God bless you in the exalted name of Jesus Christ, through whom we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:18).
The linear view of time is exemplified by our frequent resort to “time lines.” When we were in school, our teachers would draw a line on the blackboard. The left end of the line might represent the beginning of something — the birth of a person, or the founding of a nation, or an era. The right end of the line would mark the termination of that subject—the death of a person or the ending of an era. Therefore, when we consider the concept of “eternity,” we tend to view it as a line of infinite length — from “infinity” on the left and continuing toward “infinity” on the right.
When we think of “God,” we naturally assume that He is someone “with lots of time.” But this linear view suffers from the misconceptions carried over from an obsolete physics. Today we owe a great debt to the efforts of Dr. Albert Einstein. It was the insight of Dr. Einstein, in considering the nature of our physical universe, that we live in more than just three dimensions, and that time itself is a fourth physical dimension. This insight led to his famous Theory of Relativity — and the discovery that time itself is also part of our physical reality.
“People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and the future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” Albert Einstein
If you are a sci-fi lover, you have heard of the time-space continuum. When God created the universe in Genesis 1:1, He spoke space, matter and time into existence. They are among the “all things” which were created by Him (Revelation 4:11). Time exists when matter exists. But God is not matter; God, in fact, created matter. Time began when God created the universe. Before that, God was simply existing. Since there was no matter, and because God does not change, time had no existence and therefore no meaning, no relation to Him.
And this brings us to the meaning of the word “eternity.” “Eternity” is a term used to express the concept of something that has no end and/or no beginning. God has no beginning or end. He is outside the realm of time. Eternity is not something that can be absolutely related to God. God is even beyond eternity.
The God of the Bible is not affected by time, space, or matter. If he were affected by time, space, or matter” he would not be God. God is so much bigger than His creation. Time, space, and matter are what we call a continuum. All of them have to come into existence at the same instant. Because:
1) If there was the matter and no space, where would you put it?
2) If there was matter and space and no time, when would you put it?
3) You cannot have time, space or matter independently. They have to come into existence simultaneously.
The Bible answers that conundrum in 10 words, and we find them in Genesis 1:1.
1) In the beginning ― There’s Time
2) God created the heavens ― There’s Space
3) And the earth ― There’s Matter
So, you have time, space, and matter creating a trilogy of trilogies.
1) Time: past, present, future
2) Space: length, width, height
3) Matter: solid, liquid, gas
You have the trilogy of trilogies created instantaneously. Obviously, the God who created them has to be outside of them. If he is limited by time, space, or matter, He is not God! The guy who created this computer is not in the computer; He is not running around in there changing the numbers and making the graphics on the screen. Right? The God who created this universe is outside of the universe; He’s above it, beyond it. He is unaffected by it!