The God We Worship Is... Eternal

This is eighth in a series called The God We Worship Is…

Time was created. For time-bound creatures like us, this becomes an impossibility to wrap our minds around, for our language also remains time-bound. For instance, ‘in the beginning’ (Gen 1:1) indicates that God was before the beginning, but the word ‘before’ is time-based vocabulary. So we note that this attribute of God will be exceedingly difficult for us to speak accurately about, simply because we who are in time cannot possibly fathom the One who is outside of it.

Simply put, God’s eternity refers to His transcendence from time. In other words, it refers to His infinity in relation to time, just as how His omnipresence is His infinity in relation to space. When we say that God is eternal, what we mean is that God has no beginning nor no end, simply because anything that has a beginning and an end is subject to the marching orders of time. But because God created time, He remains outside of it and is unaffected by it.

In philosophical categories, time simply is the measurement of change of a given piece of matter. Space provides the medium of change, but time measures the change. For instance, a football that is placed on the penalty spot at t = 0 is kicked and flies into the goal at t = 2 (where t represents seconds). What time provides is a way to measure the change of the ball’s position from the penalty spot to its position in the goalmouth – this change happens within space (i.e. the football pitch), but time measures this change by a quantifiable variable (i.e. from t = 0 to t = 2). However, given that God is immutable, i.e. He does not change, He is unaffected by time. Time came into being when the world came into being – the stopwatch started to measure the change of the world from non-being into being.

The old writers used to say that because God is eternal, He does not experience successive moments. For God, there is no such thing as t = 0, t =1, t =2 etc.. We are accustomed as creatures that can be measured by successive moments to measure ourselves by successive moments. For example, I am 24 years old. From t = 0 to t = 24 (where t represents years), I measure my change in terms of successive years. However, God is not like that. God cannot be measured in terms of successive moments, simply because God cannot be measured. He is infinite. Rather, all we can accurately say about God is that He has no beginning and no end – only the One who has no beginning and no end can look at His creation and declare Himself to be creation’s beginning and end (Rev 22:13).

What does eternity mean in general?

Firstly, it means that whatever God is, He always is. This is where immutability and eternity are married to one another: there never was a time where God was not. He existed ‘before’ the beginning and shall exist ‘after’ the end. Whatever He is in Himself, He is for all eternity. God did not become anything He was not when He created the world. He did not become any more loving, any more gracious, any more righteous, any more just than He has always been. He did not become Creator or King only when He created the world. In Himself there already is infinite creativity and majesty inherently, so that even before the world came into being, He has always been Creator God the King of all.

Secondly, it means that however God is, He always is. God is eternally self-existent. For all eternity, how He has existed is the same – He is the only sufficient reason for His own existence. He did not derive existence from anything, because in all eternity, there was nothing for Him to derive anything from.

Thirdly, it means that whoever God is, He always is. Who is God? God is eternally Father, Son and Spirit in holy communion with one another. The eternal Father has the eternal Son and together with the Son has the eternal Spirit. These three eternal persons are the one eternal God, for the Father created time through the Son and by the Spirit.

And what does eternity mean for us in particular?

At the heart of eternity lies the simple confession that whatever, however and whoever God is to us, He always is to us, even before the foundation of the world. That is why Paul says that we have been elected to be His before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), that Christ was slain for our sins before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8 KJV), that our names have been written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world (Rev 17:8). Brother and sister, before you were even born in iniquity and conceived in transgression, the Father set His electing love upon you, the Son died and lived for you, the Spirit prepared to call you to salvation.

You are loved eternally by the eternal God. For as long as He has existed, He has purposed to be your Father, your Brother, your Helper. For as long as He is, He has willed to be God above you, among you, within you. As Geerhardus Vos said, “The best proof that He will never cease to love you lies in that He never began.” Of course He never began to love you – God never begins to do anything! He always has, because He always is!

On the flipside, His eternity is just as exceedingly dangerous for the unbeliever as it is exceedingly beneficial for the believer. Because God is eternally righteous and just, any transgression against Him will attract an eternal judgment upon the immortal soul. The sinner therefore only has one hope against this eternal judgment: an eternal propitiation made by the eternal Son who was slain before the foundation of the world! Flee to Christ, your only hope and be saved.

Oh that we would come to see the glory and beauty of our eternal immutable God, who was and is and is to come!

• Rev 22:13