Timeless

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.”

What does it mean for God to not be bound by time? The everlasting nature of God means that He had no beginning and He has no end. What was happening a trillion years before God created anything at all? Well, for one, there were no years, God just existed. Before there were angels, before the universe was ever a consideration, there was God and nothing else…at least as far as we know.

Speculating on a distant past is a question we all can ask the Lord one day, but when it comes to the timelessness of God, there are certain elements of our relationship to Him that bears consideration.

2 Timothy 1:8-9 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of 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,”

God’s plan for creation didn’t just evolve over time, they were set in place long before we ever came into existence. All believers who ever lived and will ever live were known by God before He formed one grain of sand into a living breathing man. Did the Lord plan the world according to the people He would call His own? Did the Lord set everything in its place and then allow people to make their own choices within the context of His purpose?

Ephesians 1:4-5 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will”

There are concepts made known to us that brings other aspects of our relationship to God into question. Some of what I’m about to say may be way off base, and your certainly welcome to challenge me on them, but the more I try to wrap my head around a concept that defies human reason, I hope that I can draw some conclusions that help understand how special knowing the Lord is, which brings glory to His name.

A good place to start is at the beginning…

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Before anything ever was, there was God. God could not be subjected to creation because it was formed out of Him. It was formed Ex Nihilo, from out of nothing God formed everything. The eternal God formed a universe subjected to time. It had a beginning and it has an end.

With the Father was the Son. Jesus also did not have a beginning, He is as much God as the Father and the Spirit. Because Jesus has always been, the fact that He placed Himself into a position of time is significant.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

When Jesus appeared, God stepped from a timeless existence into the story He created. A story that Jesus began. He purposed through the narrative a people who will bear His image. A people who are fallible, weak, and prone to causing Him grief. He gave them a choice but He knew what they would do when given the choice to trust Him and believe or turn aside. As each life was formed, people lived out their lives and died. One by one, every person on earth is born and then dies. People move from a position that is temporal (relating to time) into a position that is timeless with God or apart from Him.

If a person who loved the Lord 3000 years ago died and went into a timeless existence, then a person who died 3 days ago will appear as though they entered into God’s presence at nearly the same moment. Stay with me on this….if you were to step into God’s presence that has no time, you could stay there for a million years on Earth and not know a second had passed.

What does this mean for all people who will ever trust in the Lord?

It’s going to seem like we all showed up at or near the same moment in Heaven. Unless the Lord somehow changes our perspective in Heaven, Adam is going to wonder how a person living in the 21st century could have arrived when he did.

Daniel 12:2 “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

The Righteous Hope

There is a scope of time that extends into Heaven. The completion of God’s plan on earth meets its fate before God’s bema seat of judgment. For those who died in grace, they await the culmination of the church, the final roll call for all who will believe, and the transformation God promised to complete.

1 Corinthians 15:49 “And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.”

The corrupt sinful bodies of fallen man will be renewed one day into the image of the Son. The curse will be broken, the old nature gone, and a new glorified body given.

Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

The Ungodly End

For those who reject the love of God in Christ, their shame will always be before them.

Psalm 1:4-5 “Not so the wicked!  For they are like chaff driven off by the wind. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,  nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”

The eternal nature of God becomes eternal judgement to the ungodly. Sin is to offend God personally, and Hell will be the consequence of the rebellion.

Matthew 25:46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Many people don’t like the thought of a loved one spending eternity in Hell. Maybe we should let the Lord settle our concerns regarding those who went before us, and parlay our anxiety into a boldness to share the gospel now, with those who still have time to believe.

As for the eternal nature of Heaven…we can look at the elements that will last forever versus the things that are temporal and weigh the value of each.

2 Timothy 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

Eternal Riches

• The rewards of the righteous endure forever. God will crown His people with honor for the good things that came through their lives.
• The rewards on earth last a few short years and then perish. Even if someone gains the greatest wealth on earth, there is no comparison to Heavenly reward. The smallest prize of Heaven far exceeds the greatest value on earth.
• For those who trusted in Christ, they are given eternal life. The opposite is true for those who reject the grace of God.

1 Corinthians 9:25 “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”

There is not a medal or treasure that will remain. There will be a new Heaven and new Earth, the old will pass away….behold the Lord will make all things new.

One final thought….

When a person accepts the Lord, the Spirit of the living eternal God inhabits their soul. The beginning of eternal life starts at the moment of salvation. Believers have eternity in their hearts, they have a nature that is timeless within them.

May the hearts of all who trust in Him be turned upward and let their lives reflect their Creator. There is no kingdom like the Kingdom of God.