Does God have time

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Rock022

Banned
#1
Dec 5, 2012
885
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#1
As I meditate and listen, I have come to understand this:

If God is the beginning and the end, he is not of time, He is the Past, Present and Future.

It is because of this that I believe when we die we live trough Christ, because the end has already happened with him. The predestination believe may come from this, but I do not believe in it because God gave us free will. It is because he is the past, the present and the future He knows what decisions we made even before we made them He was already there. Our free will is not affected by this, we make the decision to follow or not.
 
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kenisyes

Guest
#2
#2
Right. He loves you unconditionally. That means if you really want to leave Him, He will let you. He already knows Joe over there will leave Him, and Joe will wind up in Hell, but because He loves Joe, God does not forcibly stop Joe, He just keeps trying to tell Joe, "I love you and I wish you wouldn't do this." I'm sure this makes God very sad sometimes.
 
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Bookreader

Banned
#3
Jan 10, 2013
318
4
0
#3
If one thinks about things that God has shown us.
We have 4 dimensions that we can perceive.
We can move through 3 (up/down, left/right, in/out) but we are constrained to move linearly in one direction through the fourth.

If a being was of higher dimension it would not be constrained linearly in one direction through time.
It, in theory be able to perceive time, forwards or back, as we perceive 'left or right'
So God is a 5+ dimension being.

If I choose to turn to God after 45 years it not because God decided, but because I did.
God knew I would because he is not limited in the fourth dimension.

There are, btw people going back many years and many more now that thing there are many more than 4 dimensions.
All that Christians (or Jews or Muslims, and perhaps others) can say is God is THE MOST DIMENSIONAL.
If there are 26 dimensions according to M-theory, God is the only 27-dimension thing.
 
RedTent

RedTent

Banned
#4
Oct 31, 2011
8,200
182
0
#4
I find it so difficult to wrap my mortal mind around the fact that God is eternal, without time. I think I somewhat comprehend other dimensions. I know there are angels, yet I don’t see them and it seems to me it is because they are in another dimension.

I have the most trouble with understanding how Christ relates to my mortal understanding of time. Christ is God, eternal. His atoning power was used for thousands of years before He lived with us as a man. We need to understand how time affected this, what changed when He lived with us. The world’s understanding of this has caused lots of trouble through the years.
 
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Precious_Sunflower

Guest
#5
#5
One thing I have chosen to not dwelling too long on, is this question; "How long does Eternity lasts?" I remember when thinking and wondering too long about this, I could even feel afraid of the thought; "What if God would get tired of us or tired of me?" kinda question ;) This all mostly only made me more and more confused as well as I felt much more fear and worries about it as well.

Now I just prefer trusting Jesus, and to beleive that Eternity will be forever. As it is also stated in God's Word. :)
 
MichaelAH

MichaelAH

Banned
#6
Jan 4, 2013
178
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#6
Time does not effect this in any way. It is your choice that does. So I believe.
 
resurrection33

resurrection33

Banned
#7
Dec 19, 2009
27,513
128
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#7
Rock022 said:
As I meditate and listen, I have come to understand this:

If God is the beginning and the end, he is not of time, He is the Past, Present and Future.

It is because of this that I believe when we die we live trough Christ, because the end has already happened with him. The predestination believe may come from this, but I do not believe in it because God gave us free will. It is because he is the past, the present and the future He knows what decisions we made even before we made them He was already there. Our free will is not affected by this, we make the decision to follow or not.
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I don’t believe in predestination. The Lord loves us and is leading us to heaven. He requires that we repent of our sin:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV
Click to expand...
 
RedTent

RedTent

Banned
#8
Oct 31, 2011
8,200
182
0
#8
Precious_Sunflower; Now I just prefer trusting Jesus, and to beleive that Eternity will be forever. As it is also stated in God's Word. :)]
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I have no trouble trusting that Jesus will forgive and save me for eternity, but my problem is with knowing just who Jesus is in relation to time. I feel so sure, yet I am often told such things as that Jesus in AD was different than Jesus in BC. Scripture talks of this, too. Jesus said “you were told, but I tell you”. Christian people have told me that I must know that much of the OT was in BC so was for the Jews, not for me. The entire book of Hebrews tells of the change in the way we can grow in our spiritual life through the life of Christ at a certain point of time. Yet I must understand that God is eternal.
 
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Rock022

Banned
#9
Dec 5, 2012
885
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#9
RedTent said:
Christian people have told me that I must know that much of the OT was in BC so was for the Jews, not for me.
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This is a false teaching because all the Old Testament brings light to the New Testament.
 
RedTent

RedTent

Banned
#10
Oct 31, 2011
8,200
182
0
#10
=Rock022;This is a false teaching because all the Old Testament brings light to the New Testament
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Thank you, Rock! I need to remember it is men who tell me different, it is scripture I have learned this from.

I think God is eternal, what is written, OT and NT is screpture. What was true of God at creation is true of God today, for God is without time. God is the I Am. His attibutes are rock solid, never changing.
 
RickyZ

RickyZ

Senior Member
#11
Sep 20, 2012
9,635
787
113
#11
We need to understand how time and eternity interact. Most people think time is linear - there’s eternity at one end, then a time line, then eternity at the other end. But that’s wrong. What we need to picture is a wheel. A wheel has a hub and a rim. Imagine God and eternity existing in the hub, and time running along the rim. With this picture in mind, we can see how God can reach out and touch any point in time, at any point in time, like randomly inserted spokes.

This brings up the role of praise and thanksgiving for answered prayer, as our worship goes into the eternal hub before God, Who can then react upon it at any point in time, including our past, influencing the outcome of what we’re rejoicing over before it ever happens.

We also need to understand that what happens in one realm reflects upon the other… the two interact much like the light caught between two facing mirrors. What happens in one reflects in the other back to the first and returning again and again in an endless chain. That's part of what makes history/time repeat itself.
 
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kenisyes

Guest
#12
#12
Bookreader said:
If one thinks about things that God has shown us.
We have 4 dimensions that we can perceive.
We can move through 3 (up/down, left/right, in/out) but we are constrained to move linearly in one direction through the fourth.

If a being was of higher dimension it would not be constrained linearly in one direction through time.
It, in theory be able to perceive time, forwards or back, as we perceive 'left or right'
So God is a 5+ dimension being.

If I choose to turn to God after 45 years it not because God decided, but because I did.
God knew I would because he is not limited in the fourth dimension.

There are, btw people going back many years and many more now that thing there are many more than 4 dimensions.
All that Christians (or Jews or Muslims, and perhaps others) can say is God is THE MOST DIMENSIONAL.
If there are 26 dimensions according to M-theory, God is the only 27-dimension thing.
Click to expand...
Glad to make your acquaintance, BookReader. I thought I was the only person writing here who thought about God that way. I have to share this little old limerick poem:

There was a young many from Trinity
Who solved the square root of infinity.
While counting the digits, was seized by the fidgets.
Dropped science, and took up divinity.
 
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