Eternity

For God to have Eternity, he has to exist permanently without beginning or end. The core concept of eternity is permanence.

How God Relates To Time
The Bible teaches that God is eternal, but it does not make it clear as to how God is eternal. The biblical data leave it an open question as to whether God is eternal in the sense of being omnitemporal throughout infinite time or simply being timeless or being atemporal. So this is not a question that can be decided biblically; rather, this is a philosophical theological question. This is where the biblical exegete can take a person only so far, then there is the need to hand the task over to the philosophical theologian in order to go any further.

The core idea of eternity that both of these concepts encapsulate would be to exist eternally is to exist without beginning or end, or to exist permanently. That is the core idea of eternity. But then there are at least two modes of existence that could fit that definition: either an omnitemporal mode throughout infinite time, or else an atemporal mode of existence. The Bible does not settle that question.

There are two ways in which something can exist without a beginning and without an end.

Omnitemporality
One would be to exist throughout infinite time. If one imagines time like a line which has no end but goes on forever and which has no beginning then something could be beginningless and endless by existing throughout all time, without beginning and without end. That would be one way of being eternal – to be beginningless and endless throughout infinite time.

Atemporality
The other way would be to exist outside of time altogether. To say that God is not on the line anywhere is to say that he does not have any temporal location and does not have any temporal duration. He would be beginningless and endless simply because the concepts of beginning and ending would not apply to a being who is not in time. A being who transcends time and who is not on the time line would have neither beginning nor end because he does not endure through time.

Psalm 90:1-4
This passage teaches that God exists without beginning and end.

“LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.”

God exists beginninglessly and endlessly.

Psalm 102:11-12 and 25-37
This passage indicates that God’s eternity contrasts with the transitoriness of man.

“My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever; thy name endures to all generations. . . . Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They will perish, but thou dost endure; they will all wear out like a garment. Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away; but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.”

Here is a beautify comparison between the eternity of God, beginningless and endless, and the creation that God has made which is temporal and transitory.

Psalm 90:5-6
“Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.”

Here human life is compared to a dream which is evanescent in its existence. It vanishes the moment a person awakes. Or the grass that in the morning is fresh and flourishing but then is burned and scorched by the evening. Similarly, people’s existence is so transitory in comparison with God’s eternal existence.

Job 36:26 and Isaiah 41:4
Job 36:26 says, “Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.” Compare that with Isaiah 41:4: “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.”

Here God is the eternal one who was there at the beginning and there at the end of human history. He is the one who endures forever whereas human existence is fleeting and transitory.

Jude 25
In a difficult to express way, the Scriptures seem to teach that God existed before time began. Although there are a number of passages like this, this is just one of them. Jude 25, the last book before the book of Revelation in the New Testament. Here the author says, “To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” What an interesting expression on the author’s part. He gives glory to God before all time (before time began), now (presently), and forever into the future. This suggests that time itself had a beginning and God in some difficult-to-express way existed “before time began.”

Practical Application
God's eternity has great practical application in lives. On the one hand, it brings this paradox of time that reminds to be busy in the Lord's work and yet not harried and pressed by it, and then also to live in light of eternity. To be living rightly, ready to die at any moment. To find comfort in suffering by the prospect of eternal life, and to enjoy this wonderful prospect of eternal life that does await us. He who is from everlasting to everlasting is our hope for everlasting life.

“Paradox of Time”
The paradox is that on the one hand, at least from God's perspective, there is all the time in the world, and even more. God is never in a hurry. He has no deadlines to meet. He has no timetable that is pressing upon him. God is the Lord of time and has all the time he needs to accomplish his ends. Therefore, God is never pressed for time. So, for example, when God called Moses out of Egypt, Moses was 40 years old – in the prime of his life, a prince of Egypt. One would think this would be the prime moment at which God would use Moses to liberate Israel. But no! Instead, God takes this man and drives him out into the wilderness for another 40 years until at the age of around 80 he is finally the instrument that God has crafted to lead his people into Israel. God is evidently not in a hurry in order to accomplish his ends.

So 2 Peter 3:8, for example, says the following: “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” It doesn't matter to an eternal being. To an eternal being, any finite duration of time is like a drop in the bucket. God's timetable is therefore always right on schedule.

On the other hand – and this is the paradox – for humans, at least, time is short. Because of people’s finite lives they are pressed by time. Romans 13:11-12a speaks to this. Paul says, “Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand.” Here you have a sense of urgency in Paul's words. The night is almost over. Day is at hand. Therefore, there are pressing demands upon us. Using a somewhat reversed metaphor, Jesus says something similar in John 9:4. Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night comes, when no man can work.” Here in Jesus' words as well there is this sense that there is an end coming. Night is coming. Therefore God's work must be accomplished during the day that he has given us. So from a human’s perspective then there is a kind of pressing of time upon him/her in view of both the finitude of life and Christ's return.

This paradox of time can be both a comfort to those who are exhausted in the Lord's work, and also an admonition for those who are lazy. On the one hand, it is a comfort to those who are tired and pressed in the Lord's work. They need to understand that God's timetable is right on schedule. Although they may feel harried and pressed by the demands of ministry and of life, from God's perspective it is OK. It is all on schedule. People can trust him to accomplish his work through them. There is enough time in every day for someone to accomplish all the will of God for that day. Therefore, a person need not feel pressed.

On the other hand, for those who are lazy and indolent, who are not involved in Kingdom work, and who are just sort of coasting through life, this is a real admonition. They do not know how much time they have got left. The end is going to come. Therefore, people need to be sure that their lives count for Christ. It has been rightly said, There is only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. People need to be sure that they are investing the time that they have, however brief it might be, in the Lord's work. So this paradox of time, is a lesson for people – a comfort to those who are exhausted, but also an incentive to those who are lazy.

Live In Light of Eternity
God's eternity means that people must live in light of eternity. People do not want to live in light of their temporal existence, but in light of God's eternal existence. This cashes itself out in three ways.

First of all, it is an incentive to right living. In James 4:13-16, James explains that people have no claim upon the future. People cannot presume about what tomorrow will bring because people do not know that they are going to be here tomorrow. In James 4:13-16 he says,

''Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain”; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.''

Here James compares life to a morning mist which is soon dispersed as the sun rises. He says people’s lives are so evanescent in the same way. Therefore people need to be living in light of that; not to be presumptuous about what tomorrow brings but to say, as James says, if the Lord wills this is what we shall do. And to make sure to live properly now. That is Paul's emphasis in that passage from Romans 13:12b-14. In Romans 13:12, having said that the night is far gone, the day is at hand, the conclusion Paul draws from this is the following:

''Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.''

In light of the finitude of lives here and soon going to meet the Lord, people need to be sure that they are living righteous lives before him such that if their lives should terminate tomorrow or tonight they will be ready to meet the Lord because they are walking in the fullness of his Spirit and clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness. So it is an incentive to right living, living in light of eternity.

Comfort In Suffering
This life is full of suffering. The shortcomings of this finite existence are evident all the time – in disease, in accidents, in the other disadvantages of finite life. But the truth of Scripture is that in light of eternity this life is just like a cramped and narrow foyer in which people are in now but it leads into this great banquet hall of God's eternity. All of eternity awaits. This can make trials bearable because in comparison with the eternal life with God these trials are short and transitory. In 1 Peter 5:10 it reads, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.” Peter recognizes that people are going to suffer as Christians in this life, but he says after they have suffered a little while then God will call you into this eternal glory that will make the sufferings of this life seem short by comparison. The apostle Paul recognized the same thing in 2 Corinthians 4. Paul is reflecting upon all of the sufferings of this finite existence. In verses 16 through 18 he writes as follows:

''So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature [our body] is wasting away, our inner nature [our soul, our spirit] is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.''

Here Paul compares the sufferings of this life to the eternal glory that God is going to bestow upon in heaven. He says in comparison with the eternal glory that God will give the sufferings of this life shrink by comparison to literally an infinitesimal moment. That is why Paul could call them a slight momentary affliction. He was not being insensitive to those who suffer terribly. On the contrary, Paul himself bore both natural suffering (he had some sort of physical infirmity or disease that he carried with him) as well as terrible moral evils perpetrated against him as he was persecuted, stoned, beaten, and suffered other disasters. Yet, in spite of all that, Paul lived in light of eternity and so he understood that whatever people go through in this finite life, however painful and however horrible and terrible, nevertheless in comparison with the eternal weight of glory that God will bestow upon them, these transitory afflictions are just a slight and momentary affliction that needs to be bearer until they go to be with him. So living in light of eternity, can give comfort in suffering as people go through it as they certainly shall.

Eternal Life In Christ
There is the wonderful prospect of eternal life that Christians have in Christ. For those who are in Christ – who are united with him in his death and resurrection – all of eternity awaits them. That is what has to be looked forward to. John 3:16 says that God has given everlasting life. People shall not perish, but have everlasting life. In Ephesians 2:7 Paul says, “in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” It quite an interesting description of what God will do in the afterlife. In the coming ages, he is going to spend eternity showering the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness in Christ Jesus. It is a wonderful prospect Christians have.

By contrast, for those who are outside of Christ, time is a devouring beast. Every day eats away at the finite existence that they have left, however long it might be. So in 1 Corinthians 15:32b Paul says, “If the dead are not raised [if there is no immortality], let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” There is no overriding purpose for life, so just enjoy. That removes any significance or meaning to a finite existence. It puts a question mark behind any sort of ultimate significance to the existence that we do have.

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament says, “All is vanity and a striving after wind.” (1:14) “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher…All is vanity,” according to Ecclesiastes (1:2).

So for those who are outside of Christ, time is a terrible enemy, not bringing a wonderful prospect but removing any significance and meaning that life might have. Then, of course, after this finite existence there awaits them the terrible prospect of God's righteous judgment.

In Matthew 25 Jesus describes the judgment of this world that will come after this life is over. In verses 34, 41, and 46, he describes the judgment of these two groups of people. Jesus says,

''Then the King will say to those at his right hand, “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”. . . Then he will say to those at his left hand, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.''

Nothing so contrasts the wonderful prospect of eternity for those who are in Christ with the terrible horror that eternity is for those outside of Christ, more than the judgment of God that will come after this life is over.