It It Time and Eternity or Eternity and Time?

“Time and eternity” or “eternity and time”—how should we refer to our subject? Eternity always goes first. Eternity has no beginning. There is a book entitled “The God Who Is,” with the emphasis on “is.” Eternity has no beginning, and that is why it goes first. Time has a beginning. If you say, “The God Who Is,” then He is eternal. Eternity is infinite, forever, the eternal now, and timeless. The Divine attributes are ever the same—omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, etc. They are forever the same because eternity cannot be measured. God is immeasurable. Consider the word “time.” It has a beginning. It means commencement. It has a starting point—creation, origination, newcomer, origin, genesis, process, generation, continuous, until, succession, etc. Time is measured.

The more we learn from Scripture, the more ignorant we become. The hypocrite thinks that he has arrived. The Christian never arrives because he is always learning and will always be learning throughout eternity. Just to think about eternity and time should keep the Christian going. Read Psalm 90. It can be entitled “God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.” It is a prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Some understanding of the meaning of eternity and time and what it means to step out of time into eternity is very important. Lazarus and the rich man both passed from time into eternity; but the distance between them, which was experienced in time, was forever fixed with an eternal immensity (greatness, infinity). Do we ever stop to observe the slow motion of the shadow about us? It passes on with such imperceptible progress; yet, it will touch the last line of daylight shortly. Hence, our minutes and hours move forward with a silent pace; but they will arrive with certainty at the last second in time, however thoughtless we may be of their passing. (Read Psalm 39:4; 90:12.)

God has a hand in the history of man. There is a time to be born and a time to die (Eccl. 3:2). Thus, there is an appointed time to every person: “Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with Thee, and his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5 NASB). Man has no control over either his birth or death. Birth and death embrace the philosophy of life in time. That life is the gift of God. There is no free will involved in the gift of either physical or spiritual life. No person is the offspring of chance in either life or death. God’s determination governs the time of human life. There is an appointed time for every person upon earth. Hence, God controls the time when the heart will stop, the blood will cease to flow in the veins, and the eyes will close to the things that are seen. While the truth that no one dies an untimely death is consoling to Christians, it is not consoling to non-Christians.

We are constantly reminded that life on earth is short. Every vanishing shadow, dying plant, and dying person reminds one of the brevity of life: “Man, who is born of woman, is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain” (Job 14:1-2 NASB). Man springs up like a flower and is soon withered and gone. The impotences and imperfections of infancy, the vanities of youth, the anxieties of manhood, and the infirmities of age are closely linked together by one continual chain of sorrow and disquietude. Job described life on earth: (1) Human life comes forth like a flower. The poetic language here is appropriate. Children are like flowers that bud, unfolding their beauty as they grow and develop under the watchful eyes of their parents. (2) Life is full of trouble in its continuance. Trouble and distress are every person’s inheritance on earth. With these facts before us, we should not become so entangled with the world in time that we have no time to think about eternity. (3) Life in time is but a few days. The journey from the cradle to the grave is short: “So Jacob said to Pharaoh, The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning” (Gen. 47:9 NASB). The figures employed to describe the shortness of life on earth are various: “a step” (I Sam. 20:3 NASB), “a sigh” (Ps. 90:9 NASB), “a weaver’s shuttle” (Job 7:6 NASB), and “a vapor” (James 4:14 NASB). (4) Life is incessant in its course. Human life is measured by seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. These periodical revolutions roll on in rapid succession. Thus, we are all hastening on to our fixed state in eternity.

Human life stands on a plane different than any other form of life. In this respect, we are not as the grass of the field that mourns not for its fellows when they wither and die. God has endowed us with understanding, so that we are able to be instructed by the death of those around us. The sheep in their folds are unaware of what is happening to their companions when they are taken away to slaughter. The cattle graze in the meadows, ignorant that death awaits them. To us, however, it is given to know our own mortality, and we cannot suffer our comrades to be taken away by death without feeling emotion.

The significance of time is not the same to all men. To the elect, time is a precious possession. It is a time of redemption and deliverance (Gal. 1:4; I Pet. 1:18-20), regeneration (John 3:8; Ezek. 16:8), conversion (II Cor. 6:2; I Pet. 1:21-25), sanctification (I Thess. 4:4-12), and growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (II Pet. 3:18). On the other hand, the non-elect do not know the value of time. They do not know how to spend time anticipating eternity. They inquire as to what they shall do to kill time because they cannot spend it fast enough. They are perpetually calling in the assistance of others to help them kill time: “…the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead” (Eccl. 9:3 NASB). “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11 NASB). Although they slumber and sleep in a lethargy of sin, their days and judgment do not linger (II Pet. 2:3; Rom. 2:5).

The concept of the use of time is not the same in all men. Christians are exhorted to redeem (exagoradzo, to rescue from misapplication) the time (Eph. 5:16). Christ gives His sheep a perfect example of the use of time (John 9:4). Conversely, the non-Christian’s view of time is wholly selfish—“…eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19 NASB). Paul described the manner of men: “…LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE” (I Cor. 15:32 NASB).

Buying up the time is of supreme importance to Christians. Redeeming the time means buying up the opportunity, using time to the fullest, and making the most of time. The compound verb exagoradzo is used by Paul in only four verses (Gal. 3:13; 4:5; Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). It is used twice in the sense of buying from the curse of the law, and twice in the sense of making the most of time. To redeem means to reclaim by price that which has been lost, or to preserve by prudence that which is in danger. Redemption of time is different from the redemption of one who is lost. The lost person redeemed from sin can redeem the time by grace in the sense of making the most of it. He cannot redeem the time that is past, but he can make the most of the opportunity of the present and future. The merchant redeems the time by employing his capital wisely, the farmer by preparing the soil for the seed and cultivating the plants, the student by adding daily to his storehouse of knowledge, and the Christian by living for Christ and others rather than himself.

Pagans recommend sensuality in time, because they know of no enjoyments in eternity. Their statement, “…let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die” (I Cor. 15:32 NASB), is thought witty by undiscerning souls, those who have been blinded by Satan (I Cor. 4:3-4). Is it not foolish for a man to live in time without any thought about eternity? It is like a man spending time in a resort hotel, wining and dining in sensuality without any thought of the forthcoming bill. At last the day of reckoning comes, and he is presented with a bill that staggers his imagination. He says, “I never thought of that!” The hotel manager would say, “This man is either a fool or a scoundrel.” Paul described such a person: “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS” (Rom. 2:5-6 NASB).

Time is life’s book. Out of this book the elect extract wondrous wisdom by redeeming the time. The non-elect let the book lie unopened and die as fools. While the elect are receiving precious fruit that will abide eternally, the non-elect are perishing with hunger. Furthermore, while the elect are gaining new spiritual heights every day, the non-elect are sinking deeper into shame and degradation. The elect treat serious things seriously, but the non-elect treat trivial things seriously.

The sheep of God’s pasture treat the Bible seriously, because it alone gives us the true perspective of eternity and time. Searching for more truth is the business of Christians in time. Men of God are grieved to hear people speak presumptuously about things they gained in minutes which took the men of God years to gain through study. There is much presumption in religion today among those who embrace free will and those who embrace free grace. There is a lot of false assurance among both groups.

Arminians talk about free will and their “faith” or “decision.” They are taught that after they have put “their faith in Jesus,” they are to claim the promise (I John 5:9-13). The truth is that no person can be assured of his own salvation by simply putting “his faith” in the objective message of Scripture. The subjective spirit of faith, which is God’s gift, must precede a genuine experience of salvation by embracing the objective message of the gospel. A mere subjective knowledge of “I believe,” apart from the Holy Spirit to mediate the objective and subjective elements to the conscience, will not give true assurance. Presumption is founded on human faith and is proud. The character, not the strength, of one’s conviction proves the validity of his assurance. True assurance keeps the heart in a lowly posture. It is a faith manifesting itself and not arrogant stoutness. Human faith may believe that Christ is the Son of God (James 2:19), but divinely given faith cannot believe in another Jesus as Savior (II Cor. 11:1-4; John 10:4-5). A person may possess God-given faith, but this does not indicate that the person himself will immediately have absolute assurance. Assurance is requisite to the stability of the Christian but not to his being a Christian. The Christian’s knowledge may be limited, but it is real: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known” (I Cor. 13:12 NASB). The fact is that Christians know and see. The Psalmist said: “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105 NASB). It is neither more nor less than that. God has not promised to furnish answers to every question which the restless wit of man can frame. But He has revealed enough to light our path to follow Christ in time and to know the important things we can expect in eternity.

Many Calvinists talk about the faith of God’s elect (Titus 1:1), but they do not manifest obedience of that faith (Rom. 16:26). What value is there in a mere academic understanding of Biblical principles if those principles are not evidenced in life? Saving faith, which is the fruit of Divine election, is a refining grace. It cleanses the heart (Acts 15:9). Refining faith does not take away all sin from the life of the believer, but it removes the love of it. It is an obedient faith; therefore, it melts our wills into God’s will.

How did Paul know that the Thessalonian believers were elected by God (I Thess. 1:4)? His knowledge came as the result of their work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope (I Thess. 1:3, 9, 10). The word of God effectually works in those who truly believe (I Thess. 2:13). When these evidences of election are missing, those who academically state truth are presumptuous. They are no better off than the rich man. There is a real danger today of words outrunning experience. When expression exceeds the experience, the unreality of the supposed experience is soon revealed.

Eternity will not be the same to all men. The perfection of each believer plus the unmediating presence of Christ will be the acme of fellowship. On the other hand, the sinful condition of each unbeliever, plus eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power will be the lowest point of debasement. The Christian will have a glorified body like Christ to enhance his enjoyment of the presence of Jesus Christ and heaven. The non-Christian will also have a resurrection body, but it will be to increase his punishment. The rich man in Hades “saw” Abraham and Lazarus. He asked that Lazarus might dip his “finger” in water and cool his “tongue” (Luke 16:23-24). The words saw, finger, and tongue prove that neither the rich man nor Lazarus is a disembodied spirit.