Who is God? God is outside of time

Psalm 90:4 (ESV)
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

(This is part 10 of our study on ‘Who is God‘)

In our last post, we found that God is eternal. Today, we are really examining some of the practical aspects of God being eternal.

The first thing to keep in mind is that time is a created thing – it is just like the rest of creation. That means that God created it, and is not bound by it, just as God is not bound by His creation (other than by choice). God is outside of time.

2 Peter 3:8 (ESV)
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.

Practical application

But what does this mean for me, you may ask? Plenty of things! For me personally, this is one of the most amazing things about God, and as hard as it is to really understand or grasp in my mind, it brings amazing comfort and helps strengthen my faith.

First, God is not bound by time. This means that He knows the beginning, He knows the end, and He knows the middle – before any of it happened. He knows what will happen tomorrow, or even in a thousand years. This in itself was shown especially through prophecy in the Old Testament, and in Jesus time. For a quick example, take a read of the book of Daniel (preferably in a study Bible which helps explain when the events then happened), and see all of the fulfilled prophecy in that book! There are plenty of other examples, but that one short book is a great quick primer on fulfilled prophecy if you haven’t spent much time in the Old Testament.

The practical applications of this are many. God already knows what you need, well before even you do. And He can set in motion things that need to happen well before you would even be aware of the need! God is not constrained by our concept of time. For us, we find out we need something and then we have to work towards the solution to that need. For God, being outside of time, He already knew at the creation of the world that you would need what you do today, and things may have already been set in motion before your birth to get you what you need today, even if you only prayed for it this morning. How awesome is that?

Another benefit of this is that God doesn’t need ‘time’ to prepare or think about something. You can pray now – but because God already knew, He already knew His answer, and has already provided in His will. An extreme example might be a car accident – at that terrifying moment when you know everything is suddenly out of control, you might pray ‘God help me!’ – And He will. He doesn’t need time to react, He doesn’t need time to set plans in motion – He can just provide.

And whilst there are many more benefits, the last key benefit for me is that God knows. He knew you would be saved even before the beginning of the world (Eph 1:4-5; Rev 17:8 and more). God knows what is going to happen. God has already planned out all of the events of our lives, based on His foreknowledge and His will. What an amazing thing! God already knows, because He has already been there. As crazy as that sounds, that is an amazing comfort, because I know that God will never be surprised by something happening. He already knew it would happen, and can even be using whatever it is as a part of His will for our lives. He can be using those things that pop up on us in this life to guide and bring us closer to Him, and even to help others see Jesus in us.

That for me is not only comforting, but almost makes faith ‘easy’, in that I know I have faith in a God who knows what will happen, and ensure that all things work out for good (Romans 8:28).

Isaiah 46:8-11 (ESV)
“Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.

(Photo: flickr / grufnik)

Who is God? God is Eternal

Psalm 90:2 (ESV)
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

(This is part 9 of our study on ‘Who is God‘)

Continuing our study of who is God, today we are looking at God is eternal.

God has no beginning.

God has no end.

That is almost impossible (if not completely impossible) for us to comprehend. In our current state, in our lives on this planet, we are bound in time. Time is a core feature of our current universe. Speak to any physicist, and they will explain how, without time, even matter as we know it wouldn’t exist (If you are interested, the first 30 minutes of podcast 31 in this series from Wayne Grudem is excellent). Time then is part of our created universe.

We have a beginning.

We have an end. (in our current lives on this earth in any case, eternal state excepted!)

Everything we do is bound by time, because we are part of creation – but God is not. (We will examine how God is outside of time in the next post)

Job 36:26 (ESV)
Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
the number of his years is unsearchable.

Personal Application

So what does this mean to our lives?

Firstly, as the verse in Job indicates, God is Great! God is Greater! And our ability to know God in this life, in this body is severely limited. We can only ever know a small part of God, because He is simply greater than all of creation. And yet, He has revealed enough of Himself to us (in his knowledge of our abilities – since we are His creation), that we can not only know of Him, but know Him personally. Just know that there is a lot more to know!

Secondly, and this is where it related to our last post on God’s knowledge, God already knows. He is eternal. God was around before there was any creation, because He is the creator. And He will be around at the final judgement, because He is the Judge. And He is there all through the middle, because God doesn’t go out for a nap and see if the world can run by itself.

Thirdly, God is outside of time, but we will cover this one more specifically in our next post.

God is ever present. God is Eternal. He is always there for you, always was there for you, and always will be there for you – for eternity.

(Photo flickr / Aitor Escauriaza)

Who is God? God is Omniscient (All Knowing)

Psalm 139:1-4 (ESV)

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

(This is part 8 of our study on ‘Who is God‘)

Last week, we discovered that God is wise. Wisdom is defined not by knowledge, but action based on that knowledge! We could then infer from that alone that God knows plenty.

In theological terms, we say that God is omniscient, which is just a long way of saying all knowing. God knows not just lots, not most things, but everything.

God IS all knowing.

1 John 3:19-20 (ESV)

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Personal application

There are a lot of things we can personally take away from this.

God knows the situations you are in. God knows your struggles, He knows your pain. He knows what choices are best, and what are not. And because God is also wise, He WILL act on that knowledge.

God knows the truth. No matter what the accusation against you or another, God knows. God knows what happened; God knows what is going to happen.

God knows not just the results, but the motives. As humans, very rarely do we see beyond the results of an action. We can only see the outcomes of the actions that took place, and maybe, we might have even seen the actions. But God not only knows the actions, he knows the motives for what took place. He knows what actions are sinful and what are not. He knows why something happened, and every single thing that led up to it.

So in the end, I take massive comfort in the fact that God knows all. There are many unanswered ‘big questions’ in this life, but I know I will just find out the answers when God reveals them to me, even if He chooses to wait until we are with Him in eternity. I know God knows not only my motives, but he also knows everyone else’s. I know God knows all paths, all outcomes. I know God knows what is best for me, because he is all knowing.

So next time you struggle with your faith, next time you struggle to understand what is happening around you, or with people near you, or even with world events, you can take this simple fact by faith – God knows what is going on.

(photo : flickr / saerozar)

Who is God? God is Wise

Job 12:13-16 (ESV)

“With God are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he shuts a man in, none can open.
If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
With him are strength and sound wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.

(This is part 7 of our study on ‘Who is God‘)

What does it mean to be wise? If you were to look up ‘wise’ or ‘wisdom’ in a dictionary, you might find something like this.

Wise: Having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment

Wisdom: The soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of such experience, knowledge, and good judgment

What this says then is God not only has the knowledge, experience and good judgement to do the best thing, but acts in accordance with those things.

Psalm 104:24 (ESV)
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

Personal application.

What does this mean for me? It means that God knows all paths, and knows all ends. He knows not only what is going to happen, but what will happen if certain events take place.

But God is not limited to purely knowledge and experience – God takes action. If something needs to happen, something needs to be done so that the best possible outcome will happen, then God will take that action.

He will lead.

He will guide.

We can trust that He will do it.

Because wisdom is not just knowledge, but action based on that knowledge.

For me, this means that God is not an impersonal God who ‘set the world in motion’, then went to the local coffee shop and watched what would happen, or maybe took a nap for a few thousand years. He not only knows all ends, but guides us on the path to the best end.

It also means Gods knowledge, understanding and power are utterly beyond comprehension. With all of the computing power available to us in the world, we struggle to get the weather forecast right for one area for a few days. We struggle to even fully understand some static concepts. And yet not only did God create all of this, He understands it all, and He knows exactly what will happen, when it will happen and why it will happen.

With that amount of knowledge and wisdom, I can be confident that when I trust in Him, everything will go just as it should, because not only is he able to do it, but he is wise enough to take action.

Who is God? God is Unchangeable (Immutable)

Psalm 102:25-27 (ESV)
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
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,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.

(This is part 6 of our study on ‘Who is God‘)

Continuing our study on ‘who is God’, the next attribute I want to look at is immutability, or the fact that God does not change.

What this means is that God’s attributes to do not change in any way over time – so God is always eternal, all powerful, loving, omnipresent, all knowing, merciful, gracious and much more.

What this doesn’t mean is that God will act the same way in what we perceive are the same circumstances! Whilst his attributes remain the same, and His actions will always be consistent with His attributes, God may choose to act differently at different times and places. The perfect example of this is His revelation of Himself. God has always been who He is, but our knowledge of Him has grown over many generations, and through multiple times of revelation. We now know all about salvation, about Jesus, and about the church. But Abraham did not – he may have been given an inkling, but he didn’t know the detail we have now.

God does not change – we do.

Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Personal application.

Our application here is again that God is consistent. Because God does not change, we can rely on what He has revealed, be that yesterday or 2000 years ago (or more!).God is consistent. God is unchanging. God is reliable.

So in our daily lives, we can rely on Gods promises that He will provide for us. He will take care of us. If we ask, he will guide us in His will. We can rely on the fact that His will is the best for us – whether it seems like it at the time or not. God doesn’t change like the weather, but remains constant and reliable, no matter what happens with us, or what happens around us.

James 1:16-17 (ESV)
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Lastly, it reminds me of the parable of the wise builder. We may change, the world around us may change. But God never changes, and we can place all our hope and faith in Him.

Matthew 7:24-27 (ESV)
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”