From Everlasting to Everlasting
God is above and beyond time, and totally independent of it. He is eternal; He has always existed, and always will. He existed when nothing else did. (Genesis 1:1) Humans can’t grasp that, but we accept it because the Bible assumes it to be true and teaches it throughout.
Psalm 90:1-2 declare “from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.” He is “our dwelling place from all generations.” What an amazing statement! Human generations come and go, but the Lord God is the “dwelling place” for all of them. First Timothy 6:16, Paul says of God “who only has immortality…” Jesus’ declaration in John 8:58 that “before Abraham was, I am,” surely affirms His eternality. These are bedrock truths on which we can rest our souls.
In contrast, we are finite, created beings, bound by time and space in this life, and limited by our humanity, or being creatures, and the curse of sin. Knowing who God is in contrast to who we are should be a source of great peace, comfort, and stability for us. This is true throughout life, but especially as we age, and hard changes come. It can be so challenging as health, mental facilities, and life itself slip away. The classic hymn “Abide With Me” has this line “Change and decay in all around I see/Oh, thou who changest not, abide with me.” What hope, help, and comfort those words give!
An old country gospel song from decades ago tells it beautifully, and I get emotional reading it or hearing it sung:
Time has made a change since my childhood days
Many of my friends have gone away
Some I never more in this life will see
Time has made a change in me.
In my childhood days I was well and strong
I could climb the hillsides all day long
I am not today what I used to be
Time has made a change in me.
When I reach that land so bright and fair
Meet my friends that wait me over there
Free from pain and care I will ever be
'Cause time has made a change in me.
Time has made a change in the old home place
Time has made a change in each smiling face
And I know my friends can plainly see
Time has made a change in me.
Steve and Annie Chapman wrote a song about 30 years ago titled “Seasons of a Man.” It’s one of my favorites of all time. There are four singers, a child, a teen, a middle-aged man, and an elderly man, and each tells the story of his season of life.
I am the springtime. (childhood)
I am the summer. (youth)
I am the autumn days. (middle aged man)
I am the winter. (elderly man)
The old man sings:
I am the winter, when day are cold and bitter.
And the days I can remember
number more than the days to come.
When you ride instead of walking
When you barely hear the talking
When goodbyes are said too often
I am the winter.
But, praise the Lord, all four sing the final measure: “But it’ll be spring again in Heaven, and it will last forever.”
If you are old, your remaining time is brief, but you can rest secure in His love and saving grace, and His promises. If you are young, it may seem like you still have a lot of life to live, but you need to know that compared to eternity your time is short. Also, things like accidents, catastrophic illness, and sudden death truncate life far sooner than we could ever expect or imagine.
In either case, though you are not like God, a non-created, eternally existing being, once you are given life, you will forever exist in Heaven or Hell. These are sobering truths.
So going back for a moment to Psalm 90 which brilliantly contrasts the eternity of God with the transience of man, the psalmist reminds us that we pass through life under God’s wrath, and “spend our years as a tale that is told.”
You and I are granted the privilege to “trust in Him who will not fail you…” “Whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16b) I pray that a fuller understanding of God’s eternal nature, our finite nature, our need for Him, and His sufficiency for us will give us strength, stability, and serenity to live all of life in His care and for His glory.
- From Everlasting to Everlasting - July 1, 2024
- Christian Attitudes and Actions in a Non-Christian World - November 30, 2023
- The Ninety and Nine - September 22, 2023
Thankful for these reminders.