A mother was approached by her young son, who asked, “Mommy, did God make himself?” She dropped what she was doing and sat down with her youngster for a little talk. Pointing to her wedding band, she said, “This is a ‘love ring,’ which your daddy gave me when we were married. Look at it closely and tell me where it begins and where it ends.”

            The youngster examined it carefully and then said, “There is no starting place and stopping place to a ring.” The mother replied, “That’s the way it is with God. He had no beginning and has no end, yet he encircles our lives with his presence. Nobody ever made God – He always was!” Somehow the boy realized that for God to be God, he could not have been created. He had to be without beginning and without end.

            Have you ever thought about that—for God to be God, he could not have been created and he is infinite in relation to time? Have you ever pondered the fact that God has no beginning and no end—he always was and always will be? Most of us live our lives so bound by time that it is difficult for us to even contemplate a being that is not limited by time in any way. Have you ever realized that God is the creator of time, and therefore, he has the ability to work inside or outside of time? If you have ever considered any of these, you have thought about the doctrine of the eternality of God.

The Biblical Testimony of the Eternal God

            The great Christian writer, A.W. Tozer argues:

The concept of everlastingness runs like a lofty mountain range throughout the entire Bible…The truth is that if the Bible did not teach that God possessed endless being in the ultimate meaning of that term, we would be compelled to infer it from his other attributes, and if the Holy Scriptures had no word for absolute everlastingness, it would be necessary for us to coin one to express the concept, for it is assumed, implied, and generally taken for granted everywhere throughout the inspired Scriptures. (The Knowledge of the Holy, 38-39)

Tozer is correct! Even if the Bible never explicitly mentioned God’s eternality, his other attributes would philosophically necessitate it for God to be God. For instance, how can God be omniscient (all-knowing) or omnipotent (all-powerful) if he is limited by time? If God is not eternal, he cannot know everything that has happened in the past or will happen in the future. But thankfully, the Bible provides a plethora of passages that directly affirm God’s eternality. Allow me to offer a sampling of verses that testify to God’s eternal nature:

• Job 36:26—“Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; nor can the number of His years be discovered.”
• Isaiah 57:15—For this is what the high and lofty One says– he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
• Lamentations 5:19—“You, O LORD, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation.”
• 1 Timothy 6:15-16—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
• 2 Peter 3:8—“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
• Revelation 1:8—I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

These are only a few of the many verses that speak to God’s attribute of eternality. I quickly share these to give you a sense of the breadth of the biblical affirmation of God’s eternality, but I would like to slow down and focus on one particular passage that describes its depth.

Divine Eternality vs. Human Finitude (Psalm 90)

            Psalm 90 is the only Psalm in the Bible attributed to Moses. He probably penned these words toward the end of his life (perhaps even on his death bed) while he reflected on how fast his years flew by. This Psalm contrasts God’s eternality with human finitude:

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning—though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years– or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.

            The Psalm begins with a dramatic declaration of God’s eternality. He has been our dwelling place throughout “all generations” and he has been God before the mountains were born or the earth was brought forth. God was God before he created the world or anything in it, including time. For him, a thousand years is like a day and a day is like a thousand years. God is not bound or limited by time in any way!

            This is clearly contrasted by the fact that God “sweeps men away in the sleep of death” and “returns them to dust.” Human life on earth flees quickly, like morning grass that withers by the evening. Moses observes that the average human life is somewhere between seventy and eighty years, but even those are filled with trouble and sorrow and they quickly pass away.

            God is eternal but we are not! God is not limited by time but we are! This is why Moses prays for God to teach us to number our days. He petitions for a heart of wisdom so that we will know how to maximize the precious time that God gives us here on earth. He asks for God’s compassion and unfailing love so that we may be glad all our days.

            Every time I read the Moses’ words “teach us to number our days aright,” I am reminded of an old Harry Chapin poem. Perhaps you will recognize the haunting lyrics:

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin’ ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew
He’d say “I’m gonna be like you, Dad
You know I’m gonna be like you”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you comin’ home son
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then, Dad
We’re gonna have a good time then

            Chapin’s song and Moses’ psalm make the same point: life is short, therefore, we must use our time wisely! We are not eternal like God; we are bound by time. As we get older our time gets less and less and it seems to go by faster and faster. How well have you numbered your days? How wisely have you used the time God has given you here on earth? Have you focused on the things that are most important—like your relationship with Jesus Christ and your family?

            Unfortunately, I know so many people who waste so much time. They say things like “I am so busy; I just don’t have enough time for church” or “I wish I had more time to spend with my kids!” Yet some of these same people are consumed by frivolous pursuits! May we join Moses in praying for God to teach us to number our days that we might gain a heart of wisdom!

            Before I conclude, let me press this point a little further. God is eternal and we are not. God has no beginning and no end; we do have a beginning and an end on earth. But the Bible also teaches us that whenever we die, our bodies return to dust but our souls live on for eternity in heaven or hell. Moreover, what we do with Jesus Christ while we are on earth determines where we will spend eternity. If we trust in him as our Lord and Savior and become his disciples while we are here, we will live with him in eternal paradise. If we do not, we will be separated from him in eternal damnation. Indeed, may we number our days aright and gain a heart of wisdom!

            As I conclude, all this hymn written by Bernard of Cluny, the great twelfth-century monk, help us to reflect upon the eternality of God and the finitude of man: