This is part one of a two part series on the eternity of God, and focuses on the meaning of His eternity. Next, we will explore the implications of His eternity, and how it effects us.
God is Eternal
He always was, is, and will forever be. Since before the beginning of time, He is. As the Psalmist says:
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God. [, ESV]
The true meaning of eternity is rather difficult to convey; one who is eternal would be outside of time in such a way that attempting to describe their existence in strictly literal terms would be fraught with error. It’s more than just stating that “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” [, ESV, Partial], rather, one must attempt to grasp that all of time would appear to happen simultaneously to such an observer, while still maintaining separate and observable events. Perhaps it would be as if one were to ‘download’ a movie to their brain, suddenly possessing a complete recollection of the events that transpired within. This analogy still fails to convey the entire weight, due to the limitations of our own minds; the manner in which we would recall the film would still be somewhat linear.
Suffice it to say that to be outside of time would make one immune to time, able to move freely through what we perceive as time, and fully capable of interacting within any one period of existence while maintaining awareness of any and all other points of time simultaneously. Just as we can hold a transparent ball in our hands, mark a point within it, and see another area at the same time, so too can God do with time.
To God, time is of no consequence. There is no beginning, and there is no end – there is only existence. God is. He has neither beginning, nor end. While things of our plane, our existence, are ephemeral, God’s existence is without ages; as much as he is unchangeable and immutable, He is eternal, and of the things of the earth, he is “the beginning and the end.” [, ESV, Partial]
Join us on Friday for the conclusion to this series!
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2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (ESV)
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (ESV)
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (ESV)