Knowing the God Who is Eternal

The Eternal God: 1). He has no beginning 2). He has no end 3). He does not experience time as a succession of moments as we do

The Ancient of Days

Daniel 7:9–10 ESV

9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. 10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. —Walter Chalmers Smith

Revelation 1:8 ESV

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Psalm 102:24–27 ESV

24 “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!” 25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Psalm 93:2 ESV

2 Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.

Job 36:26 ESV

26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.

Psalm 90:2 ESV

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

We worship the God who exists from “vanishing point to vanishing point.” —A. W. Tozer

“The mind looks backward in time till the dim past vanishes, then turns and looks into the future till thought and imagination collapse from exhaustion; and God is at both points, unaffected by either.” — A. W. Tozer

The Being Who Transcends Time

There never was nor shall be time wherein God could not say of himself, “I AM.” —Thomas Brooks

Isaiah 57:15 ESV

15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

What does it mean that God inhabits eternity? It means that He inhabits all moments as once!

“He knows no past. He know no future. He lives unmoved in one unmoving present. He stretches through all the ages which are gone and which are yet to come. His only bounds are immeasurable boundlessness.” —Henry Law

Isaiah 41:4 ESV

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.

2 Peter 3:8 ESV

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

I can make some kind of sense to the notion that a thousand years is as a day. The older I get the faster time seems to pass me by.

However, I don’t get at all how one day could be as a thousand years. Only a being who lives above time’s influence could experience one day in such a way as that!

All times are “now” and all places are “here” to our God!

Practical Applications

When you call upon the living God, you are calling upon the same God that Abraham called upon.

Genesis 21:33 ESV

33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.

Every time you take shelter in God, you are finding refuge in the same God that Moses did.

Psalm 90:1 ESV

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Being above the effects and limits of time does not mean that He is uncaring about what happens to those who live within time.

Isaiah 57:15 ESV

15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

How should God’s eternity affect the way we think about the past?

How should God’s eternity affect the way we think about the present?

How should God’s eternity affect the way we think about the future?

Psalm 90 ESV

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. 1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. 7 For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 13 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!