God is Eternal
A little boy was walking down the beach. His eyes were scanning the people and he saw a motherly-looking woman sitting under an umbrella on the sand. He walked over to her and asked, “Are you a Christian?”
“Yes.” “Do you read your Bible every day?” Yes,” she said, nodding her head.
“Do you pray often?” the thoughtful boy asked next. Again, she answered, “Yes.”
With that final question, the boy looked pleased, and asked, “Will you hold my quarter while I go swimming?”
We have to trust people. When you drive down the road, you trust that the other person will stay in his or her own lane and obey other traffic laws. We trust people to do what they say they’ll do. Now, granted, sometimes people disappoint us. Sometimes they disappoint us due to their own weaknesses or they may disappoint us but it is due to circumstances beyond their control.
One of the fundamental reasons why we can, and should trust God with our most precious possession – our soul – is because God is eternal. God says in Isaiah 46:10: “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.”
In studying the nature of God, His timelessness is one aspect that simply boggles our minds. When Abraham made an agreement with Abimelech in Genesis 21, he called as a witness, “the Lord, the Everlasting God” (vs 33).
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We should point out here that the Hebrew word “everlasting” does not inherently carry the idea of “eternal.” Consider the definition of that word (olam) from the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: “Though olam is used more than three hundred times to indicate indefinite continuance into the very distant future, the meaning of the word is not confined to the future. There are at least twenty instances where it clearly refers to the past [Deut. 32:7, p.h. for example]. …None of these past references has in it the idea of endlessness or limitlessness, but each points to a time long ago before the immediate knowledge of those living. [The author also directs us to the Greek word, p.h.]…aion which has essentially the same range of meaning” (II:672-3).
The reason why that is significant is because both circumcision (Genesis 17:13) and the sabbath (Exodus 31:16) are said to be “eternal” (depending on the translation). But that Hebrew word carries the idea of “indefinite continuance,” not “eternal” as we use the word.
But, God is eternal in the sense that we use the word – timeless, existing forever, without end and without beginning. To say that God is eternal is to say that God is outside of time. He is, in no way, governed by time.
Meditate on these verses: Genesis 1:1 (God created time); Exodus 3:14 (& John 8:58); Psalm 90:2; 102:27; Isaiah 57:15; John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 2:7; John 17:5; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; Romans 1:20, 22-23; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2; 2 Peter 3:8; Jude 25.
Because God is eternal and is not susceptible to the vicissitudes of life, we know that He can and will keep His promises: Psalm 102:27-28; Heb. 6:19-20; 7:23-25.
–Paul Holland
