"ATTRIBUTES OF GOD = ETERNALITY"
Notes
Transcript
We live in a world consumed with time. We count birthdays, (at least we use too) track deadlines, measure growth, and fear aging. Everything around us is marked by beginnings and endings. Yet the Bible draws our attention to a God who stands outside of time — uncreated, unending, and unchanging in His being.
The doctrine of God’s eternality teaches that God has no beginning, no end, and no succession of moments as we experience them. He simply is.
Psalm 90:2, written by Moses, the man who saw generations rise and fall in the wilderness, we read:
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
Proposition - Let us humbly approach the Scriptures with awe and reverence as we study the eternality of God together.
Interrogative question - What steps can you take to cultivate a heart of humility in light of God's eternality?
The Attributes of God, Volume 2: Deeper Into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 3: God’s Eternalness)
In the first Scripture text above, God calls Himself “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity.” Eternity, of course, is a noun; it is the state of being eternal. There are those who say that such words in Scripture as “eternity” and “everlasting” do not mean “time without end” or “lasting forever,” because God refers to “the everlasting hills” in Genesis 49:26. They say that we have read into these words the concept of everlastingness and endlessness, that it only means “to the end of the dispensation, to the end of the age.” (The real reason men have taken that attitude is because the Scriptures say that hell is everlasting—and they can’t bring themselves to believe that!)
The Attributes of God, Volume 2: Deeper Into the Father’s Heart (God is Not in Time)
Time cannot apply to God. C.S. Lewis gave us an illustration which I’d like to pass on to you. If you can, think of eternity, of infinitude, as a pure white sheet of paper extending infinitely in all directions. Then think about a man taking a pencil and drawing a line, one inch long, on that infinitely extended sheet of paper. And that little line is time. It begins and it moves an inch and ends. It begins on the paper and it ends on the paper. So time began in God and will end in God. And it doesn’t affect God at all. God dwells in an everlasting now.
No age can heap its outward years on Thee:
Dear God! Thou art Thyself Thine own eternity!
The Attributes of God, Volume 2: Deeper Into the Father’s Heart (God Has No Past or Future)
It is a wonderful thought that God has already lived all of our tomorrows. God has no yesterdays and no tomorrows. The Scriptures say, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8), but it’s not His yesterday—it’s yours and mine.
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (Eternity)
ETERNITY
God perfectly transcends all limitations of time, so that he is without beginning, without ending, and without succession of moments in the experience of his being and in his consciousness of all other reality. In other words, in his experience of himself and all reality outside himself, God is not limited by the moments of time.
Scriptural Evidence. The following list presents scriptural evidence for God’s eternity:
1. He is the first and the last at once (Isa. 41:4; Rev. 1:8).
2. He existed before creation (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1; 17:5, 24).
3. He will endure forever (Ps. 102:26–27).
4. He is God from everlasting to everlasting (Pss. 90:2; 93:2).
5. The number of his years cannot be discovered (Job 36:26).
6. One thousand years in his sight are as a day, due to his immediate experience of all time (Ps. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8).
7. He is God eternal (Isa. 40:28).
8. He inhabits eternity (Isa. 57:15).
9. He lives forever (Deut. 32:40; Rev. 10:6; 15:7).
10. He is incorruptible and immortal (Rom. 1:23; 1 Tim. 6:16).
11. He was, is, and is to come all at once (Ex. 3:14; Rev. 1:4, 8).
12. His purpose is eternal (Eph. 3:11).
13. He is the eternal King (1 Tim. 1:17).
14. He existed and acted “before the ages began” (2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2).
If eternality is denied then (a) there is no Trinity, (b) Christ does not possess full Deity, and (c) He lied.
Charles Caldwell Ryrie
Eternality means not only that Christ existed before His birth or even before Creation but that He existed always, eternally.
Charles Caldwell Ryrie
I. God Has No Beginning -
I. God Has No Beginning -
Genesis 1:1 declares, “In the beginning God…” Notice what it does not say. It does not say, “In the beginning, God began.” Before there was a beginning, God already was.
Jesus affirmed this in John 8:58 when He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” He did not say, “I was.” He said, “I am.” That is the language of eternal existence.
God was not created. He did not evolve. He did not emerge from anything. He simply exists by necessity of His own nature.
God existed before time -
2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
23 “From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.
5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you
Illustration #1 – The Author and the Story
Imagine an author writing a novel. The characters live inside the timeline of the story. Chapter 1 leads to Chapter 2. But the author is not trapped in that timeline. He stands outside the story. He sees the beginning and the ending at once.
God is not a character inside the story of history. He is the Author of it. While we move from yesterday to today to tomorrow, God sees all of history at once. He is never surprised. He is never learning. He is never reacting.
Isaiah 46:10 says He declares “the end from the beginning.”
II. God Has No End -
II. God Has No End -
Everything we know eventually wears out. Empires crumble. Stars burn out. Civilizations fade.
But God does not age. He does not decline. He does not weaken.
Psalm 102:25–27 says:
“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth… They shall perish, but thou shalt endure… but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.”
In Revelation 1:8, He declares Himself “the Alpha and Omega… which is, and which was, and which is to come.”
God endures for ever -
40 ‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever,
27 “The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, ‘Destroy!’
5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the Lord your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise!
26 “Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable.
14 For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death.
12 But You, O Lord, abide forever, And Your name to all generations.
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
12 Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.
God is not sustained by anything outside Himself. He cannot expire. He cannot deteriorate.
Illustration #2 – The Mountain and the Mist
Imagine standing before a massive mountain range. The mountain appears immovable and permanent. Now picture a thin layer of morning mist drifting across its face. Within minutes, the mist disappears, but the mountain remains.
Compared to God, even the mountains are mist. Nations are mist. Our lives are mist.
James 4:14 says our life “is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” But God remains.
III. God Exists Outside of Time -
III. God Exists Outside of Time -
God will exist after time -
26 “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. 27 “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.
11 They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment, 12 And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.”
We experience time sequentially — moment after moment. But God is not bound by succession. He does not move from past to present to future. All moments are equally vivid before Him.
Second Peter 3:8 reminds us, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” This is not mathematical — it is theological. Time does not constrain Him.
God sees your birth, your present struggle, and your future glorification in one eternal “now.”
Illustration #3 – The Parade from Above
Imagine watching a parade from street level. You only see one float at a time. The rest are either ahead or behind you.
Now imagine viewing that same parade from a helicopter. You can see the beginning, the middle, and the end all at once.
We live at street level. God sees from above. He is not waiting to see what will happen. He eternally knows because He eternally is.
IV. Why God’s Eternality Matters -
IV. Why God’s Eternality Matters -
This doctrine is not abstract philosophy. It brings deep comfort and holy reverence.
God’s love is eternal -
34 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
13 in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, “He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
19 “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion,
God’s faithfulness is eternal -
5 For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.
2 For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!
6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;
God’s power is eternal -
7 He rules by His might forever; His eyes keep watch on the nations; Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
God’s righteousness is eternal -
3 Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness endures forever.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth.
24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
God’s word is eternal -
89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
31 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
24 For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, 25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.
God’s covenant is eternal -
7 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
19 “All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord to you and your descendants with you.”
10 Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
5 The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant.
10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
3 “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.
40 “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.
God’s kingdom is eternal -
18 “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.”
7 But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment,
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
19 You, O Lord, rule forever; Your throne is from generation to generation.
3 “How great are His signs And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation.
14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
27 ‘Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
God’s gifts are eternal -
29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
God gives eternal joy -
11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
10 And the ransomed of the Lord will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
11 So the ransomed of the Lord will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.
God gives eternal possessions -
8 “I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
4 and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’
God’s promises are permanent -
Because God is eternal, His covenant does not expire. His Word does not decay. His purposes cannot be interrupted by time.
What He promised Abraham thousands of years ago, He still upholds. What He promises believers today stands forever.
Our Salvation is permanent -
Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Christ “ever liveth to make intercession.” Our High Priest does not retire. He does not die again. He lives eternally.
Because God is eternal, eternal life is truly eternal.
Our trials are momentary -
When you are suffering, it feels endless. But in light of eternity, your trial is momentary.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17 that our “light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
Your hardship has a clock. God does not.
V. The Response to the Eternality of God -
V. The Response to the Eternality of God -
God gives eternal life -
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God gives eternal salvation -
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated To all eternity.
9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (The Eternality of Future Punishment)
B. B. Warfield maintained that there are three different forms of annihilationism: pure mortalism, conditional immortality, and annihilationism proper.
Pure mortalism holds that the human life is so closely tied to the physical organism that when the body dies, the person as an entity ceases to exist. This is primarily a materialistic view, although it also is found at times in pantheistic forms. Pure mortalism has not been popular in Christian circles, since, in contradiction to the biblical doctrine of humanity’s creation in the image of God, it makes the human little more than an animal.
The second form of annihilationism, conditional immortality, maintains that the human being is by nature mortal. Death is the end. In the case of those who believe, however, God gives immortality or eternal life, so that they survive death or are restored to life. In some understandings of conditional immortality, God simply allows the unbeliever to pass out of existence. Others hold that all will participate in the resurrection, but that God then will simply allow the unrighteous to pass out of existence again. Eternal death is for them just that. Their second death will last forever.
The third form of annihilationism is most deserving of the title. It sees the extinction of the evil person at death as a direct result of sin. Humans are by nature immortal and would have everlasting life but for the effects of sin. There are two subtypes of annihilationism proper. The first sees annihilation as a natural result of sin. Sin has such a detrimental effect that the personality of the individual gradually dies out. Thus, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23) is taken quite literally. Sin is self-destruction. After a certain length of time, perhaps proportionate to the sinfulness of the individual, those who are not redeemed wear out, as it were. The other type of pure annihilationism is the idea that God cannot and will not allow the sinful person to have eternal life. There is punishment for sin. The punishment need not be infinite, however. After a sufficient amount of punishment has been endured, God will simply destroy the individual self. It should be noted that in both subtypes of annihilationism proper, the soul or self would be immortal but for sin.
The problem with all of the forms of annihilationism is that they contradict biblical teaching. Several passages assert the endlessness of the punishment of the wicked. Both the Old and New Testaments refer to unending or unquenchable fire. Isaiah 66:24, for example, says, “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” Jesus uses the same images to describe the punishment of sinners: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’ ” (Mark 9:43–48). These passages make it clear that the punishment is unending. It does not consume the one upon whom it is inflicted and thus simply come to an end.
When Moses reflected on God’s eternality in Psalm 90, he did not end with speculation. He prayed:
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
The right response to an eternal God is:
Humility – We are finite creatures.
Trust – He sees what we cannot.
Urgency – Our time is short.
Worship – He alone is everlasting.
Final Illustration – The Fading Clock
Imagine holding an old mechanical clock that is slowly winding down. You can hear the ticking weaken. Eventually it stops.
That is every human life.
Now imagine a source of energy that never winds down, never loses power, never fades. That is God.
The clock depends on something outside itself. God depends on nothing.
SO WHAT?
God’s eternality means:
He was God before the universe existed.
He will be God after the universe is gone.
He is fully God right now.
He does not grow wiser.
He does not grow stronger.
He does not grow older.
He is “from everlasting to everlasting.”
And here is the wonder of the gospel: The eternal God stepped into time in the person of Jesus Christ so that temporal sinners might share in eternal life.
When time is no more, He will remain.
And those who belong to Him will remain with Him.
To the eternal King, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
The Attributes of God, Volume 2: Deeper Into the Father’s Heart (God Has No Past or Future)
Sometimes when I go here and there I take a plane. Once you get up in the air, you’ve got so much sunshine that if you want to read you’ve got to shut the little curtains to keep the sun off your book. But down below you see a solid carpet of thick clouds and you find it very difficult to understand how anybody can be down there saying, “Oh, what a cloudy, overcast, gloomy day this is!” It isn’t cloudy and overcast and gloomy up where you are. You’re looking down on it.
So if you insist on being down here looking up, you’re always going to have an overcast sky—the devil will see to that! But if you remember that your life is hid with Christ in God then you’ll be looking down on it, and not looking up.
The Scripture says in Psalm 90:12 that because God is eternal, we must learn “to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” God is in our today because God was in our yesterday and will be in our tomorrow. God is the One that you can’t escape. You can’t escape God by denying Him because He will be there anyway. You can’t escape Him by redefining Him into something else because He will be there anyway. God is! And because God is, then God is here and God is now. God dwells in an everlasting and eternal now.
When God talked with Abraham, Jacob and Isaiah, He had already lived in the New Jerusalem, because the New Jerusalem is in the heart of God; all the things that will be are in God. God isn’t subject to the flow of time.
God promises to keep his people, and he will keep his promise.
Charles Spurgeon
Jesus is the yes to every promise of God.
William Barclay (New Testament Scholar)
Men ought not to expect more than God promises.
John Calvin (French Reformer)
My own weakness makes me shrink, but God’s promise makes me brave.
Charles Spurgeon
That which God abundantly makes the subject of his promises, God’s people should abundantly make the subject of their prayers.
Jonathan Edwards (American Evangelical Preacher)
Whatever God can do, he unquestionably will do, if he has promised it.
John Calvin (French Reformer)
God never out-promised himself yet.
Charles Spurgeon
God never made a promise that was too good to be true.
Dwight Lyman Moody (Evangelist)
The eternality and deity of Christ are inseparably linked together. Those who deny His eternality also deny His deity. If the deity of Christ is established, there is no problem in accepting His eternality.
Paul P. Enns
