| Introduction. Eternity is a slippery concept to grasp. The idea of an endless life without death is not so hard to imagine, but how we would exist in this timeless world is more complicated. When we think of a never-ending cycle (envisioned as either a circle, the symbol for infinity, or a mobius strip), we see a glimmer, but when we weigh how we would live within it, it slips away again. With no beginning and no end, eternity truly is profound. Yet God is eternal and we would be greatly enlightened if we could understand it. The more we comprehend eternity the more foolish the question: “where did God come from?” becomes |  |
A Starting Verse. How do we process: “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2Pet. 3:8-9)? While anyone can explain how a thousand years could be like one day, how can at the same time one day be like a thousand years? This verse appears to hold the key to an explanation of eternity. Though not profound, a good starting point centers on timelessness. God’s “glory and majesty, dominion and authority” are “before all time and now and forever” (Jude 25).
“Before all time” reveals that time began and exists only in this creation. The “things we see” now “are temporary,” but the things where God dwells and we “cannot see are eternal” (2Cor. 4:18). When this life ends, we go to an “eternal home” (Ecc. 12:5) of “everlasting punishment,” or “eternal life.” (Mt. 25:46), time will cease and everlasting will begin and never end. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:1-2).
Hard to Comprehend. Eternity is hard to comprehend because we have no point of reference. Everyone and everything has a beginning and an end here. Beginning, ending, and change are the most constant things in our lives. Time is defined by the swiftly flowing seconds and hours, fleeting days and weeks, and passing years. That God does not experience these things is difficult to explain or understand. “Behold, you have made my days a few hand breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” (Ps. 39:5)
Relying on an Unchangeable God. Because the lives of all men are as “hand breadths,” and all mankind as a “mere breath,” we cannot rely on the permanence of anything here. Yet since God is the “the High and Exalted One who inhabits eternity” (Isa. 57:15), everything about Him is stable and secure: “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal. 3:6). We can always rely on our Savior for “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8-9). There is no change, “no variation or shifting shadow” (Jas. 1:17) with God.
While the last fleeting century has seen great changes in our world, our eternal God has not changed. Our knowledge has exploded and our technology has kept pace with rapid and amazing growth. We see ourselves as advancing and changing, evolving into something greater. Yet all of this is external, fleeting, and could be lost in a moment of war or cataclysm. Are we truly growing and evolving as a race? The basic needs of man have not changed. The damage sin has wrought on our world, on our emotions, and our relationships have not changed.
Relying on an "Outdated" Bible? While many today see the Bible as outdated or even obsolete, it is a false premise. They reason that Scripture, 2,000 years old, can’t be valid today. Once again we seek to compare a temporary world with an eternal one. While 2,000 years seems long to us. It isn’t long to God. “For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. (Ps. 90:4)
By that standard, the recorded history of 7,000 years feels like about a week to God who inhabits eternity and the time since the writing of Scripture only two days! Therefore we must be careful we don’t fall into the trap than ensnared Israel. “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’” (Isa. 29:16)?
Conclusion. It is our lack of understanding of eternity that creates such “small” thinking. If man alone had written the Bible, the charge could be credible. But our infinitely wise and eternal God wrote it. Since God doesn’t change, no matter how much we grow and develop, we would still serve Him exactly the same way.
“Before all time” reveals that time began and exists only in this creation. The “things we see” now “are temporary,” but the things where God dwells and we “cannot see are eternal” (2Cor. 4:18). When this life ends, we go to an “eternal home” (Ecc. 12:5) of “everlasting punishment,” or “eternal life.” (Mt. 25:46), time will cease and everlasting will begin and never end. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:1-2).
Hard to Comprehend. Eternity is hard to comprehend because we have no point of reference. Everyone and everything has a beginning and an end here. Beginning, ending, and change are the most constant things in our lives. Time is defined by the swiftly flowing seconds and hours, fleeting days and weeks, and passing years. That God does not experience these things is difficult to explain or understand. “Behold, you have made my days a few hand breadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” (Ps. 39:5)
Relying on an Unchangeable God. Because the lives of all men are as “hand breadths,” and all mankind as a “mere breath,” we cannot rely on the permanence of anything here. Yet since God is the “the High and Exalted One who inhabits eternity” (Isa. 57:15), everything about Him is stable and secure: “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal. 3:6). We can always rely on our Savior for “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8-9). There is no change, “no variation or shifting shadow” (Jas. 1:17) with God.
While the last fleeting century has seen great changes in our world, our eternal God has not changed. Our knowledge has exploded and our technology has kept pace with rapid and amazing growth. We see ourselves as advancing and changing, evolving into something greater. Yet all of this is external, fleeting, and could be lost in a moment of war or cataclysm. Are we truly growing and evolving as a race? The basic needs of man have not changed. The damage sin has wrought on our world, on our emotions, and our relationships have not changed.
Relying on an "Outdated" Bible? While many today see the Bible as outdated or even obsolete, it is a false premise. They reason that Scripture, 2,000 years old, can’t be valid today. Once again we seek to compare a temporary world with an eternal one. While 2,000 years seems long to us. It isn’t long to God. “For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. (Ps. 90:4)
By that standard, the recorded history of 7,000 years feels like about a week to God who inhabits eternity and the time since the writing of Scripture only two days! Therefore we must be careful we don’t fall into the trap than ensnared Israel. “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’” (Isa. 29:16)?
Conclusion. It is our lack of understanding of eternity that creates such “small” thinking. If man alone had written the Bible, the charge could be credible. But our infinitely wise and eternal God wrote it. Since God doesn’t change, no matter how much we grow and develop, we would still serve Him exactly the same way.
- “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’” (Isa. 46:9-10).