Systematic Theology: The Doctrine of God - God is Eternal (Part 1 of 2)

Preached on February 03, 2008, by Eric Schumacher

Topics: Systematic Theology

(c) Eric M Schumacher -- Preached February 3, 2007 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

(Part 1 of 2 - Read part 2 here.)

We will be resuming our study of the Gospel of John next Sunday morning. For this morning, I'm going to allow our evening service to "break into" the morning service.

For those of you who haven't been to our evening services, we have been examining Christian doctrine. First, we define what the doctrine means. Second, we defend that definition from Scripture. Then, we apply that doctrine to our lives as Christians. I'm going to do all three things this morning, and then return this evening for a time of more extended application.

Our subject this morning is God's eternal nature. I must admit that when I sat down on Monday afternoon a few weeks ago to begin gathering my notes on this subject, I was frightened.

What worried me the most was this question: What will I say, beyond "God is eternal"? Beyond offering a definition of God's eternity and defending it from Scripture, will I be able to offer any reason that it matters?

That is a frightening place to be as a pastor and preacher. My job each week is to lead you to worship. That is what a pastor is--a worship leader. My job is to put before you a biblical vision of God that causes you to tremble in fear, to revel in wonder, to rejoice in hope, to weep in repentance, to sing in gladness. And if I find a truth about God that does not produce these things in my soul, then I can never preach in a way that will produce these biblical affections in your souls.

This is even more frightening a place to be as a Christian. Any and every truth about God should cause us to worship. And the question that we should each ask, as I have asked on Sunday evenings time and again, is not simply "What is true about God?" but "Knowing the truth about God, do I love him?" If we see God or know something of God and fail to love God, to fear God, to hope in God, then we have sinned.

I am thankful to say that as I meditated on this subject, the Lord truly did open my eyes and my heart to see why it is wonderful that he is important and to cause me to worship him for it.

God is eternal.

When we say that God is "eternal," we mean that the Bible teaches that God had no beginning and will have no end. His being is not limited by time and does not experience succession of moments. Nevertheless, God sees everything in time and acts in time.

God always was. God always will be. He does not exist more in one period of time than in any other. He existed outside of time and created time. Therefore, God has no past and no future. The existence of time has no effect on God, his being, his perfections, his purposes, his promises, his knowledge, or his power.

The Bible affirms that God--and God alone--is eternal in his own being and existence.

In Deuteronomy 33:27, Moses speaks of the Lord as "the eternal God." In Romans 16:26, Paul writes of "the eternal God." Likewise, in 1 Timothy 6:16, Paul writes of him "who alone has immortality." "Eternity," in this sense, is unique to God. God is eternal, and only God is eternal.

Isaiah 57:15 speaks of him as "the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity," or the one "who lives forever" (NAS). Likewise, Revelation 4:9 says that "the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever..."

God is not limited by years, as our present life is. We will exist forever in the future, but we are not eternal in the sense that God is. We had a beginning. And, ever since that beginning, we have been changing. But God had no beginning and has enjoyed an unchanged eternal existence. Psalm 102:27, from which we looked at God's unchangeableness a few weeks ago, says, "you are the same, and your years have no end." In Job 36:26, Elihu commends God's greatness saying, "Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable."

Another way that God delights to show us that he is eternal is by calling himself the beginning and the end. In Isaiah 48:12, he says, "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last." And in Revelation 1:8, we read, "'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'"

God existed before all things, and should all creation pass away, he would still exist. He is the "Alpha," the beginning, the author of creation. And he is the "Omega," the end, the one who will bring all of his purposes to completion in a new creation. He is the initiator and the goal of all that exists. All things are because of his will, and all that is will result in his glory.

God's "name" implies his eternal existence.

In Exodus 3:14, God said to Moses, "I am who I am." This statement is one of God's self-existence. He is not defined or determined by anything outside himself. God loves to be known as the God who depends upon no one and no thing, not even a creator.

God is the creator of all things and is not himself created. Therefore, he had no beginning.

Psalm 90:2 compares God's existence with creation: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." The mountains, the earth, the world were "brought forth," "formed." They had a beginning and a creator.

God, on the other hand, is God "from everlasting to everlasting." He is "from everlasting;" he had no beginning. Likewise, he is "to everlasting;" he will have no end.

The Scriptures repeatedly affirm that God, whether Father, Son or Spirit, existed prior to the created order. The Bible begins, Genesis 1:1-2, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Creation had a beginning. God does not.

Likewise, Scripture affirms that everything that was made was made by God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son (1 Cor 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). Therefore, God himself was not made. John 1:3 says, "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." If God, Father, Son or Spirit, were made, then, in keeping with this verse, we must say that he was made "through Christ," which is nonsense.

The Eternal Trinity:

We should note that the Scriptures affirm the eternal existence of all three persons of the Trinity--Father, Son and Spirit.

Regarding the Father, many of the passages already noted apply to him. He is "the eternal God" (Deut 33:27; Rom 16:26).

Regarding the Son, Jesus identified himself with "Yahweh," when he said in John 8:58, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." The Jews understood this claim, because they immediately picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy.

Hebrews 1:8-12 quotes Psalm 102, which says "your years will have no end," but says that God says this "of the Son." The Son, whom we know as Jesus Christ, is the God who is "from everlasting to everlasting," spoken of in Psalm 102.

Colossians 1:16-17 and John 1:3 say that everything that was made was made through Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Son is uncreated and eternal.

Regarding the Spirit, we read in Genesis 1:2 that "in the beginning," at creation, "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The Spirit was "in the beginning," and was thus uncreated and eternal. And, Hebrews 9:14 clearly refers to the Spirit as "the eternal Spirit."

God and Time

We can also affirm that God, being eternal, does not experience and see time in the same way that we creatures do. Rather, God, being eternal, sees all time equally vividly.

We forget things over time. Our memories fade and grow dull. We forget events. Of those events that we remember, we forget details.

But Psalm 90:4 says of God, "For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as, a watch in the night." A thousand years--a very, very long span of time--is to God as near as "yesterday when it is past" or as "a watch in the night," a period of three hours. Therefore, what occurred a thousand years ago in the human perspective is to God as if it just occurred an hour ago.

2 Peter 3:8 says that "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." One day is as a thousand years. A moment, such as a day, is vividly and perfectly present in God's mind for a long period of time, "a thousand years." For us, a day happens and then immediately begins to fade from our memory. But for God, one day is eternally present in the mind of God.

On the other hand, "a thousand years [is] as one day." For us, an event that occurred a "thousand years" ago would be fuzzy and vague, if not utterly forgotten. But for God, a "thousand years" are as present in his mind as "one day," as the present. Thus, from God's perspective an extremely long period of time is as if it just happened. And a very short period of time seems to last forever.

God see events in time and acts in time.

We should not take that to mean, however, that God does not interact with his creation in time or see events in time. In some sense, the Bible affirms that God sees events in time and acts in time.

Paul writes in Galatians 4:4-5:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

He writes of the "fullness of time." God knew the "right time" in his plan to send his son. He knew that certain events had to occur and take place prior to the birth of Christ. In some sense then, God "watched" the progression of time and events and acted within it.

Likewise, Acts 17:30-31 reads:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

In God's activity, there were "times of ignorance" and there is a "now" in which he commands all people everywhere to repent. Likewise, "he has fixed a day" on which he will judge the world.

So, the Bible teaches that God sees events. He sees how they relate to each other in terms of cause and effect, and in terms of chronology. God also acts within time, watches time progress and acts at different points in time.

God predicts things at one point in time and fulfills that word at other points of time. So, the storyline of creation, history, redemption is eternally present in the mind of God, and yet he is acting within it.

An Important Application

This evening I will answer a couple common questions about God being eternal and give extended application. But, for now, I want to pause to answer a very important concern that might arise in your mind from what was just said about God and time--the issue of how God sees our sin: If God sees all time vividly, does he not constantly see my sin?

The Problem

If God sees all time equally vividly, then our sin must likewise be eternally vivid before his eyes.

Scripture affirms this:

Psalm 90:8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

Jeremiah 16:17 For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.

Hebrews 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

In fact, this is the greatest curse that you could utter upon someone, that God would always see their sin.

Nehemiah 4:4-5 Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. ⁵ Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

Psalm 109:14-15 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out! Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

Jeremiah 18:23 Yet you, O LORD, know all their plotting to kill me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.

Because remembering their sin will cause God to judge the wicked.

Revelation 18:4-8 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; ⁵ for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. ⁶ Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. ⁷ As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.' ⁸ For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her."

And, this is what the doctrine of God's eternity rightly teaches!

If my sins cannot be hidden from God's sight and he sees all time equally vividly with an eternal mind, then my sin must be forever before his eyes. Sometimes our sins seem less severe to us simply because our memories grow dim over time. But this is not so with an eternal God. His knowledge of all moments is equally vivid. And, if that so, how is it that he is not eternally angry with me? How can I have any hope?

So then, the most urgent question we can ask is this: Is there a way in which it is possible for God to not see our sins?

The Benefits of Meditation on the Truth

This question highlights why it is important to both study Christian doctrine and to meditate on Christian doctrine. One of the applications that I have repeated been seeing in my study of God is that the attributes of God are "a terror to the wicked and a comfort to his people."

The study of God will cause you to see that God is a terror to his enemies and a comfort to his people. And, you must see the former--that God is a terror--before you can feel the joy of the later--that God is a comfort.

If you do not see and feel the weightiness of the biblical God, then you will never fear him. If you never fear him, then you will never be forced to feel the weight of your sinfulness. If you never feel the weight of your sinfulness, then you will never feel your need for the gospel. If you never feel your need for the gospel, then you will never see Jesus Christ as having any worth having. And, if you never feel that Christ and his work are worth possessing, you will never possess them. And without them, you will go to hell and your sins will hang before the eye of the eternal God forever and his wrath will always burn hot against you.

Some of you have become so wrapped up in your life that you have forgotten that you are going to die. And if you do think of death, it is of no concern because you do not have a God who is big enough to frighten you. The God that you know does not need to be reckoned with. But the study of doctrine and meditating on it reminds us that God is infinitely greater than we are. It reminds us of how fall short we fall of his glory. It reminds us that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).

The study of the Bible will first lead us to terror and fear and sorrow and weeping. But, through that path, the study of the Bible will lead us to peace and comfort and happiness and rejoicing.

The Solution

So what is the solution to the question: How can it be possible for a God who sees every moment of time equally vividly--including our sin--to not be eternally angry?

Numerous Scriptures teach that God can be favorable toward us and "not remember" our sins:

Isa 43:25 I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Jeremiah 31:34 I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.

Hebrews 10:17 then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

I do not think that "not remembering" sin is meant to be taken in an intellectual sense, in terms of God's knowledge, his strict possessing and not possessing information.

"Remembering" has to do with bringing something to mind to consider it. The idea of God "not remembering" sins should be taken in a legal and relational sense. Legally, God will not "recall," bring out before himself as evidence, or set in the scales of justice our sin. Relationally, he will not view us in terms of our sinfulness and rebellion. Our sins, in those senses, will "not be remembered forever."

Of course, the million-dollar question is then, how is this possible? The answer to that question is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, whom the book of Hebrews says is eternal--the same yesterday, today and forever.

In Hebrews 7:23-25, the author argues that Jesus Christ is superior to the former high priests because of his eternal nature:

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Our great high priest is eternal, he continues forever, and "always lives to make intercession" for his people. His eternal nature means that "he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him."

So then, should Satan accuse us and attempt to cause God to remember our sin, so to speak, we have a high priest who continues forever. He is always alive, in the presence of the Father, interceding on behalf of his people. If ever our sins could be "remembered" by God the Father, he must also immediately remember the perfect life of his son, which he has reckoned to those who trust in Him as their righteousness. He must immediately remember the death of his son on the cross, in which he satisfied the wrath of God on behalf of those who would believe in him. He must immediately remember his resurrection, which was for our justification.

The infinite offense of our sin is matched and exceeded by the infinite work and merits of an eternal high priest. And therefore, an eternal God can forgive us and grant us eternal life.

You salvation is through the blood of the "eternal covenant" (Hebrews 13:20). It is a covenant of salvation that had no beginning, but was ordained by God before the foundation of the earth. It, therefore, will have no end.

This blood is offered by a high priest who "holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever" (Hebrews 7:24). This priest, Jesus Christ, offered himself through the "eternal Spirit" (Hebrews 9:14).

The result of this high priest's service is that he has secured "an eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12).

And that is where we should rest our hope--the eternal covenant of an eternal God to give an eternal redemption through an eternal high priest's blood offered through the eternal spirit. Nothing is more secure than that--a God who eternally sees his Son, our substitute, covering our sin.

God's eternal nature poses a dilemma that can only be resolved through an eternal Gospel. That is why the words of this song should bring joy to your heart:

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong a perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

Before God's throne stands our eternal sacrifice, our eternal high priest who always pleads for us and covers our sin. And therefore, we have hope and security for eternity, for forever.

And that is why we celebrate the Lord's Supper--and should celebrate it often. We should love to put before our eyes the symbol of what is before our God's eyes forever--our Savior, who is our substitute.