Taking Time: Thoughts on the Eternal God

Yesterday, as I was cruising up around 32,000 feet at almost five hundred miles an hour, it had me thinking. Now, I am not a science expert, especially on topics like the theory of relativity. But I can't help but wonder: if we’re flying around five hundred miles an hour, and I run down the aisle toward the front of the plane, am I running at five hundred and ten miles an hour? If at the same time someone runs on the ground, maybe even sprinting, am I still not running exponentially faster than they are?

Does that mean that time is moving differently for me up here? Okay, I recognize that I'm probably not making much sense, and probably sound like I have no clue what relativity is. I digress. But I think we can agree that time and space can be interesting.

And have you ever wondered why time feels like it moves differently depending on what you're doing? And how about the fact that almost anyone you ask will say that as they've gotten older, time seems to move faster?

I'm not saying there is a correlation between any of these things. My point is that we're very aware of time (and space for that matter), and yet it's something we can't wrap our minds around. We know that one day our time will end, yet time itself will continue.

I read through a handful of Psalms on this flight, and one thing that jumped off the page is that the authors remind us that God is "from everlasting" (Psalm 90:2, 93:2). God exists outside the phenomena we experience regarding time. He is not bound by it like we are. He is eternal, with no beginning or end.

Even if I fully understood the depths of relativity, if I could comprehend the deepest workings of our universe, I wouldn't begin to understand the depths of who God is.

Yet this eternal God who exists outside of time stepped into time.

That's a mind-blowing thought, isn't it?

He who wraps Himself in light wrapped Himself in the time-bound flesh of mankind. The second Person of the Trinity took on humanity and experienced time as we do, yet without losing His divinity.

We're venturing into territory where we must be careful, of course. To understand how Jesus could be both wholly God and wholly man is hard for us. But, to ponder these things—without entering into heresy—should cause us to look at God with even more wonder.

So the next time you think about time, take time to ponder the God who created time. And praise Him for sending His Son to step into time to ensure that those who trust in Him would live eternally with Him.