God Stopped Eternity...

God Stopped Eternity

There is no time in eternity. It is an eternal, unchanging state where there are

no intervals, no succession of moments. The essence of eternity is that all

things are present simultaneously. Eternity is the complete, simultaneous

and perfect possession of everlasting life, meaning that in eternity every

experience is fully present at once. However, eternity is not static. It is

timeless perfection in God. Eternity is not merely an endless extension of

time described as sempiternity, a perpetual property, but rather a state of

timelessness. Eternity is “the complete, simultaneous and perfect

possession of everlasting life,” meaning that unlike our sequential, ever-

changing experience of time, eternity is a unified “now” where past, present,

and future are all present at once. This timelessness is associated with the

divine. And with that said, our prayer now is to come to reason with God in

the highest level of understanding that we are afforded. Let’s reason: Jesus

is understood to be not only the path to eternal life but as the very

embodiment of that life. Everlasting life isn’t simply a future promise after

death – in Christ it’s a present, transformative reality that begins when one

enters into a relationship with Him. Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection

and the life,” indicating that through Him believers experience life beyond

physical death. He defines eternal life as “knowing the only true God, and

Jesus Christ, whom He have sent,” highlighting that eternal life is about an

intimate, ongoing relationship with God. Jesus isn’t just a mediator for us

now; He is the very reality of everlasting life. His life, death, and resurrection

restore our broken relationship with God and empower us to live in the light

of His eternal kingdom right now. Can we reason that “eternity” and “time”

are both filled with every eventful moment possible - past, present, and future

are in a present actual continuation of existence “all at once?” Having been

created in the very image of God, with the possibility of eternal life, our

existence wasn’t limited to a fleeting present; rather, our entire life, with its

many temporal parts, was laid out in a dimensional spacetime. In this sense,

existence is both “in time”, since events are ordered by temporal relations,

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and “eternal”, since all those moments exist equally, regardless of their

“presentness” for us. In this understanding there can be reality outside the

present moment. God’s knowledge and being are “eternal” while still

engaging with temporal creation. And because of that “image” the eternal is

realized in our lived, temporal present.

The power of the presence of God where there is nothing of sin invites us to

consider that the ultimate reality may not be a flowing sequence of events

but an eternal state in which all events are interrelated, transcending our

ordinary temporal experience. Here is where only God can move our minds;

under the aspect of eternity, we are given a vision perspective to understand

a vast, unified whole beyond the transient concerns of existence. Eternity’s

reality to us today remains something of a mystery - a profound ground of

being that underpins and transcends our every moment experience. It

challenges us to ask whether our most deeply held notions of time, change,

and existence are limited by our perspective, and whether the true nature of

reality might be found in a realm where time, as we know it, simply does not

apply. We will come to learn that eternity isn’t just a measure of endless time

- it’s a journey into the timeless truths that shape who we are and what we

can become. As we learn of eternity, we explore concepts that go beyond

our everyday moments: questions of purpose, the nature of the soul, and our

destiny in a reality that transcends the temporal. We will possess such an

attainment of spiritual insight the decisions we make now can echo into

eternity. Eternity deepens every dimension of life. Growth and change is not

sequential, but constant always. Advancement in an eternal realm might be

understood as the continuous unfolding or deepening of an inner perfection

that is already complete. That is, while there’s no temporal change, there can

be an experiential or qualitative enrichment - a kind of “growth” that isn’t

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measured by change over time but by the fullness of being. We redefine

advancement as the realization of complete, eternal perfection, then “growth” in eternity becomes a different kind of process; one that is not temporal but reflective of an ever-deepening awareness or perfection that is already fully

present.

A mystery ever beyond human understanding is the core mystery of the

doctrine of the Triune relationship. Truth teaches that there is one God in

essence, one divine substance or nature, and that God exists eternally in

three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can

reason this considering the One Essence of which God is - the single, unified

divine nature. This means that God is not divided; He is one in His being.

Three Persons in context denotes distinct centers of consciousness or

relational identity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct in how

they relate to each other and to creation, yet they share the same divine

essence completely and perfectly. These are not three Gods: but rather one

God who has a threefold personal existence. The relationships within the

Triune, the Father sending the Son, the Son offering redemption, the Spirit

sanctifying, highlight different roles and relationships without compromising

the unity of God’s nature. A truth mystery of the wonder of faith. The doctrine

of the Triune is ultimately considered a divine mystery that goes beyond

human logic and fully comprehensible explanation. It is accepted by faith as

a revealed truth about the nature of God.God the Son has always been the Son

- eternally begotten of the Father, not created - and the Holy Spirit is the

power, presence, and love of God who proceeds

“from the Father and through the Son” to work in the people of

God. So, although God is One in His divine nature, the eternal relationships

within the Godhead reveal three distinct persons who are co-equal and co-

eternal. The distinctions are relational rather than in the divine substance:

the Father is the source; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; and the

Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. This formulation preserves both the

unity of God and the reality of the three Persons who relate to one another

in love and communion. In short, the “coming forth” of the Son and the Holy

Spirit does not imply that they are separate or created gods, but that the one

divine essence is expressed relationally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - a

mystery that, while ultimately beyond full human comprehension, is revealed

in scripture.

Begotten of God expresses that the Son is eternally generated from the

Father - sharing exactly the same divine nature and substance. There was

never a time when the Son did not exist; His Being is a timeless, spiritual act

that reveals the unique, eternal relationship within the Godhead. This does

not mean that the Father and the Son are the same person - instead, they

are distinct persons who nevertheless share one undivided, singular divine

nature. This doctrine was established to affirm the full divinity of Jesus. Thus,

when we say the Son is the very essence of the Father, we are expressing

that in His divine nature, Jesus is completely and entirely God, just as the

Father is, even though they are distinct as persons. Eternal generation is that

power of love whereby God the Father eternally begets the Son. This isn’t a

temporal event but an eternal, unchanging relationship within the one divine

essence having no beginning…no ending. And thusly, the eternal procession

where similarly, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father,

expressing an unending outpouring of divine life. Preceding every particular

event and time is God’s existence. Incomprehensive of any temporal

sequences exceeding the full grasp of human reason. The totality of God’s

infinite and transcendent nature remains beyond complete human

understanding. Our finite minds can catch glimpses of the divine through

analogies, symbols, and partial revelations, but the fullness of God’s essence

- His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and mystery - is ultimately

ineffable. We can reason divine truth but will fall short of encapsulating the

entire mystery of the Godhead. And even so does the word of God invite

believers to embrace both the revealed knowledge and the mystery, trusting

that the divine reality, though partially knowable, is inherently and wonderfully

beyond the confines of human comprehension. How did the bible writers,

both of the old testament and the new testament tell others about Jesus?

Most of the writers never had direct personal interaction with Christ.

Those who did

receive the blessing of abiding in his

presence, were not of the faith to present his testimony in the light of the truth

that he lived until the Holy Spirit brought inspiration to their lives. John, the

hearer who revealed the words, the thoughts, the scenes, the purposes, the

times related both to prophecies and eternity, that God purposedly called him

up to heaven to write for our understanding of things to shortly come,

admonishes God’s people to write, that their personal understanding of

God’s working His will in their lives through the indwelling Holy Spirit by the

commonness of life shared with Jesus can witness to those who choose to

read that a glimpse into the mystery of how the word of God affects His

people. So, God gives us time...to think about eternity. So, let this be said

here for those of us who by faith, and that means the faith of Jesus, have a

somewhat knowledge of things existing in the Determinate Counsel. Before

creation, God in His sovereign wisdom and foreknowledge convened a

divine “council” in which He determined that humanity would fall into sin and

that redemption would be provided through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus

Christ. This affirms that Jesus’ crucifixion was not a tragic accident or a mere

human conspiracy - it was the fulfillment of an eternal plan. Before this plan

was “established” in time, God had already foreordained every detail

necessary for our salvation, ensuring that even events like the cross were

part of His divinely orchestrated design. That implies eyes capable of

envisioning eternity past...eternity future, we might say even while

understanding that in eternity there is no past, no future. Life in eternity is

usually considered a future experience. However, truth emphasizes eternal

life as a "present possession" existing outside of time. Eternity in the past

and eternity in the future...in eternity past God planned and purposed, and in

eternity future everything will have been accomplished. When does God

accomplish His work, then? Between the two sections of eternity is the bridge

of time, and it is here that God accomplishes all that He wants to accomplish.

Again, so, God gives us time. And does that mean that eternity is waiting for

us sometime in the future? And because eternity is always in the present

tense, God gave us time to understand things that must be resolved before

moving forward. Because our being was created in the first of time, we are

temporal beings. And because we were created in the image of God, we are

likewise touched with eternity. And so, we are in the now, yet able to consider

a past and a future. All peoples are eternal...that is we all were in the mind

of God. But time, that event created to deal with sin, will determine who

among us will continue into eternity. The purpose of God stands. There is in

this a great mystery. Spirits return to God indicating eternality. The mystery

is that of godliness. For it is only in Christ that the body changed can enter

into the kingdom of God. What can the almighty power of God not effect?

He will change faithful sleeping and the living that will not die. Because flesh

and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. This is the mystery. This is the

reason why we need to think intentionally about eternity. And because we do

reason the truth, we are able to give correct answers to those who ask us

about it more than when we are not being mindful about it. But whether we

intentionally think about it or not, we naturally will have to think about it even

without being mindful about it, just because our very nature knows about

eternity past and eternity future. We are yet to see the complete beauty of

God’s providence. Faith tells us of the wonder of eternity. The bible says we

must wait with patience for the full discovery of that which to us seems

intricate and perplexed, acknowledging that we cannot find out the work that

God makes from the beginning to the end. We are in the midst of God’s

counsel...we are in time. The veil will be rent soon and time will be no more.

God has a people who are spiritual beings. This will be our powerful witness

in these final days. It is our greatest testimony that we are but spiritual

beings, longing for that eternity future with Christ. This idea, which

expresses the essence of the body under the form of eternity, is, as we have

said, a certain mode of thinking, which belongs to the essence of the mind,

and is necessarily eternal. Yet it is not possible that we should remember

that we existed before our body, for our body can bear no trace of such

existence, neither can eternity be defined in terms of time, or have any

relation to time. But, notwithstanding, we feel and know that we are

eternal...existing in the mind of God from the beginning. For the mind feels

those things that it conceives by understanding, no less than those things

that it remembers. For the eyes of the mind, whereby it sees and observes

things, are none other than proofs. Thus, although we do not remember that

we existed before the body, yet we feel that our mind, in so far as it involves

the essence of the body, under the form of eternity, is eternal, and that thus

its existence cannot be defined in terms of time, or explained through

duration. Thus our mind can only be said to endure, and its existence can

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only be defined by a fixed time, in so far as it involves the actual existence

of the body. Thus far only has it the power of determining the existence of

things by time, and conceiving them under the category of duration. The

power of the mind of eternity tells us that God knew us before the womb. He

wrote our members in a book. Purposed before the womb to call those whom

would be His servants, predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,

to be holy, without blame before Him in love. This from dust called forth in

the beginning. If you are reading this, you were made for the last days. Our

mind, in so far as it knows itself and the body under the form of eternity, has

to that extent necessarily a knowledge of God, and knows that it is in God,

and is conceived through God. The reality of eternity is in God. We are living

out events that are already finished in eternity. There is no rebellion against

God; there is no question of God’s sovereignty, power, dominion, rulership,

or His love. It is all settled, complete, final. All that John sees and hears in

the transport to heaven is done from God’s perspective. The bible speaks of

us who love Jesus and trust in Him here on earth, it describes the finality of

our existence in terms of the eternal duration of eternity: we are already there

as citizens, united in heaven, and our place is reserved in eternity. These

terms describe us already in that eternal domain, while we live out our

temporal lives here on earth. With this faith in every word of God, may this

writing set forth our touching the mind's power over the emotions and the

mind's freedom. Now to us let it appear how potent is the wise man, and

how much he surpasses the ignorant man, who is driven only by his envying.

For the ignorant man is not only distracted in various ways by external

causes without ever gaining, the true acquiescence of his spirit, but moreover

lives, as it were unwitting of himself, and of God, and of things, and as soon

as he ceases to suffer, ceases also to be. He has no thought of eternal

things. Whereas the wise man, in so far as he is regarded as being wise, is

not disturbed in spirit, but, being conscious of himself, and of God, and of

things, by a certain eternal necessity, never ceases to be, but always

possesses true acceptance of his spirit. Eternity involves judgment. Not just

the contemplation of it, but the discernment necessary to understand the

standards of separation principled by God in Christ. Therefore, even if we

cannot be sure of how eternity exactly looks for our life from where we stand,

step by step

we can be sure that the intended way to live would be a step-by-step choice

to choose God’s way above our own, laying down our natural inclinations in

exchange for His - this is to be our daily spiritual act of worship. The tension

of living for eternity in mind continues as we persevere knowing that it is God

who guides and directs our steps. God grants us the grace to construct this

vision of eternity. God stopped eternity for the beauty of allowing His people

to witness the beginning of eternity again and to involve us in it. This time

with higher understanding. With love. And not in His determination, but in

His presence. So, in our day we see more how God has made all things

beautiful in its time. This earth is but a cemetery. Time will cease. But it is

beautiful, as in it, God reveals His mind in time. History consists of all the

generations of men and their experiences fused into a whole. This

concentrated time in which all the generations of man are fused and from

which all things come is called eternity paused. It is a complete compression

of every conceivable thing that man could ever do, all in just one compressed

section of time. The old testament is that block of beginning whereby the

wise begin to understand. Every frightening thing in the world is openly

described in the bible. There isn’t a crime that we read or hear about in the

media, not a war, that isn’t openly described in the bible. Talk about rubbing

out a whole race, that’s described in the bible; a whole country, that’s

described in the bible, a people set apart to sound a trumpet of warning for

the whole world, that’s described in the bible. Eternity exists, and all things

in eternity, independent of creation which was an act of mercy. We do realize

that revelation means something was hidden, right? So, the word of God

tells us that we must be waiting for something, that was concealed. God

gave us grace that we might search and inquire about our salvation. This -

why the reference to the old testament as that block. The prophets who

prophesied of the grace that was to be ours searched and inquired about this

salvation. They inquired what person or time was indicated by the spirit of

Christ within them, and to be in us, when predicting the sufferings of Christ

and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving

not themselves but us. All these characters of the old testament were all in

us. They were serving not themselves; they were serving us. They were

writing for our admonition for when the fullness of time arrived. They asked,

“what person or time was indicated by the spirit of Christ within them when

prophesying this state? We are in the fullness of time. Now can be revealed

which was hidden in the minds of man. Here is what is hidden. Jesus Christ

as the personification of God; seen as the glory of God. Now, think of

humanity, God’s love, and who personifies humanity...this same Jesus.

When we his humanity, God’s love, God’s beloved – we see his love with

mankind, with humanity. This is eternity personified reflected in Jesus. Take

the block and fragment it. God has hidden eternity in the mind of man. Christ

in man is the hope of glory. There is to be the unveiling of God, an act of

God in self-revealing: He unveils Himself in us as us. God sets up events in

time to reveal Himself in His people. He is revealing eternity, and this takes

time. Now the time will fulfill itself in that too. All things take time. Time is a

facility for change in experience; space is a facility for experience. This is

necessary because the day will come when we will be called to testify to the

truth of God’s word. That’s all that we are going to testify to: it is truth. We

will have the experience. We will go into the world and testify to the truth of

his word.

The contemplation of God eternally is incomprehensible. We are from the

beginning lost in the wonder of His infinite greatness. When we turn our

thoughts to God’s eternity, His immateriality, His almightiness, His absolute

sovereignty, our minds are overwhelmed. While incomprehensible in His

totality, God has not left us completely in the dark, but revealed certain truths

about Himself in His Word. These truths should teach us humility, caution,

and reverence. God is all-sufficient in Himself and to Himself. He can receive

nothing from another nor be limited by the power of another. There was

nothing before God. It is He who created eternity. God is before “beginning”.

But God wants His people to reverently inquire with prayerful strivings to

apprehend what He has so graciously revealed of Himself in His

Word. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, so magnify the whole soul of man,

as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the subject of the Deity. The

most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him

crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Triune. The

fitting study of the believer is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest

speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can engage the attention of a

child of God is the word, the name, the nature, the person, the doings, and

the existence of the great God which we call our Father. There is something

exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a

subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that

our pride is drowned in its infinity. If we could only come to a right reasoning

first among ourselves and then approaching by invitation unto God, He would

give us a true report of Himself, but not a full. We could then secure

ourselves from error and from ignorance. We could think on the perfections

we discover of His Being. Then, all our thoughts can be attributed to Him.

There is a difference indeed that is great between the knowledge of God

which we may have in this life and that which we shall have in Heaven, yet,

we should not undervalue what we learn here even in its imperfection. We,

by faith magnify nothing above its reality. Though we will be like Christ, we

will be glorified, not made Divine. In the heavenness of the new creation we

will see God with the eye of the spiritual mind, for He will be always invisible

to the bodily eye. We will see Him more clearly than we could see Him by

reason and faith, and more extensively than all His works and dispensations

have so far revealed Him. Though forever learning, forever attaining, our

minds will not be so enlarged as to be capable of contemplating at once, or

in detail, the whole excellence of God’s nature. To comprehend infinite

perfection, we must become infinite ourselves. Even in Heaven, our

knowledge will be ever growing but partial, but at the same time our

happiness will be complete, because our knowledge will be perfect in this

sense, that it will be adequate to the capacity of the subject, although it will

not exhaust the fullness of the object. We believe that it will be progressive,

and that as our views expand, our blessedness will increase. But it will never

reach a limit beyond which there is nothing to be discovered, and when ages

after ages have passed away, He will still be the incomprehensible God.

Consider this viewpoint if you proceed to hear this...God could have dealt

with sin in eternity destructively from the beginning. He stopped eternity and

brought forth time. Yet it was not in order to supply a lack, but that He might

communicate life and happiness to angels and men, and admit us to the

vision of His glory. We are to see a glimpse of the perfectness of His love –

God commands the faithfulness and services of His intelligent creatures,

yet He derives no benefit from our offices; all the advantage redounds to

ourselves. God makes use of means and instruments to accomplish His

ends, not from a deficiency of power, but to more strikingly display His power

through the feebleness of the instruments - us. No dominion is so absolute

as that which is founded on creation. He who might not have made anything,

had a right to make all things according to His own pleasure. God's nature

and existence aren’t contingent upon His acts of creation. In other words,

God is defined by His own self-existent, being of and from Himself, aseity,

not by what He has made. God is the uncaused, eternal Being. He is the “I

Am” regardless of whether creation exists or not. God is God even if he had

not created anything underscores that God’s essence is self-sufficient and

not dependent on the created order for His existence. Even if nothing existed

except God, He would still be God because His identity isn’t derived from

creation—it comes from Himself. God with eternity, and eternity with

timelessness, is the essence of spiritual life. God made man, and to these

He added in man the gift of reason, and an immortal spirit, by which we are

connected to a higher order of beings who are placed in the loftier regions of

creation. God chose the path of love to demonstrate His wisdom, His power

to overcome the one-time only contempt for His Godship. Eternity is vastly

grander compared to time. God’s placement of human beings within time is

generous. It is necessary for preparation. Fortunately, the believers’ concept

of God as triune commends the divine becoming through time, for our

advantage. What was it that made the fall of the rebellious angels so

devastatingly harrowing to them...they resigned themselves to be in the deep

for all eternity. They had no knowledge of the concept of time. But that would

mean that the darkness brought into the light of eternity with God for the

unfallen would forever be a contamination to the wellness of the accord of

creation. The triune view that God is three persons united through love can

now be revealed which demands divine eternality. There is now distinction

between His attributes and His essences of divine simplicity. Relationality

relies on change for its content. The divine attributes of God Himself was to

show in the humanity of His Son and those same attributes and essence had

to be impersoned in the Holy Spirit as the only Person of the three which

could be holy and dwell in all humanity without ending life. So, for the gift of

God, eternal life, to be bestowed to humanity two unknown dimensions had

to be brought forth...time and space. We needed a continuum special

construct that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another

from past through present to future with probational limits. This was needed

that we might experience a type of oneness with God. Eternity had to be

stopped. A merely human Jesus could not save us. Because today will

never come again, we make precious our time with Christ. It is the key by

which we can realize life, and answer the call to a higher possibility.

For God to be internally related, God must be internally timeful. Moreover, to

assert that the triune persons relate through time places a high value on

human relationships. Created in the image of God, we are called to create

ever-closer community through time. This effort sanctifies time, rendering

kairos of chronos. Kairos is the experience of time as sacred, whereas

chronos is the experience of time as purposeless. For the three persons of

the triune, all time is kairos. For us, every moment contains the potential for

kairos because God sustains the universe continually. Through faith, the

moment by moment progression of time can become the grace by grace gift

of God. Will this be the transformation of time in eternity? Man was not

spoken into being. We were created for growth. Every living thing brought

forth in the concept of time and space has the ability to recreate its likeness.

And this mystery is that power contained in life, and that life is that spirit of

God, breathed into man that returns to God in the occasion of death. That

spirit breathed into man was a crucial point in creation that would instill in

man God admiring thoughts. This, that worship may be the act of

understanding essentially who God is. Worship is an act of understanding,

applying itself to the knowledge of the excellency of God, and actual thought

of His majesty, recognizing Him as the supreme and sovereign lord of the

creation, and beholding the glory of His attributes in the Redeemer, Jesus

Christ, His Son. In truth we cannot comprehend eternity, yet we may

comprehend that there is eternity; as though we cannot comprehend the

essence of God, what He is, yet we may comprehend that He is as we see

Jesus.

Though the eternity of God be one permanent state without succession, yet

the Spirit of God, suiting Himself to the weakness of our conception, divides

it into two parts, one past before the foundation of the world, another to come

after the destruction of the world. God’s eternity means in particular the

eternal life promised to those who are in Christ. God’s eternity is “His own”

eternity; God has life in Himself, by His essence. And in that God is without

beginning and the essence of this is the unchangeable resolve of God to

save man. The gospel is not preached by the command of a new and

temporary God, but of that God that was before all ages. Though the

manifestation of it be in time, yet the purpose and resolve of it was from

eternity. Christ is God because eternity is an attribute of God that is clearly

ascribed to Christ as he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

This truth goes forth in Christ’s promise to believers. Christ’s eternity is an

eternity of “actual possession” not merely “of decree.” This applies both to

His glory and His preexistence. Christ speaks of a glory that he had “with

the Father before the world was”, when there was no creature being; this is

an actual glory, and not only in decree; for a decreed glory every believer

has, and why may not every one of us say the same words, if it were only a

glory in decree? It cannot be said of any man that he was before the world

was. Christ speaks of something peculiar to him, a glory of actual

possession before the world was. The eternity of Christ is clearly of

fundamental importance to our faith. There is no hope for sinners such as

us without it. Why would eternity need to be halted? God has perfect

wisdom deriving from a perfect foreknowledge. If God is in heaven and we

are on earth, then God is elsewhere. If God is in eternity and we are in time

and space, then God is elsewhen. But God stopped eternity that His Son

may occupy time and space with us that we might know God and worship

God in truth and in Spirit and attain life eternal. Love cannot express itself

without an object. All love is love of; hence all love is relational. God is

persons united by love. In time and space God can be with us here and now

though not limited to here and now. God’s character never changes. But

God’s character expresses itself in different ways due to the change that time

required.

Time is a creation of God. And time is relevant to prophecies. Time and

prophecies will end. This speaks to why God stopped eternity. He takes sin

very seriously. He takes sin so seriously in fact, that in the fulness of time

He sent a Savior for us. Eternity is an interesting subject. What does it have

to do with God’s relationship with time? Eternity is “a time” with God. For

God is the beginning and the ending. And eternity is like a rope with one

end. There was a law in heaven in the government of God. Could God have

done in eternity unbounded what He does in time limited? Immateriality is a

quality of state that can lack a relation between something and matter. This

is how after the change of body of Jesus at the resurrection he was able to

appear in the midst, the doors being shut. This we know – sin can exist in

eternity. Choice can exist in eternity. Suffering could exist in eternity. The

wage of breaking the law is death. But could death exist in eternity? That

would imply “an end”. God had to deal with the results of sin that started in

eternity. God had to stop eternity and bring forth time and space to fulfill His

determined purposed plan. The punishment of the wicked is not endless.

That signals that God’s entire plan for creation is based in His universal love

that is unconditional and directed at all of existence and transcending the

boundaries of having a subject. That should give us something more to think

on. Let’s say time for an individual is the space between birth and death.

Time described by God is from the moment His word says, “let there be light”

and “I make all things new”. But God created us in His image. We are eternal

beings. We are beings who pass through a mortal existence while we are

becoming what we were meant to be. This is both a reality and a source of

sorrow. For not all beings will pass through. But Christ is purposed to bring

us home with him for all eternity. He has experienced mortality. And so, if

we have the mind of Christ we learn to think in terms of eternity rather than

just time. Until we step into eternity our God’s divine providence must be our

path in faith.

Death is relational with time. And in time death spreads to all mankind

because of sin. The gospel revolves around the life, the death, the majesty

of Jesus. The apex of his ministry and of his life was that he died. That was

the apex of his achievement. The resurrection was absolutely essential,

absolutely glorious, and confirmatory of the apex of what he achieved in

dying. We have this faith...Christ died. There is no one to whom the gospel

message is irrelevant. All meagerness should be ignored. There is

something so massive that our attention must be set on. The great central

truth of the gospel, that God sent His Son into the world to die and rise again,

to overcome the problem of death. God uses the reason for death, sin, to

focus our hope on heaven. Death has a way of keeping us from putting any

hope in this world. Seeing the loss of life can help transform the character.

God’s foreknowledge is just that. There is nothing that God does not know.

Death, that strange act foreknown by God to come, however was not part of

God’s plan...time was. Eternity had to be stopped to ensure the continuing

of eternity. Heaven is not God’s ultimate destination for us. If the bible is the

revelation of truth, we look forward to living on a new earth, in a new creation

and dwelling with God. But we must deal with the reality of the Genesis

account. God made man a combination of spirit and flesh with the intentions

of man living in a physical state upon the earth forever! Death only came

about as the result of sin. And death in the bible is never extinction; it is

always separation.God's purpose for saving us is to restore us to His original plan,

fulfilling His purpose which was before sin. This purpose is based on His hidden plan

from eternity past, and includes: cleansing us from our sins, bestowing God

Himself in Christ as the Spirit into us, revealing and magnifying his glory

showing his goodness to the world, teaching us about his mercy and

encouraging us to be workers of righteousness. All creation learns there is

no sum total to His divine perfections, His attributes, His intrinsic glory.

Where God’s timing is perfect, His eternity is set in our heart that none can

find out the work of God from beginning to end. We have a God who sees

all time, and sees our circumstances in the forever continuing context of all

of eternity. That sin and suffering and hurt and pain and despair, and even

the meaninglessness, the struggles and toils that we experience in this world,

that they will not have the last word. Why? Because God, the Lord over

time, has come to us in the person of Jesus. He has lived the life we couldn’t

live. He’s died the death we deserve to die, on a cross, and he has

conquered the enemy we could not conquer, death itself. He has risen from

the grave. He has ascended on high, and he is bringing all who trust in him

to be with him for all of eternity. What a picture, that God has put in all of us

a sense that this world is not all there is, that there is more beyond what we

see, both in the past and in the present, that lasts for all eternity. We are not

complete in our understanding by the fact that we are constrained in

time. Every aspect of our being is ordered by time, so it is a task to

rationalize anything outside of time. In the same way, it is challenging to

imagine anything outside of our physical universe, because we have no

rational context into which it can fit. It is not a vacuum, because a vacuum

is still a function of matter and energy, time and space. It has to be

something totally different than anything from our physical and temporal

existence. It is eternity. In each of us, there is a part that seems to know

that there is something “out beyond” – a realm we cannot directly access,

but a realm that can still touch us. The bible is a message from one who

dwells there, as incomprehensible as eternity itself, but none-the-less real

and significant in our lives. We were created for eternity, yet fell from eternity

and became bound in time. But God stopped the eternity we were to dwell

in and reached into time from eternity, touched us and is drawing us back.

God Himself paid the price to bring us ever forward into eternity. We see that

even though eternity exists outside of time, it permeates all of time. Time

may be thought of as a subset of eternity. This concept helps us understand

God’s ability to operate in and out of time, His ability to be everywhere all at

once. God can place His finger into time at any point and turn the flow of

history in the direction He has purposed from eternity. He can permeate all

of time and all of the universe at once.

Stopping eternity was not a random act by God. The determinate counsel

has all the wisdom, all the understanding, every insight, the deepest

penetration, the holiest of judgment, the experience of things

created...everything. God is not constrained to effect His will only

sequentially in time, thus He is able to deal with our free will and still ensure

that His plan unfolds as He has purposed. He can see our every future acts

as clearly as He can see our past acts. God is so God that He knows not

only everything we do, He knew everything that everything would do,

including every consequence ever before there was anything created. And

He can reach into what we consider our past and tweak what we call our

history to bring us to the point of decision we reach today or tomorrow,

building the sequence of events in our past that will allow us to see His best

for us today. He is able to bring us to a point where we agree with His will

for ourselves and freely make decisions in keeping with that agreement. He

is sovereign – yet we are free to act as we see fit. Predestination and free

will need not be in conflict!

Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own

through what Christ would do for us...His unchanging plan has always been

to adopt us into His family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. One day

very very soon God will gather everyone who's put their full faith in Him, and

we will live together with Him in the new heaven and new earth. Life here on

earth is preparation for eternity. The bible says that God has “set the world

in our heart”. That means we were made to last forever. We were made for

eternity. To be ready to stand for God, the first thing we need to do is

understand the purpose of our life. God made us to be part of His family. He

made us so He could have a relationship with us - to love us and to be loved

in return. But there’s only one way to become part of God’s family: through

faith in Jesus Christ. Not only does God want us to be part of His family but

he also wants us to spend eternity with Him. This is His purpose: that when

the time is ripe He will gather us all together...to be with Him in Christ forever.

History is moving to its climax. The time given to us in this life is a time of

opportunity for us to prepare for the eternal kingdom of heaven. We should

find the meaning and the purpose of our life in service to others in this world

and go back together with many people to the kingdom of heaven which God

has prepared for us. Living by faith must be our purpose. Having a sure

faith and living in obedience to the pleasing will of God...that is our life of

faith. We will willingly endure hardships and persecutions. We diligently

walk the path of faith knowing there are much severer trials to come than our

ancestors of faith endured...having the assurance that nothing would be able

to separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing will persuade us to deny

Jesus Christ. We are now preparing ourselves for glory. We should

wholeheartedly give thanks to our Elohim, for calling us into the truth and

giving us the hope and joy of eternity with Him. We are to thoroughly preach

the everlasting gospel diligently, keeping God’s commandments faithfully,

and achieving beautiful unity among us, brothers and sisters of Zion,

according to the teaching of the bible which is a spiritual preparation for our

fulfilling our purpose and completing our journey.

God stopped eternity for our preparation. He determinately called with

purpose His election to stand in the last days. He created time and space

that we may come to know His Son personally, intimately who was made so

much as we are yet without sin that we may be as he is. The eternity that

we will dwell in is like no eternity ever. Eternity has been designated as

having no time, no special limitations. Yet, our God tells us of our worship of

Him. We will have a celebrated Lord’s supper and a sanctified holy Lord’s

day. Will this supper in eternity and this day in eternity be monthly, weekly.

How so can time measurement exists in eternity? The Sabbath is a day that

celebrates time and holiness, and is a metaphor for paradise and eternal

rest. It's a day to become attuned to time, and to share in what is eternal in

time. The Sabbath is also a time to spend in intimate fellowship with God,

and to rest in God's loving care. It is marked in the world by an even to even

event. Evening in heaven?? The bible shows that the Sabbath has been

ever since this world was created. And it shows that it will remain even in

eternity, when the Redeemed will worship God every Sabbath in the New

Earth. Time differs from the divinity of eternity because time is based upon

change while the divine eternity is unchanging. The Sabbath on earth

foreshadows the rest God will give to us who love and honor Him once our

purpose for Him on earth is done. The eternal Sabbath is the goal of all who

proclaim Christ as Lord. We observe the Sabbath to remind us of our place

in God’s creation. Taking this day to recognize our smallness and

acknowledge God’s power reorients our perspective and aids in shedding

any pride that may have been building inside us. As we enjoy the rest, we

remember it is only a precursor to an eternal Sabbath when we will worship

in the presence of our Creator and Lord.

Jesus Christ hung on the tree of life in time. Jesus Christ is the tree of life in

eternity. The street is the way. The Holy Spirit feeds the roots on either side

of the testament, the covenant, the truth. The river of water of life proceeds

out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. For the water of life to flow out of

the throne means that it flows out of God Himself. In the New Jerusalem, we

have God in the Lamb, and out of the redeeming God flows the river of life,

the life-giving Spirit. This is the dispensing of the Triune God. Before God

could dispense Himself into us, He had to redeem us. Thus, the picture

reveals that the redeeming God is the life-dispensing God. The Lamb

signifies redemption, and the river of life signifies the dispensing of life. For

eternity, our God will be the redeeming and life-dispensing God. In the New

Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth, our God will be in the

redeeming Lamb, flowing out as the river of life, the life-giving Spirit, to

dispense His life into every part of the city. The tree of life grows in the river

of life, and the river of life that flows out of the throne reaches every part of

the city. This indicates that the flow of the Triune God waters the whole city.

Every part of the city receives the life supply because the tree of life grows

in the river and the river reaches every part of the city. The tree of life, as a

vine, grows on both sides of the river, following the flow of the river. Wherever

the river flows, the tree of life grows. The supply of life is in the flow of life.

This is a picture of God’s dispensing. Christ as the tree of life is the life supply

available along the flow of the Spirit as the water of life. Where the Spirit

flows, there the life supply of Christ is found. The entire city of New

Jerusalem, which will be constituted of all the redeemed people of God, will

be watered by the river of the water of life and nourished by the tree of life.

This is the dispensing of the Triune God in full for eternity. This was the

message at the cross. At the piercing of our Lord flowed forth water and

blood on the earth. The Holy Spirit in the life of God. How richly we are fed!

The flesh of God’s own Son, the leaves of the tree, are the spiritual food of

every heir of heaven. He is the water of life. He is the balm of Gilead. Will

God create a sacredness of time in eternity? A creation that transcends

time? What will be the greatest of heights in this eternity? As the Oneness

of the Godhead is one, so will be the people who are the New Jerusalem.

This New Jerusalem is a body of teaching based on divine truth. This is

because divine truth is what the Lord refers to as “holy.” And the Word says

“the New Jerusalem” for much the same reason that it refers to the earth as

new. That is, “the adorned bride” means the church and New Jerusalem

means that church in regard to its body of teaching. It is described as coming

down from God out of heaven because all the divine truth that gives rise to

a body of teaching comes down out of heaven from God. Love will be the

highest acclamation of praise to the One who is love. The people who make

up this city...what are they like? Namely, that they are of one mind, because

when we live a life of Christ and caring we love our neighbors as we love

ourselves, and love that is mutually felt joins us to them and them to us. This

joining is reciprocal and mutual because in the spiritual world of eternity love

is a joining together. So, when all beings are acting on the same principle,

then a single mind arises from the many - from countless individuals, in fact,

who are gathered in harmony with heaven’s form. Peoples of every form in

creation become one in this way because there is nothing that separates or

divides them; everything connects and unites them. No longer will there be

heavens as they are, an earth as it is. Eternity will see new heavens...new

earth. And still, all these heavens make one heaven because of an indirect

inflow and a direct inflow, which come from the Lord.

At the end of our journey through time is a destination we can scarcely

imagine - a destination called Eternity. Everything in scripture points to

Eternity, and everything within us cries out for it. God’s work with us is not

finished in this life. God has prepared something incomprehensibly beautiful

for those who love Him and trust Him - something that lies beyond time,

something so beautiful and vast and breathtaking that only Eternity is big

enough to contain it. And His description of eternity gives us grounds for

confidence and courage as we face the trials and pressures of the present

time. There are aspects of our present experience as believers which

indicate that something much greater is coming. The increase of wisdom

and the mellowing of love which mark the spirit of one who walks with God.

What was Jesus saying when he said, “I go to prepare a place for you”. Did

this mean that heaven was not yet ready and needed some additional work

before we could be brought there? But hear the further explanation which

Jesus gave. “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I

depart, I will send him unto you.” Jesus’ way of preparing a place for us was

to send the Holy Spirit to us. The Spirit, when he came, would give us the

power to handle the pressures and pains of life, "hard pressed on every side,

but not crushed; struck down, but not destroyed", and in the mystery of

redemption, transmute each trial into a corresponding glory. So, the trials

are preparing the glory; the hardships are preparing "the place" for us. Jesus

was doing this by means of the Spirit.

Eternity and time are not the same. Time means that we are locked into a

pattern of chronological sequence which we are helpless to break.

For example, all human beings sharing the same room will experience an

earthquake together. While there are varying feelings and reactions,

everyone will feel the earthquake at the same time. But in eternity events do

not follow a sequential pattern. There is no past or future, only the present

now. Within that “now” all events happen. An individual will experience

sequence, but only in relationship to himself, and events will occur to him on

the basis of his spiritual readiness. No two individuals need, therefore,

experience the same event just because they happen to be together. This

helps us to understand how we have the Sabbath and the new moon in

eternity. Reason this...Jesus is referred to as "the Lamb that was slain from

the foundation of the world." Now the cross occurred at a precise moment

of time in history. We know when the Lamb of God was slain. But the bible

says it occurred from the foundation of the world. How can an historical

event, which occurred at a certain spot and time on earth, in the biblical

reckoning be said to have occurred before the earth was even made? The

passage does not say that the Lamb was foreordained to be slain before the

foundation of the world, but it says He was actually slain then. That means

that the cross was an eternal event, taking place both in time and eternity.

In time, it is long past; in eternity, it occurs now.

God stopped eternity to give us time. Time to consider eternity. Time to

understand that God is the God of love who desires for us to spend eternity

with Him. Time for us to choose Him over all things. So, God makes His

word deeper, higher, broader, and amazing that we who study might grasp

the concept of eternity. God lives in eternity and He always has. He is not

bound by time - He lives outside of time. For God every part of time is in the

present. He created time. He carved out a section of eternity, gave it a

specific starting point and ending point and called it time. Our past, present

and future is all the same to Him. That is one reason He is called I Am. He

need not move forward or backward in time, He sees all as if it is happening

now. Recall how we spoke of Jesus being called the Lamb slain from the

foundation of the world. That statement showed that God already completed

the work of redemption before man even sinned and needed to be

redeemed. He could do it this way because eternity is of Him. Having an

understanding of eternity, even if it is a limited one, will change how we see

life. Plan a trip from Marietta today. Where are you right now? Open a

virtual online map showing the total areas between Marietta and your

destination point. Can you see where you will be tomorrow? God has a

written map for us to get from where we are to eternity. The bible is virtual

in its spiritual presentation of how God shows us the gift of eternal life in

Christ. We see beyond of where we are. Understanding God’s entire work

from before time began to after time ends is beyond our current limited

comprehension, but once we who are born-again come to reason with God,

we will be able to understand it much better. “In time” and “in eternity” are

united by being purposed by God. We are chosen to be God’s in both time

and eternity.

In truth, all of the words we read form pictures that are limited by the

existence with which we are familiar – time. There is no description of

eternity that we can describe. Eternity is not really like anything we have

experienced. It is only by revelation from God that we can get glimpses of

eternity and His nature. Even then, our nature only allows us to see a tiny

glimpse of what it must be like – not what it really is. He is able to express it

in language we can relate to, but our understanding will still be limited. Know

that if we are faithful, we will have a view from the vantage point of eternity.

We will see time as God does. This will be that we may understand how

history had to flow and how we fit into that flow. This is why there will be no

more tears of sorrow. We will see that everything did indeed unfold

according to a plan that brought God glory and brought us to that blessed

place with Him. Because of our experience with time, eternity will be an

entirely new experience, one filled with the wonder of discovery and

understanding of things we can only hope about while we are bound in time.

Yet there is a part of us that can relate to eternity, even though we have no

language with which to describe it. Time is spiraling downward. And many

are going down with it. Only those of true faith know that it is God who directs

and drives history forward towards a climax and a conclusion that He has

prepared before time began. Life is not futile, it can have purpose and

meaning because God is drawing us back into eternity to fellowship with

Him. There is a purpose for all that we experience, and once we are free of

time, we shall see it and rejoice. Too many will regret that they did not accept

His offer of grace. Having this revealed understanding about eternity helps

us anticipate some of what heaven may be like. And knowing how limited is

our understanding of eternity, assures us that heaven is undoubtedly far

greater than all we can hope or imagine. But it also convinces us of the

horror of separation from God, after having clearly seen all that He created

us to be, and all He did to draw us back to Him. The flames of the lake is the

realization of what will be forfeited by foolish choice. Even if we do not fully

grasp eternity, as faithful and true believers, we have already entered into

eternal life. It is not just a future reality, it is here and now. It was always

here, but we were deceptively unaware of it while enslaved to sin. Time, as

related to sin can be so cruel. Because of time we know of the reality of

eternity. We have an eager anticipation of it. It is with this frame of reference

that we place proper perspective upon waiting for the Lord. Our treasure,

our hearts are in heaven. This eternal perspective brings true humility. We

play a significantly purposed role in God’s plan. We have a deeper urgency

to help others come to Christ.

At this moment, knowing of eternity, suddenness to the irrelevance of all

things earthly is made clear. Eternity is the way God reasons all things.

God’s will was to see the culture of eternity in heaven realized in the earth.

Discord in heaven and man’s sin on earth introduced God’s plan of

redemption for His creation and salvation for man. For this to be a reality,

there must be an example of the Father’s character in the earth. Jesus was

this example. He is the only person who could represent the character of the

Father in the earth - in a way that was acceptable to Him. This is a very

important point because before one can be a part of the culture of heaven,

he or she must also be exposed to the character of the kingdom. Again, we

must be reminded that God thinks from the perspective of eternity. What did

God have in mind? God did not intend to provide a temporary solution to an

eternal challenge. His plan was based upon His always present knowledge

of all things possible. Jesus was proclaimed in the Determinate Counsel as

the Father’s will to be manifested in the earth. The heart of God was to see

the hearts of men and women changed by one man’s example of what

kingdom character is like. Jesus went on to reveal the mind of the Father -

“that His will be done on the earth.” The Father knew that this would not be

accomplished without there being a culture change in the earth. This is the

purpose of God according to election. This is the finishing of His people.

This one reality validates the existence of the church spiritual in the earth

today. God has never changed His mind, nor altered His will. He still wants

heaven’s culture on the earth. The people of God must be challenged to think

eternally. This simply means that the church must think beyond reaching the

lost, and go further to change the culture of this world! There is no way the

culture can be changed without the people being changed in the process.

And so, God stopped eternity that His people could in time come to the

fulness of that solution determined before the foundation of the world.

God is so loving that His love extends beyond those who will be saved. If

we abide by sound biblical teaching then we know that God loves all

humanity including the non-elect. God’s expressions of hatred such as was

spoken concerning Esau was unrelated to Esau’s conduct or character. It

was rooted in God’s eternal, sovereign purposes determined in eternity

before ever there was anything. If we understand the wisdoms of God in

revealing His higher ways, His higher thoughts then our spiritual fervency for

love, time, and eternity will be sorely tested in caring for those who will not

see eternity. Love makes time of no consequence. Time is not to matter

where love is in play. This is why God stopped eternity that we might

experience time in relation to love. And so we learned that even time stops

being so important when love is displayed. That explains why being in

eternity where love is perfected, time will be totally irrelevant. Eternity is the

place where we lose all consciousness of time. We will be in the deepest

embrace of love that minds can conceive. What makes love so powerful?

God is love. Love always gives and that is why God created time for us to

love to give. This is how we begin to enjoy eternity now. We are to love even

those who crucify our Lord daily that we may be sons of our Father who is in

heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends

rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. The implication...we are to love

as God loves. Consider this: Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law in every respect,

including this command for universal love. His love for others was surely as

far-reaching as His own application of the commandment. Therefore, we

can be certain that He loved everyone. He must have loved everyone in

order to fulfill the law. After all, the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘Thou

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’. He reiterates this theme: “he that loveth

another hath fulfilled the law”. Therefore, Jesus must have loved His

“neighbor.” And since He Himself defined “neighbor” in universal terms, we

know that His love while on earth was universal. Would God command us

to love in a way that He does not? Would God demand that our love be more

far-reaching than His own? And did Christ, having loved all humanity during

His earthly sojourn, then revert after His ascension to pure hatred for the

non-elect? Such would be unreasonable. Jesus is God. Stopping eternity

gives us the chance to learn vital truths about the character of God. He has

lived our yesterdays, our todays, and our tomorrows, the past, present, and

future. God is the Alpha, the Omega. We redeem the time. We warn the

wicked.

In time, eternity is future...in eternity, time is now. Though the actual

possession of eternal life in eternity cannot be now, and at the same time, a

future gift our faith makes it a reality. It is a promise of God. A promise

conditional and dependent on our being faithful. That which is before set

forth by God in His counsel, for His interests for things that are due Him,

according to the act of His free will by which before the foundation of the

world He decreed His blessings to certain persons through Christ by grace

alone, whom He judged fit to receive His favors and separated from the rest

of mankind to be peculiarly His own and to be attended continually by His

gracious oversight so that the ground of the choice lies in Christ and his

merits only to remain as one called by name. The truth and certainty of this

blessed state are ratified by the word and promise of God, and ordered to be

committed to writing, as matter of perpetual record. The subject matter of

this time-eternity vision is so great, and of such great importance to the

church and people of God, that we have need of the fullest assurances to

understand it; and God therefore from heaven repeats and ratifies the truth

thereof. Besides, many ages must pass between the time apportioned. It is

done already. God will leave nothing imperfect. We may and ought to take

God's word as present. As His power and will were the first cause of allthings,

His pleasure and glory are the last end, and He will not lose His

design; He is the beginning and the end! He is the source of all life,

existence, and purpose. God is the goal and fulfillment of all things. All

creation finds its purpose in Him, and history moves toward His divine plan.

In Him all things are fulfilled. With God all things are possible. God is the

ultimate reality where everything is completed, for all creation finds its

purpose in God. Every part of existence, every event, process, and purpose,

finds its complete meaning, culmination, and realization through God. In this

view, God is not only the originator but also the ultimate end of all things;

everything in creation is directed toward and finds its fulfillment in His will,

love, and divine plan. It means that whether we look at the unfolding of

history, the fulfillment of biblical prophecies, or the personal growth and moral

development of individuals, all these aspects of life are ultimately woven into

God’s grand design. Even the challenges and sufferings we encounter are

understood to be part of the process that leads us closer to the perfection

and completeness found in God. Nothing is accidental but part of a larger,

divinely orchestrated plan. It is God’s presence in perfection with all its

diversity and complexity.