Today we are going to tackle the concept of time. I am probably going to spend two days on this because I am not sure we really think this through properly. In not giving it proper thought we limit the core principles of God’s Kingdom. To do so is to short change God Himself as well as His resources.
As we consider the concept of time, it is crucial to remember that the spirit world is not bound or limited by the parameters in which we live. Most of us are familiar with the main attributes of God: omniscient, omnipotent, and ubiquitous. But, we tend to forget the fourth one—that God exists outside of time—because we simply cannot fathom something as having no beginning or end.
John Calvin was reputed to have said that, at best, a man can only hope to be 80% theologically correct. I wonder if 80% is not a generous statistic. There is much that we can understand about God, but so much more that we cannot comprehend. I think that God chooses and refuses to remember more about us and our sins than we will ever know. (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17) While we live in a small area of a single planet called Earth, bound by time and space, Deity operates and moves about in multiple Kingdoms without regard to time or space.
I believe the most difficult concept to fathom is that God is timeless. The Godhead is simply not bound by time. God can reach both inside and outside of what we understand as time. This is part of the reason God is omniscient and ubiquitous. Without the parameters of time, you and I would appear lost because the reference points denoting our lives—from our birth to death—would not exist. God needs no reference points; He authored the Master Plan and can handle every contingency by moving into and out of time and space with ease.
The concept of linear time causes us to incorrectly impose limitations on the resources that we believe are available to us from God, and on the access to the Kingdom we believe that we have as children of God. It is hard to imagine our lives out of sequence. What if the prayer of thanks offered by a grateful father after his child’s miraculous healing was God’s reason for initiating the healing? Time means nothing to God. He may operate within our time context, but He exists apart from time; for Him, cause and effect are not the logical, sequential or linear processes we consider them to be.
In addition to limiting our view of God to our understanding of time and space, we also have an almost opposite tendency to push the Kingdom of God away and outside of our understanding, thinking of it as something distant, existing only in our spiritual future—not as something accessible here and now. This belief is simply not true. When the Holy Spirit regenerates us, He takes up residence in us, bringing the Kingdom inside of us and, along with it, access to Kingdom power. (john 14:16 – 18) This power is given only to believers, not the world in general. (John 15:14 – 16) Here are brief snippets:
- 15 times Scripture notes the eternal nature significance and power available.
- 8 times the Bible says the Kingdom is “near.”
- 6 times it says you must be “childlike” to be a part of the Kingdom.
- 6 times it says the Kingdom is for those who are righteous, not religious.
- 4 times it says that the Kingdom comes on you or dwells inside of you.
- 4 times it says you cannot visually see the Kingdom. Even with careful observation, it will not “appear” to the naked eye.
- 2 times it says you cannot see or enter the Kingdom without being born from above (born again).
- 2 times it says entering the Kingdom comes from God’s will and producing fruit.
Tomorrow I will delve deeper into this concept and provide additional insights to help put this in perspective. In the meantime, know how precious you are to me.
Love Dad.