all things! Can the creator of all things Himself be created?
I think not!
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
John 1:3
“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
1 Corinthians 8:6
“yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
Colossians 1:16
“For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
Hebrews 1:2
“but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
Time does not have existence in and of itself. Time is dependent upon matter and space. Therefore if matter and space didn’t exist, time could not have existed. When matter and space were created (Gen 1:1), time was also created!
God sees all time equally vividly!
Psalm 90:4
“For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”
For us, we tend to easily forget things…even just after they have occurred!
Events become blurry through the passage of time.
But with God, a thousand years is as yesterday!
Do you remember what happened yesterday?
God doesn’t recall past events…they are the present to him, but for our understanding…past events are as clear to God as if they had just happened.
Isaiah 46:9-10
“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,’”
God is not bound by the constraints of time; he is in all time and sees all time at the same time!
Hold on, my brain needs some time to reboot after that…
Picture at the top of a page of paper a circle. This circle is God. Now under this circle picture a line from one side of the paper to the other. This is the timeline from creation to infinity. Now draw arrows from God to each point on the timeline. Make sure that these lines touch the timeline.
Now another picture: A circle at the top of the page, this time representing you. Now the timeline that you draw must be from the beginning of your life to the end of your life only! Now again draw arrows to the timeline, however: the only arrow that can touch the timeline is the arrow that goes straight down to the present. Every other arrow can only be the same length as that arrow (due to our limited capacity) and can only go into the past (because we do not have the ability to see the future). These arrows can’t touch the timeline in the past…therefore it is harder for us to remember.
The arrows on God’s timeline touch the timeline because His memory (if you can even call it that) is not hindered by the passage of time!
God sees and also acts within the constraints of time…but is not bound by time!
Galatians 4:4-5
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,”
Acts 17:30-31
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
We know from multiple different Scriptures that God has presented himself to multiple different people at multiple different times. He also became fully man in the person of Jesus Christ. God stepped into time! God has also put a timeframe on certain things that He will do. He acts within the constraints of time.
But He is not bound by time for it is His creation.
We cannot escape time!
We currently live within the constraints of time…and we will always live within the constraints of time! We cannot escape it!
We are a part of the created order…we are matter and take up space! Where there is matter and space…there is time!
Even in Heaven time will still exist…read through Revelation 21:23, 25; and 22:5. These things require the passage of time! Also Revelation 22:2!
Where there is a succession of moments there is time. As created beings…we live within a succession of moments and we will never share in God’s eternity!
We will live forever in Heaven with Christ…but we were created!
It is very humbling to me, to think that God is always present and sees everything I do with complete clarity. A clarity even that I myself cannot see in everything I do. I mean God sees my actions better than I myself can see them. And He loves me the same!!!!
That just astounds me! I almost can’t believe it! But I know it to be true and it is only by the Grace of God that He has chosen to bless me with the understanding of the blessing that He has given us in His Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, may these truths pierce our hearts and humble us that we may no longer strive against you for what little Glory we steal from you each day. But let us strive with you, to give you all the glory in our lives! That you might be completely exulted in our lives. That you might be our greatest treasure and we would pass every little bit of Glory that we receive right on to you!
In Christ,
David
Time cannot limit God! He created time. God has no beginning and no end.
God is the Great I AM!!!
Exodus 3:14
“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’”
From studying language we can understand just how profound this name really is! “I AM” is constantly in the present tense. This means that God is forever present and in the present.
Now we live in the confines of time. Moment by moment. However, God at any one specific time is present…even though to us it may be in our past or in our future!
Also kind of fun little play on verb tenses: I AM = ME IS
OK maybe that is only funny to me…sorry.
Back to being serious:
Psalm 90:2
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Job 36:26
“Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.”
Revelation 1:8
“’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
God created all things! Can the creator of all things Himself be created?
I think not!
Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
John 1:3
“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
1 Corinthians 8:6
“yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
Colossians 1:16
“For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
Hebrews 1:2
“but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
Time does not have existence in and of itself. Time is dependent upon matter and space. Therefore if matter and space didn’t exist, time could not have existed. When matter and space were created (Gen 1:1), time was also created!
God sees all time equally vividly!
Psalm 90:4
“For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.”
For us, we tend to easily forget things…even just after they have occurred!
Events become blurry through the passage of time.
But with God, a thousand years is as yesterday!
Do you remember what happened yesterday?
God doesn’t recall past events…they are the present to him, but for our understanding…past events are as clear to God as if they had just happened.
Isaiah 46:9-10
“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,’”
God is not bound by the constraints of time; he is in all time and sees all time at the same time!
Hold on, my brain needs some time to reboot after that…
Picture at the top of a page of paper a circle. This circle is God. Now under this circle picture a line from one side of the paper to the other. This is the timeline from creation to infinity. Now draw arrows from God to each point on the timeline. Make sure that these lines touch the timeline.
Now another picture: A circle at the top of the page, this time representing you. Now the timeline that you draw must be from the beginning of your life to the end of your life only! Now again draw arrows to the timeline, however: the only arrow that can touch the timeline is the arrow that goes straight down to the present. Every other arrow can only be the same length as that arrow (due to our limited capacity) and can only go into the past (because we do not have the ability to see the future). These arrows can’t touch the timeline in the past…therefore it is harder for us to remember.
The arrows on God’s timeline touch the timeline because His memory (if you can even call it that) is not hindered by the passage of time!
God sees and also acts within the constraints of time…but is not bound by time!
Galatians 4:4-5
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,”
Acts 17:30-31
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
We know from multiple different Scriptures that God has presented himself to multiple different people at multiple different times. He also became fully man in the person of Jesus Christ. God stepped into time! God has also put a timeframe on certain things that He will do. He acts within the constraints of time.
But He is not bound by time for it is His creation.
We cannot escape time!
We currently live within the constraints of time…and we will always live within the constraints of time! We cannot escape it!
We are a part of the created order…we are matter and take up space! Where there is matter and space…there is time!
Even in Heaven time will still exist…read through Revelation 21:23, 25; and 22:5. These things require the passage of time! Also Revelation 22:2!
Where there is a succession of moments there is time. As created beings…we live within a succession of moments and we will never share in God’s eternity!
We will live forever in Heaven with Christ…but we were created!
It is very humbling to me, to think that God is always present and sees everything I do with complete clarity. A clarity even that I myself cannot see in everything I do. I mean God sees my actions better than I myself can see them. And He loves me the same!!!!
That just astounds me! I almost can’t believe it! But I know it to be true and it is only by the Grace of God that He has chosen to bless me with the understanding of the blessing that He has given us in His Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, may these truths pierce our hearts and humble us that we may no longer strive against you for what little Glory we steal from you each day. But let us strive with you, to give you all the glory in our lives! That you might be completely exulted in our lives. That you might be our greatest treasure and we would pass every little bit of Glory that we receive right on to you!
In Christ,
David
posted by Mark 1:17 at 5:18 AM
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