“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
(Revelation 1:8)
Time belongs to created existence, but God is not contained within it. Scripture teaches that “one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,” not because these periods are literally interchangeable, but because the longest duration imaginable is measurably insignificant in light of the eternality of God. A thousand years in His sight are as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. Even a thousand of our lifetimes is of no consequence when compared with His infinite duration.
Scripture therefore refers to Him directly as the everlasting God, the eternal God, and the One who inhabits eternity. Eternity does not only speak to His duration; it also characterizes Hs divine perfections. His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. His power is eternal, as is His Kingship. The repeated doxologies of Scripture—blessing, glory, honor, and dominion forever and ever—are confessions that God neither begins nor ceases, and that His majesty is without temporal boundary.[1]
Before creation, before generations, before heaven and earth, God is. Nothing preceded Him, caused Him, or brought Him into being. All creatures have a beginning, but God does not. He stands before all things as the One whose being is eternally His own.
The heavens and the earth, though vast and enduring in comparison with human life, are continually changing. Scripture tells us that they will wear out like a garment (Isaiah 51:6), but God remains the same. His years have no end. Creation may pass from one condition to another, generations may rise and disappear, and all earthly things may decay, yet no alteration touches His eternal being.
These truths culminate in Revelation when He is proclaimed the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the One which is, and which was, and which is to come.” He is coexistent with every distinction creatures make between past, present, and future. Such language does not subject Him to time, but declares that every age exists beneath the eternal One.
For these reasons, we must avoid the illusion of living as though present moments were ultimate. The human heart easily treats temporary pleasures, passing anxieties, brief honors, and immediate troubles as though they possessed lasting weight. Yet the truth is that all temporal things shrink before the One whose years have no end.
Contemplations:
- I Confess How Easily I Live as Though Time Were Everything. You are from everlasting to everlasting, and yet I can so easily become absorbed in the immediate. I give passing troubles, pleasures, and concerns a significance they do not warrant. Forgive me for living as though the present moment were ultimate. Teach me to measure temporary things in light of Your eternity and to remember that what seems significant now is still only a moment before You.
- I Confess How Small My Thoughts of You Become. You inhabit eternity, yet I often forget that You are infinitely above humanity. You had no beginning, received Your being from none, and cannot nor will not cease to be. Let Your eternity humble me and correct every tendency to reduce Your majesty to what I can measure.
- I Confess My Attachment to What Wears Out. Scripture tells us that the heavens and earth grow old, yet I hold onto temporary things as though they could provide permanent security. Teach me to hold temporal blessings with gratitude but without dependence, and to trust instead in the One whose years have no end.
- I Confess How Often I Forget the First and the Last. You are Alpha and Omega, yet I so often live as though I am responsible for beginning and ending everything in my little world. Forgive such self-centeredness. You were before me, You sustain me now, and You will remain when my earthly life is gone. Put my place in proper order beneath Your eternal being, and remind me that You govern each moment I live.
Prayer (Confession):
Everlasting God, I confess how poorly I live before the reality of Your eternity. You are from everlasting. You had no beginning, no cause, and no one before You.
Forgive me for measuring life almost entirely by my present circumstances. A day can feel overwhelming, a season can seem endless, and passing troubles can occupy my entire focus, while I forget that a thousand years are as nothing before Your infinite duration.
Bodies grow old, possessions fade, earthly conditions change, and generations disappear, and still I seek stability in things that cannot remain. Forgive me for thinking too little of the God who remains the same when heaven and earth grow old.
You are the first and the last. There was none before You, and none shall come after You. You are the One who is, who was, and who is to come.
Make this truth govern my heart, and teach me to live my brief life beneath the majesty of Your endless being.
And when my thoughts become confined to the present, lift them again to You, the eternal King whose years have no end.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References:
Rev. 22:13; Isa. 41:4; Isa. 9:6; Gen. 17:1
[1] John Tillotson, The Remaining Discourses, on the Attributes of God, (London: printed for Ri. Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul’s Churchyard, 1700), 364-367.
