Our Eternal God
As a Bible college student, one of the most valuable classes I took was Basic Theology. We read through Charles Ryrie’s book of the same name, looking systematically at each doctrinal topic and thinking through the Scriptural basis of each, pondering the practical effects of the truths presented.
Perhaps the most encouraging and convicting part of that class was the study of God’s attributes. Now, all these years later, I find myself very often using the truths of who God is and how He is to help my students understand the events of Scripture. When we know the Author, the narratives of the Bible make so much more sense!
The topic of God’s eternality comes up often with my First Graders, perhaps because it is one of the many ways in which God is entirely different than finite mankind. We look around and see beings who begin, and we experience the reality of an “ending” when those beings die. We can see finiteness; we cannot see eternity.
It is perhaps easier for us to believe that God has no ending, because we, too, will continue to exist either in heaven or hell for all eternity to come. God created us to spend that eternity with Him in heaven; thus we tend to find eternity future more relatable. It is eternity past that often mystifies us.
The truth that God had no beginning is harder to comprehend because nothing else shares the fullness of God’s eternality. All else had a beginning at some time or other, but the God of the Bible is the One True God, the Causeless Cause so debated about in philosophy, and so crucial to our understanding of the origin of all creation.
One of my favorite verses that deals with God’s eternality is found in Deuteronomy 33:27, which says,
“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.”
The context of this verse is Moses’ farewell blessing on Israel. After blessing each tribe individually, he gave a broader blessing upon the whole nation, beginning with “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun…” (v.25)
Truly, there is no one like God, and I find it very significant that the eternality of God is what Moses (through the Holy Spirit) chose to emphasize here.
What I love most about this verse is that it combines two aspects of God’s eternality. It combines God’s existence in eternity past with that of eternity to come.
“The eternal God is thy refuge” “Eternal” here in the Hebrew has the idea of antiquity, of extending off into the far reaches of the past. It is a reminder that God has always been.
“and underneath are the everlasting arms” Here, the Hebrew word for “everlasting” takes the previous meaning and expands it to an all-encompassing level. Not only has God always existed, He will continue to exist forever.
For us, this means that, just like the nation of Israel, we can face the battles of life clinging to the truth that the same God of eternity past, who has already proved Himself to be our refuge, will sustain or support us throughout all eternity to come.
Though this verse was written for the people of Israel, the eternal and unchanging nature of God means that He is just as much our refuge and sustainer today as He was back then.
Titus 1:1-2 gives us another glimpse of God’s eternality:
“Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began”
Here we see God, promising us eternal life in what we would consider to be eternity past, “before the world began”. Again, the truth of God’s eternality through ages past gives us hope for eternity to come.
Romans 16 also mentions the eternality of God:
“Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.” (vv. 25-27)
This verse links God’s eternality with His omnipotence, foreknowledge, and sovereignty. None of the attributes of God stand alone: they are all inseparably interwoven into the glorious and indescribable Whole that is God Himself. But read the above passage again and notice what these intricately entwined attributes combined to accomplish.
To make manifest (known) the mystery of salvation is the object these attributes work together to accomplish. In other words, our salvation is something God had in mind throughout eternity past, and the revelation of His plan of salvation is something all His attributes are involved in bringing about.
Because God is eternal, only God can give eternal life. This is why Jesus made it clear in John 10:28 that He was the One accomplishing everlasting life for the believer:
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”
Notice that the gift of eternal life is not only bestowed by our eternal God; it is also sustained by Him. No one can pluck the saved from Christ’s hand, because no one else is eternal. Eternal life is outside the jurisdiction of the finite, thus none but our eternal God can grant or withhold eternal life.
Perhaps the easiest way to understand the eternality of God is to think of God as existing outside of time. We are finite and physical, bound within the realm of time and space.
God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and thus is not bound within the realm of space, as 2 Chronicles 6:18 puts it, “behold, heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot hold Thee.”
The eternality of God likewise puts Him outside the realm of time. He can see all of time and space simultaneously, because He is not bound by it as we are.
For me, this is part of what makes the incarnation (Christ taking on humanity) so amazing. God Himself, in all the freedom of His eternality, chose to step into time and space, voluntarily allowing Himself to dwell within their confines and experience death.
He who is limitless chose to limit Himself in order to save sinful mankind, He who was without beginning or ending choosing to experience both. What a Savior!
The eternality of God is not necessarily something we speak or think of every day, but as with all God’s attributes, it is worth taking time to ponder.
“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)