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Eternal Now


Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen (Psalm 41:13)

       Recently, I mentioned the idea of looking at God's attributes after Christmas, but I had really thought that the time spent on verses that use the word "praise" would lead to considering more of God's attributes. Today's verse is an example of what I expected. What does it mean that God is "from everlasting to everlasting"? What does it mean that He is eternal? What does it mean to us?
            "Eternal" means that He's been around forever. In fact, He was around before time as we know it began. Time is a measurement of duration and change in the physical realm. In the spiritual realm, if there is even the concept of time, it is probably not measured in the way we think of it. Some of suggested that God exists in an everlasting now. He does not change. The passage of time doesn't affect Him. In fact, since He is not part of the universe, I believe He can step in and out of time at any time, somewhat in the same manner that we step into and out of a room.
            If He steps "out" of time, that doesn't mean that He is ever absent from any time, since He can step back in to the same point that He left. Think of when you watch a movie or read a book. You might hit pause or put the book down for some reason, and return later to pick up where you left off. The characters in the movie or book don't stand around discussing your absence no matter how long you're gone. Or, you might watch the whole movie or read the whole book in one afternoon even though the story may take place over the course of years. You aren't controlled by the time experienced within the story.
            What does that mean for us? To begin, since He is outside of time and unaffected by it, we always experience Him at the same level of godness. He does not need to rest but even if God did grow weary we would never know it. His rests would be outside of our experience of Him. If, somehow, He were to let His mind stray, He could return to that moment and we would never experience the lapse. Should God decide to hold a discussion within the Trinity or with the angels, it would not interrupt our conversations with Him.
            Again, what does this mean for us? It means that God is never "too busy" dealing with other things to interact with us. It means He is always at His best...never tired, never distracted, never overwhelmed, never rushed. It may mean that things that happen "later" may happen "earlier" in that God completed them already even though we won't experience them until tomorrow, and He will be there when we arrive.

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