Life with God: Unbounded by time.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Psalm 90:2 NKJV
Unbounded by time.
Everlasting. The original Hebrew can indicate unlimited duration both past and future (Dictionary of Biblical Languages). Giving new depths of meaning to the description: everlasting to everlasting.
Our God — the One true God — endless in both past and future is unbounded by time. Outside the constraints of time.
Consider the implications of God being set apart from time.
It means His vision of reality is vast. From beginning to end… and beyond in each direction… He rules regardless of past, present, future.
It’s all before Him. at. all. time.
If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one: we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all round, contains the whole line, and sees it all.
… In that case, what we call “tomorrow” is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call “today.” All the days are “Now” for Him.
— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
This limitless perspective in His rule and reign is one of the great mysteries of God. It is hard for us (His creatures) to comprehend simply because we are born into time. It is the medium in which we live and breathe. There is no other.
Created to live in time, we are subject to its flow like fish are to water. The thought of living outside the constraints of our natural experience is incomprehensible. unimaginable. frightening?
When fish are pulled out of water, they die.
When we are out of time, we die.
But if you think about God calling us to take up our cross — die to self — put our faith in the Son for eternal life now, that’s exactly what He’s calling us to do. Live outside time.
A timeless mystery.
The truth is our lives are a two-fold mystery — a “both-and” state of being. Our flesh is clearly susceptible to the ravages of time, but our spirits are eternal.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV
We find ourselves surprised by the changes in a child we haven’t seen in months or years and we wonder where all the old people came from at a class reunion. We expect everyone to stay the same as we last saw them. Why? In our heart of hearts, the true nature of our spirits tell us we were meant to be free of time. endless. eternal. unchanging. Eternity is set in our hearts.
God chose to create time as the place for us to live. The passing of time with its seasons, sunrises, sunsets, birthdays, and generation upon generation, is a stark contrast to His unbounded state. Birth, life, death — each beautiful in its own time — used to reveal our true state of being and purpose. Time frames our lives and turns our attention to the One who is Everlasting to Everlasting.
Created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, our hearts are prepared to receive the One He sent to set things right and call us to Himself.
Born of a virgin.
Crucified on a cross.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
A call from heaven for all mankind to put down our timelines and enter His everlasting Kingdom.
Timeless life.
What does it mean for us? to be born again into a timeless Realm? under a Ruler unrestrained by time?
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2Corinthians 4:16 NIV
For one, we discover He is always available to us: past, present, future. In His timeless sovereignty He is always (and never was not) present.
With regard to the past, He is (and was) present with us. He is able to take us back in time to reveal and heal wounds we thought scarred us for life.
Understanding His present-ness with us and His knowing the end from the beginning, we can wholly trust Him to guide and lead us through whatever we face.
Believing He is already present in the future— frees us from fear of the unknown. It’s enough to know the One who does know.
He truly is an ever-present help in time of trouble — any time.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Psalm 46:1–3 ESV
Fear-less future.
Embracing Him as timeless, by faith, we can live fearless lives, trusting He is in control! Being outside of time, nothing surprises Him, He is never caught off guard, nothing can deceive Him or deter Him from His plan and purpose.
Imagine how it would shift your perspective of the future if you actually began to live by faith, if you allowed faith to shape your mind-set. This would radically change the way you would see every circumstance in your life. Even in the most difficult and painful times, you would see every moment as a promise that God would meet you there. You would never see anything in life as a dead end because you’d know that God would always guide you to a way through.
–-Erwin Raphael McManus, The Way of the Warrior
Living in His Realm, we too become unbounded by time.
We trade in “our time” for His timelessness. After all, the truth is, it’s not our time. It’s His. His to use as He pleases. And for those who please Him — seek Him with their whole heart, obey Him in love, walk in step with the Holy Spirit — they can live free from the worry of running out of… or feeling pressed for… time.
Like all other things He created, time is in His hands. His to use as He wills for His purpose. The whole span of our lives, our ordinary days, our wins and losses, triumphs and failures — past, present, and future — are His to use for His glory regardless of the hour.
For us, the act of waiting becomes an exercise in trusting Him for all He sees and does outside of time. The frustration of waiting could be eliminated from our lives if we wholly believe in the One who was. is. and is to come. It’s NEVER too late!
Never-ending and Never-beginning.
Greater than we can imagine.
His promises all true.
His prophecy valid.
His laws always timeless— relevant, contemporary — no matter the era.
Because He created unbounded by time.
Knowing the end from the beginning.
He is true and trustworthy.
His vision of all things vast!
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:8 ESV
Can you imagine living without time as a limiting factor in your life?
What keeps you from trusting the One who is Everlasting to Everlasting?
Put your faith in Him. Ask Him to free you from every barrier holding you back from entering His time-less, eternal, everlasting to everlasting Kingdom.
Amen!
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