Sometimes it seems like our understanding of God is too confined. In a recent theological revelation, my understanding of God and how He interacts with us as his children was taken completely outside of the proverbial box. Simply put, the idea is that God exists both within and outside of time as we understand it.
Now before you say "so what" or "that's not possible" let us examine a few examples of what scripture has to say about God. First and foremost, God created the universe and everything in it. (Genesis 1, John 1) In fact the book of John states that "nothing was created except through him." (John 1:3) It is not a far stretch to say that time exists within the known universe, and that as such could not exist without God. The implication here is that God, who existed before all things, existed without time as we understand it in the known universe. And because God does not change (Malachi 3:6) He still exists outside of time and the known universe to this day.
Okay so God exists outside of time. Does that mean that He is some distant being that only exists outside the known universe? By no means! God's interactions with humanity are clear throughout scripture. In fact, they are too numerous to list all of them in this post. However, I will give a few key instances here. One of the most important examples is God's incarnation in the Man Jesus Christ. God would not be able to exist as Jesus Christ unless He also existed within our physical universe. In one interaction, Jesus said of himself "Before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:58) This quite intentional grammatical error was indicative of Jesus' deity, and further proof of God's existence outside of time. It hearkens back to what God said to Moses at the burning bush: "I AM that I AM" (Exodus 3:14)
If during his ministry Jesus was also before Abraham (who incidentally lived almost 2000 years before the birth of Christ) what does that imply for us today? Simply stated, at this very moment, even as you are reading this, Christ is being born. At this time Christ is hanging on the cross for your sins. He is intimately aware of who you are (Luke 21:18). And as such he was intimately aware of you as He hung on the cross for YOU. Yes YOU (insert your name) reading this blog right now. Christ is both with you now and on the cross for your sins. He is at this moment both being born and rising from the grave. He is at this moment both creating the universe and proclaiming victory at the final battle! Now if that isn't mind blowing, I don't know what is.
Interestingly enough, this is how some Christians argue that the Eucharist is an actual sacrifice, in that while Christ died once, we are mystically joining that one-time sacrifice through the elements of communion across time (or perhaps, beyond time). I believe Eastern Orthodox Archbishop Kallistos Ware (Timothy Ware)makes this argument.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that citation. I can honestly say I have never read Timothy Ware, and was unfamiliar with this particular theology until now. It is nice to know that I am not the only person who holds this idea about God.
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