The Knowledge of the Holy: The Eternity of God
[Editor’s Note: This is a 23-Day Series exploring different aspects of God’s nature and personality, using Tozer’s “The Knowledge of the Holy” as a discussion starter. You can read the introduction of the series here.]
Sometimes when you start talking about God and His nature it starts to sound more like a Sci-Fi story than the God that you’ve always thought you knew. This is certainly the case as Tozer begins to dissect God’s relationship with time. Instead of being someone who experiences time like we do, Tozer declares God stands outside of time. This doesn’t just make Him timeless or ageless, but alien to time. One of my favorite quotes from this chapter is this: “God dwells in eternity but time dwells in God.” This allows God to exist as the same God at every point in history. God is unbound by time.
According to Tozer, this should have two results in our life: It should cause us to seek refuge in Him and cry out to Him for Him to teach us His perspective of life on Earth. Finally, Tozer points out that the image of God inside of humanity longs for eternity, yet our fallen nature rages against the shortness of life. These two opposite desires meet resolution in the saving message of Jesus, who frees us to join God in eternity.
This chapter was an absolute thrill for me. I all too often forget how conscious I am of the day I live in, the constraints of time and scheduling, and the perspective of other time-bound humans. Reading about God’s eternal nature reminded me again how God is like the ultimate historian, who understands more from a big picture perspective than we do. He values heart attitudes and actions that are eternally good, not just the ones that are pronounced good by our ever shifting cultures.
Instead of causing us to believe that we have all the time in the world and there is no rush, the message of God’s eternal nature causes Moses to cry out to God for help to use his days wisely. “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom,” (Psalm 90:12). When we see how limited our lives are compared to God’s eternal nature, it provokes in us a desire to use the limited time we have wisely. It frees us from the rat race and the trappings of our short-sighted cultures.
This message is so necessary in the body of Christ today! So often we are so bound by what is culturally appropriate, even though our culture has only existed a short time. Instead, we can be freed to serve a God who has eternal values that He backs up with eternal rewards. Giving your life to serve and witness to a remote village with little fanfare will make you neither rich nor famous. It can look like a waste of a life. But when we understand that we serve a God intent on drawing as many people as He can to His son Jesus and He rewards those who serve the least with places of honor in the age to come, then we can look at that life and call it wisdom. We can gladly surrender ourselves because we serve a God who isn’t bound by our shortness of life. And that is freedom.
My encouragement for you today is to take some time thinking about God and His eternal nature. And as you do, pray the prayer of Moses: “God, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.”
That’s my take. Please share with us yours in the comment section!
It’s not to late for you to join in with us. You can catch up in the posts below:
The Knowledge of the Holy Series
Day 1: Why We Must Think Rightly About God
Day 3: A Divine Attribute: Something True About God
Day 5: The Self Existence of God
Day 6: The Self Sufficiency of God
Day 7: The Eternity of God
Day 8: God’s Infinitude
Day 9: The Immutability of God
Day 10: The Divine Omniscience
Day 11: The Wisdom of God
Day 12: The Omnipotence of God
Day 13: The Divine Transcendence
Day 14: God’s Omnipresence
Day 15: The Faithfulness of God
Day 16: The Goodness of God
Day 17: The Justice of God
Day 18: The Mercy of God
Day 19: The Grace of God
Day 20: The Love of God
Day 21: The Holiness of God
Day 22: The Sovereignty of God
Day 23: The Open Secret
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Cluster Map
We have 4 dimensions” Width, length, depth and time. God inhabits all four (and others) all at the same time. God is so amazing. Fear of anything in this world should be cast out from our hearts, because as we follow God (who loves us completely) with complete trust that nothing will ever surprise Him since He is already there in space and time.