Eternality of God
In last week’s blog post, I did an introduction on the attributes of God. It’s important that we don’t come to our own conclusions about who God is, but rather that we know the truth about who God really is and what He is like. And we can know that because of special revelation.
God has revealed Himself to us through the Scriptures and most importantly through the Person of Jesus Christ.
The more we understand the attributes or characteristics of God, the more we’ll know how to relate to Him as our God through Jesus Christ if we’ve put our faith in Him for salvation.
In this blog post we will focus on the eternality of God which refers to God’s existence outside of time, meaning He is not bound by the limitations of time as humans experience it.
However, it’s difficult to talk about the eternality of God without talking about the aseity of God first.
ASEITY OF GOD
Aseity refers to God’s self-existence. God exists independently of anything or anyone else and is the source of His own being
John 5:26 says, “…the Father has life in himself.”
In other words, God is not a created being. Life just exists within Himself.
No one created God and God did not create Himself.
Theologian, A. W. Pink, explained God’s aseity this way:
“He is solitary in His majesty, unique in His excellency, peerless in His perfections. He sustains all, but is Himself independent of all. He gives to all, but is enriched by none.”
You can probably see how aseity naturally leads into God’s eternality.
ETERNALITY OF GOD
God’s eternality is His aseity with respect to time.
God has just always existed. He is not a Being who was not here in one moment and then here in the next. He has just always been.
Here is the way Louis Berkhof defines the eternality of God:
“That perfection of God whereby He is elevated above all temporal limits and all succession of moments, and possesses the whole of His existence in one indivisible present.”
According to Isaiah 40:28, the Lord is the everlasting God.
When God appeared to Moses in Exodus 3, He tells him that His name is “I AM.” Not I’ve become or I will be, but rather, I just am.
God has no beginning or end. He is everlasting.
GOD IS NOT DEPENDENT ON ANYTHING OR ANYONE
Therefore, when we look at God’s aseity and His eternality, we see that God is not dependent on anything or anyone.
Think about that: An unborn child is dependent on its mother for life.
All human beings and animals are dependent on their surroundings for life.
Trees and plants are dependent on the sun and rain for life.
Every living thing is dependent on someone or something else, but not God.
God is independent and exists in and of Himself!
OUR DEPENDENCE ON THE SELF-EXISTENT, ETERNAL GOD OF THE UNIVERSE
When we consider God’s aseity, eternality, and that He is not dependent on anyone or anything, it shows how our dependence upon Him is so necessary.
You are not the center of the universe
A lot of us tend to live our lives as if we are all who matter. We may not say it out loud, but our lifestyle declares, “This world and everyone in it are here to make me happy, to entertain me, to give me what I need and want!”
But when we truly consider who God is, the self-existent One who has always just been here and who is life itself, we can’t help but be humbled and realize that He is the epicenter of all things.
And as we begin to grasp this reality, the only appropriate response is to worship and praise Him as it did King David in Psalm 8.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens… 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them… (Psalm 8:1,3-4)
When we consider who God is and see Him for who He truly is, we realize how little we are compared to Him. We realize how dependent we are on Him for the life that we even have, and we worship Him.
You are valuable to God and have purpose in Him
If God is self-existent and has everything He needs in and of Himself, He did not have to create humanity. The very fact that you and I are here means that we are valuable and have significance, meaning, and purpose in this world.
You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. You are here for a reason, and that too causes us to praise God and worship Him.
In Psalm 8, David goes on to say this:
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:4-9)
David is sitting there going, “Oh my gosh. You are the self-existent, eternal God of the universe, and yet you created us. You thought of us. You desired to be with us. You even gave us a role in your Kingdom to do things that really matter while we are here!”
But on top of all that, let’s not forget that once we turned our backs on God in the garden, He still pursued us and chased after us to rescue us.
He even entered this world as a man. The self-existent and eternal God of the universe, squeezed Himself into time, space, and matter in order to rescue us from our sin so that He could be with us forever!
You matter to God. You are loved. You are valuable to Him.
Therefore, let’s declare as David did in Psalm 8:9, “Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Abundant life can only come from God
If God is life itself, then real life can only be found in Him. Anything or anyone else we are trying to find life in is only counterfeit life.
Jesus declared that He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25) and the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
God, the one who is life itself, came in the Person of Jesus Christ to give Himself for us so that He could put His life in us.
If you’ve put your faith in Jesus for salvation, you have abundant life in Him.
You have eternal life in Him now. You are in a spiritual union with the God of the universe who is eternal. He who has the Son has eternal life now (1 John 5:11-12).
