Christian Living

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God & Time

Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) “For thus says the High and Lofty one Who inhabits eternity…”

A long time ago the prophet Habakuk asked the Lord about the social decline of his land. God began his answer saying, "Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told" (Habakuk 1:5). As I read it, I realized what a great and encouraging promise that is to us, even in these times. Just like the numerous other verses that we use to encourage others and strengthen ourselves. We read the Scripture and God reveals some practical & specific application for our lives. Our bible studies & worship services always remind us of what God has said and how He is still speaking to us through his Word, the Bible. Then I paused and took a step back and gave it more thought and asked myself, “how come so many verses do apply so accurately now”?

What I personally found amazed me. We always hear that the reason theses verses we study are so applicable is because human history is a constant cycle. I think it was Malcolm Muggeridge who said, “new news is just old news happening to new people”. I believe that this statement carries a lot of truth. Even Solomon says, “ there is nothing new under the sun.” The issues of war, politics, power, money, spirituality, death and such things are always present and we are caught having to deal with essentially the same things as those centuries before us, seemingly having learned nothing from our past. And though that is undeniably true, there is something else I’d like to add to this thought. There is a greater, far more profound idea that we can explore.

In Exodus 3, Moses asked God what he should answer the people when they asked who sent him. The answer God gave him was “I AM WHO I AM.” Most of the time we read pass this statement as mere poetics and that God was just being dramatic in his answer. But when God (v.14) clarifies what Moses should say: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”, then we should pay a little closer attention. God wanted to communicate his name to Israel as “I am”, not “I will be” nor “I was”. I believe there is a major significance in the way God specifies this. It looks like a grammatical error at first until you look at what God might be implying. Someone said that, “God is not a being with a lot of time, He is outside of time completely”. That He is a God that is in a constant state of “now”, hence the name “I AM”. Revelation 1:4 says, “…Him who is, who was, and who will be…" The reason why he is the same yesterday, today, & forever is because He is outside our concept of time, able to look at the beginning and the end of what we consider as history, just as easy as the present. The Lord is above it all. Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) says, “For thus says the High and Lofty one Who inhabits eternity…” Let's think this through. Paul Says in Colossians 1 that the Lord made everything, both visible and not visible. Some will point out that this statement means He created not only matter, energy, and the atoms, but even the concepts of logic, truth, knowldge, space, & time- that He made absolutely everything that exists. If we venture out and entertain the idea that God even made "time", then it must mean He himslef is outside of time- or at least outside of our concept of what time/history is.

And so if our God is like that, then his written word, which his primary means of communication to us, might bear some of the same qualities. The book of Hebrews says, “For the word of God is living and powerful”. God stuffed life & power in His word. It is alive and its breath came from the almighty “I AM”. And so I’d like to propose that the reason why The Scripture is so applicable for contemporary life is, not only because we live in an endless repeating cycle of human events and emotions, but also because the Bible is a direct connection to a being who is outside of time, who Himself is always the same and therefore always effective and relevant. The idea is a little hard to wrap around our minds, but when we realize even a fraction of the possibility, we grow to understand a concept of God that will amaze us, which in turn comforts us. That His promises are as true now, as they were back then, not only because of the world’s repetitive nature, but because He is a God that remains the same since He sits enthroned in the infinity of eternity..

March M. Villareal
[email protected]
www.freewebs.com/manswicked

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