God is Learned

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~5 min read

Hi there! Welcome to Well Lit Soul. Where we seek God, face darkness, and shine brighter. This season of the blog is all about learning. So today’s blog is called “God is Learned”.

We made it to the end of season 3 and I thought, what a better way to close out than to make God the focus. But how in the world do you write something about learning God Almighty? How could I talk about God in His fullness? Well, I don’t think I can. I think only the scripture can come close to that. And once again, we will spend our entire lives learning and understanding His word. But I was listening to a sermon not too long ago that gave me an idea. It talked about an important distinction between God and His creation of mankind. The way we experience time. 

Humans measure just about everything by time. Whether it was by day and night when Adam and Eve were created or whether it’s by our clocks and schedules today. We are often living and evaluating our lives based on time. We even measure our relationship to God based on time. How quickly He answers our prayers and things like that. But this sermon pointed out that God’s experience and use of time is completely different from ours. As 2 Peter 3:8 says,

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

And that’s already difficult to wrap our minds around. But what really stood out is that the preacher noted that God purposefully created time. He made it specifically for His creations. God did not need time because He is eternal and exists far beyond time. So let’s talk about the way God, and God alone, is eternal.

In general, humans experience time on a line. A timeline if you will. One way this was described to me a few years ago is to think of a drinking straw that you hold in your hand so it looks like a flat line. We, as humans, look at time like points along that straw. But God sees time as if He is looking through the straw. Everything shows up at the same time. There is no beginning or end because all of it is there simultaneously. It was a helpful way for me to wrap my brain around God’s perspective on time. But nothing will do it better than scripture, so I’ve selected a few verses that explain this far better than I could.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 - 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.

Revelation 1:8 - ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’

We can see here that not only is God eternal, but He also created eternity. I mean, come on! Here are some scriptures that look at that more closely. 

Psalm 93:2 - "Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity."

Psalm 145:13 - "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations."

1 Timothy 1:17 - "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

And the beautiful part is that God exists on high in His eternal kingdom, but He also wants us there, living forever with Him, Isaiah 57:15. So, He made this possible by coming down from His throne on high and humbling Himself to become a man, dying in the most cruel manner possible in His perfect innocence, and conquering death by resurrecting and returning to heaven. In doing all of this for us, our King established a new covenant, or agreement, that gives all of us hope to live forever in His time. And He already fulfilled His portion of this promise through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, so now it’s our turn. God made it clear that if we want to enter His kingdom, join His body, and live eternally with Him, we must be born again through baptism and faithfully do His will, John 3:5, Romans 6:3-4, and Matthew 7:21. 

And If we accept the terms of this agreement, the work requires faith, surrender, courage, and many of the things we’ve discussed this season. But the reward is greater than anything we could possibly fathom. To live, and not die. For our souls to be with God in His perfect kingdom eternally. And if at any time we feel lost or uncertain on the path to eternity, our first step is to seek God. Because as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18,

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Connection Question: What scriptures help you comprehend the eternal nature of God? How has it changed the way you think about time? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to connect with you about it.