8 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is
with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2
Peter 3:8
We as people see the world from our own vantage point and
time. From the early morning hours, to the
afternoon, and continued into
the late evening, man has always documented his various activities.
Man is aware of the seasons, and this has helped him greatly, to
know when to plant, and when to harvest. His farming and
cultivation has been uniquely tied to the seasons, and the sun.
But we are always in a hurry to get to this concert or that activity.
We stress and fume because of traffic, or obstacles, that might cause us to be
late. And of course, our jobs start and end at a certain time each day. Weddings
and funerals are set to begin at a specified time and place. Without having our
schedules marked for certain times and places, would cause great chaos, and we
wouldn’t know when something began, nor when it
ended.
We turn our clocks back in
the fall, and we spring forward every year. We mark our calendars for certain
holidays, birthdays, and other days of remembrance. We also have definite days
for specific biblical feasts that are to be remembered that have been set down
for observance.
And yet our time that we
live upon this earth is but a short measure to God. For while we have been
living out our existence, even for eighty years or more, he was still watching
our life pass before him. We are but a mist, a cloud, that passes before his
eyes. And yet this is not to diminish his great love for us, but merely to
illustrate how our finite existence compares with his everlasting character.
God’s time table is much
different than ours. He dwells outside of time, and he sees the
beginning and the end all at once. All throughout man’s history, and documented
biblical accounts, God has seen how a man or a woman would deliver a nation,
leave a country, or prophesy to many. He saw their potential before they had
just begun. He saw their finished work, in spite of all the obstacles and
weaknesses that they would face.
Our concept of time is
limited to our finite minds. It is quite a quandary to consider that God has no
beginning for he was here along with the Son and the Spirit, before all things.
For he was here before anything ever was, and he will be here from everlasting
unto everlasting. Time is not measured with him as it is with us. Man
compartmentalizes his life’s moments and deeds. He uses a yardstick and the
minutes and seconds on a clock---but the Father’s time table is
other-dimensional. The hands on his dial move ever so slowly, as he would want
all to come to him. And yet the “time” will come when the hourglass will finally
empty, and we will have to make a decision.
Our earth and everything in
it, will eventually be done away with. For at that time, the former things will
not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. At that time, when new heavens
and a new earth are created, then we will live forever in God’s
other-dimensional period of time. And yet, it won’t be a period of time, but it
will rather be for all eternity. And then perhaps we will begin to
understand that time has no meaning. For he who was here before
the beginning will continue unto everlasting.
Then we will know as we are
known, for we will see him face-face.
The Lord would say,
“For…is not time in my hands, says the Lord? I have
watched and I have seen Abraham and Isaac. I was
here to see Moses deliver the children of Israel from Egypt.
I remember when each of my children were born. I know of all those
who have come before you. I set kings into office,
and yet many fell into corruption. I have watched empires come and
go. I have seen the destruction of Nineveh.
I was here when the great flood covered the earth; and I was here
when the earth was repopulated again.
I watched as my Son was born of a virgin, and I watched as he cried
in Gethsemane. I watched as he died on a
cross and rose again.
And yet, all of these things that have transpired are but a droplet
of the time that I have lived. And I know of
everything that will transpire in your own lives. I know when you
sleep and when you awaken. And I know
when you will live your last days upon this earth.
“
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to
face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been
fully known. I Cor. 13:12
Stephen Hanson
No comments:
Post a Comment