This is part three in the series by Lewis Kiger on the attributes of God.
How old is God? Will God ever die?
As we strive to get to know God better we must quickly
acknowledge that this Attribute is one of the most difficult qualities of God
for us to understand.
1 Timothy 1:17 Now unto
the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory
for ever and ever. Amen.
Note that is this
text, God is called the Eternal, Immortal King. The writer it teaching us that
God has no beginning and no ending. God has always been, and always will be.
Before the stars were thrust out into space and given a name by their Creator,
God was there. Before the first angel’s wing brushed along the halls of heaven,
God existed. Long after the sands of time have fallen, and this earth has been
renovated by fire, even then, God will still be the Ruler of all. We find the
concept of Eternality so difficult, because we are mere mortals contemplating
the Immortal.
Just think –
nearly everything we do is governed by time. What time we must get up in the
mornings. What time we have to “clock in.” When is lunch time? Break time?
QUITTING TIME! Our days start and end with time. And further yet, all are days
are numbered (Job 14:5). We only have so much time here on this earth and we
have watches, clocks, and calendars to help us keep track. Time is a tyrant.
But it is also something very precious to us. We value time with family and
friends. We treasure the short time we have with our loved ones. And yet, time
is something we never seem to have enough of. How often do we say things like;
“I just don’t have time” or “where does the time go?” Days, weeks, months, and
then years all roll by. Decades pass, and we age, we get older. Like the
seasons, we are constantly changing.
Yet, none of this
is true with God. He is Eternal. He is Immortal. He has no beginning and no
ending. Time has no bonds on God. He is the Creator of time, the sustainer of
time. We use terms like eternity past, and eternity future to try and assist us
in understanding what forever means – but in truth, God exists beyond time. He
is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalms 90:2). He is ever present. One day
with Him, is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter
3:8). It is all the same to God. His days are unending. He dwells in the
perpetual now. Time does not weaken God. Time does not alter God. God doesn’t get old. He
and He alone inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15).
It is good to know
that the Keeper of our soul, is not under time constraints. He is not weakened,
warped, or wounded by the centuries or even countless millennia. 1 Timothy 6:16
states that God alone possesses Immortality. Deuteronomy 33:27 speaks of the
believers being able to rest underneath the Everlasting Arms of the Eternal
God.
The Eternality of
God, is one of the fundamental truths of the Christian faith and as we continue
this study, we will show that each of God’s attributes complement one another. They
work in perfect unison to reveal to us God’s magnificent glory. In this case, we
see that God has an Eternal Love for His children. A love that will never fade
or wear out. That He loved us so much, that He purposed to save us from our
sins. That in the fullness of time, the Eternal Son, made in the likeness of
our flesh, would come to this sin cursed earth and die on a Roman cross and
rise from the dead to redeem us to God. And the Eternal Spirit would use the everlasting
gospel to reveal to us our sinfulness and our need for a Savior, and point us
to Calvary, graciously granting us faith and repentance so that by faith in Christ,
we may now have eternal life.
Everything you see around you – everything – had a
beginning and will one day have an ending. But not God. He is the Eternal,
Immortal King of Heaven and Earth; whose dominion is from Everlasting to
Everlasting.
What a Great God,
indeed.
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