We know we say that God is eternal, but can we even wrap our heads around that? This daily devotional looks at various aspects of how that applies to God.
Nuggets
- God and Jesus existed before anything else and will always exist.
- God predated time and space.
- God was not created by another entity — He has life within Himself.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
This series kind of came about in a funny way. I usually get the topics, then I get the series title, and finally I get the series image.
God gave me the title, then the image, and then the topics. There is something in this that He wants us to know.
If we are going to have a redo for godliness, then we have to have God as the center. We also have to make sure the changes get down to our heart level — our center.
To do that, we have to know who God is — what His character is. God reveals that to us through the Scriptures and personal revelation.
I thought we could do that by looking at the attributes of God. When I googled it, I got a lot of topics, some with a significant number of verses.
It will probably be best to look at these in batches. We are going to start by looking at aspects of our Sovereign God.
It is easy to look at this title and think, “I know who God is. I don’t need this.” But we need to be reminded every once in a while. We may be forgetting something or need a little tweak on our knowledge.
Besides, we need to think about why we believe something. When we are asked when we are witnessing, we have a ready answer.
Devotions in the Finding Our Center series
Attributes of God: Eternal and Infinite
Attributes of God: Unchangeable and Immutable
Attributes of God: Self-Sufficient and Unneedy
Attributes of God: Mysterious and Incomprehensible
Attributes of God: Unified and One
Attributes of God: Sovereignty
Attributes of God: Omnipotent and Powerful
Attributes of God: Omniscient and All-Knowing
Attributes of God: Omnipresent
Attributes of God: Transcendent
Attributes of God: Unable to Sin
Attributes of God: A Spirit
Attributes of God: Three in One
Let's Put It into Context
Tillotson gave us a great definition of eternity. He wrote, “Eternity is a duration without bounds or limits; now there are two limits of duration, beginning and ending; that which hath always been, is without beginning; that which always shall be, is without ending. But eternity, absolutely taken, comprehends both these, and signifies an infinite duration, which had no beginning, nor shall have any end …” Tillotson wrote this is the least disputed attribute of God.
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Eternity is a period of time that does not know the limits of beginning and end.
God in Relation to All Things
“He is before all things, and by him all things hold together” (Col. 1: 17 CSB)
God and Jesus existed before anything else and will always exist.
We are logical thinkers. We think things have a beginning and an end.
A reason why we think that is because that is what we see and know. A tree may be hundreds of years old, but we know it is growing. That means it is bigger than it had been.
So, it was small once, and non-existent once because trees come from seeds.
We have difficulty wrapping our heads around the fact that God has always been there and will always be there. But He has been — and will be.
Charnock argued that it is evident that God is eternal by His name. “Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ 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”’” (Ex. 3: 13-14 ESV).
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Jesus, also, has always been and will always be. “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am’” (Jn. 8: 58 CSB).
Jesus, Who had a hand in creation, holds all things together. Spence wrote, “In Him they live and move and have their being, and in Him the sustentation or upholding of the universe rests.”
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Jesus is the element that is the glue.
A Different Way to Tell Time
“Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God” (Ps. 90: 2 CSB)
God predated time and space.
I have to process something else Charnock said. He wrote, “The eternity of God is opposed to the volubility of time, which is extended into past, present, and to come.”
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The New Oxford American Dictionary (which I can’t find a link to) defines volubility in a lot of ways. I think what Charnock was getting at here was the expansiveness of time.
We use our *cough* years of existence as our reference, but that is only present. There is a past beyond that. There will be a future beyond when we are gone.
The earth is either supposed to be 6,000 years old or 4.5 billion years old. Either way that number is dwarfed in the expansiveness of God’s time.
We have no concept of what eternity is because we have no frame of reference. But that doesn’t mean we should discount the notion of eternity.
God uses a totally different measuring system then we do. “Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (II Pet. 3: 8 NIV). That tells me that time is of no consequence.
Carlyle contends that time and space are creations of God. Let’s look at it this way.
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I have always thought of Genesis 1: 1 as a summary verse. Then the rest of the chapter is fleshing out how He did it.
But what if God created time when He said “… ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1: 3 CSB)? This tells us He created light and dark before He created the sun and moon.
I tried to work creating space into verse one, but it would have to be prior to when He created the universe.
God Is a Life Force Himself
“For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself” (Jn. 5: 26 CSB)
God was not created by another entity — He has life within Himself.
Nothing caused God to pop into being. He just is. That is a good thing since He holds everything together.
Charnock put it this way. He wrote, “He that hath life in himself doth necessarily exist, and could never be made to exist, for then he had not life in himself, but in that which made him to exist, and gave him life. What doth necessarily exist, therefore, exists from eternity; what hath being of itself could never be produced in time, could not want being one moment, because it hath being from its essence, without influence of any efficient cause.”
God’s life always was. Something else didn’t create Him. He created all other life.
Charnock gave us some more insight. He wrote, “He [God] hath life by His essence, not by participation.”
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God has life because of His nature. Van Doreen described that nature as everflowing, overflowing, and all satisfying.
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God Will Always be Sovereign God
“But you, LORD, are enthroned forever; your fame endures to all generations” (Ps. 102: 12 CSB)
God will continue to rule His creation throughout eternity.
One thing we have to keep in mind is that we need God — God doesn’t need us. God would still be God even if He had never created mankind.
We are alive only because of God’s provision. He can function fine without us.
The thing that is amazing is that He doesn’t want to be without us. He wants a strong, loving relationship with us.
Yes, we have a relationship with the Ruler of All Things Seen and Unseen for Eternity. Nothing — not Satan or anyone — is going to knock Him off of His throne.
Making the Connections
Bottom line is that we need to realize that God is Ruler over all things and will be for eternity. He is Sovereign God. From Him all other life flows.
We like to think things need to evolve — to get better. We know we need to get better.
God doesn’t need to get better. He is perfect as He is.
Charnock argued that if God wasn’t eternal, He wouldn’t be immutable, perfect, and omnipotent. (Check back in days to come. Those devotions are part of this batch.)
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How Do We Apply This?
- We have to believe God is a life force in His own right and has no beginning or end.
- We have to believe that Christ is God and eternal, or we miss the point.
- If God is calling us to live with Him through eternity and this world is temporary, we have to prioritize the eternal.
- When God says He will never leave His children, that is for eternity, so take comfort.
- Take comfort in the fact that our rewards from God will be eternal.
- Make sure we are in a relationship with God and that it is a strong relationship.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
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Yes, this can be a hard concept for some to grasp. The way I look at it is that this is one of those things we just have to say, “I don’t understand, but I believe in You, God.”
Father God. You know no beginning. You will know no end. All of life comes from You. Even though we may not fully comprehend that, Lord, we believe it is true. Help us to grow to be more like You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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