What is TIME anyway?

When you are a child, you are absolutely certain that you will never live to be an adult. That stage of life is so far in the distant future that you cannot even imagine living that long. But you are good with it, because you are living life as you should–one day at a time.

When you become a teenager, the opposite certainty emerges–you think that you will live forever. You are totally invincible. You live life recklessly–still with no thought for tomorrow. Today is the day!

As a young adult with a job and starting a family, you give no thought to eternity–there isn’t time to dwell on such things. But now, you are worried about tomorrow. Tomorrow has become this monster living in your subconsciousness. Tomorrow the kids start school. Do I have all of their supplies? Will Johnny fail math? Will I EVER get along with my new boss? Maybe I need to look for a new job? One that pays better! Still, you do not dwell on eternity.

When you hit mid-life you start to worry a little. When the first gray hair appears in the mirror. Where did that come from? You can start to look back and realize just how fast the first part flew by. You are settled in your job. The boss wasn’t so bad after all. You got that raise and can actually afford groceries after the car payment and the rent are paid. You know, my dad died with a heart attack at my age. Maybe I need to schedule regular checkups. Death becomes real.

Old age is a revelation. Eternity is staring you in the eye. Grandkids are babies one day and graduating high school the next. Where did the time go? I thought life lasted like forever! Don’t buy green bananas, right? The song lyrics, the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, suddenly make perfect sense.

What is TIME anyway? Time is an idea created by man because everything we know has a beginning and an end. Not so with God. God has no beginning and no end. He is eternal. 2 Peter verse 3 says: …one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Some people get hung up on the 7 days of creation and throw the Bible down right away, because they say, obviously the Earth is billions of years old. Look at the fossil record. Many believe that the Lord created the world and everything in it in 7 twenty-four hour days–well 6–He rested on the 7th. Maybe he did. But maybe the time recorded in Genesis was in God days? Time does not even exist for God. The thought of the world being billions of years old is very comforting to me. It proves the eternal nature of God.

The Bible said that God created us (mankind) in his own image. Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 2:7 God breathed life into man forming him form dust and breathing into his nostrils. When God did this, we became eternal creatures. The body dies, yes, but the part that is you, your soul, lives on for eternity. It will exist in one of two places. Heaven or Hell?

Many people believe that the spirit, your soul, is all that will exist during eternity, but that is NOT what the Bible says at all. We will all have a new body–one designed by God to last for eternity. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep (die) but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. If you A. ADMIT that you have sinned in your life (done things that displease God–check the 10 commandments to verify LOL), If you B. BELIEVE that Jesus is truly the son of God, and if you believe that he died as a sacrifice to pay for your sin–If you believe that God raised him from the dead. And if you C. CONFESS all of this by telling someone–anyone, then you will receive this new body and be saved…saved from what? Saved from hell.

I picture this new imperishable body much as the body Jake Sully received in the Avatar movie! Without the tail! You cannot earn this new body by being a good person, by good works, or by just following the 10 commandments. You obtain it simply by believing–through faith. Ephesians 2:8-9New International Version

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

This quote from Grace Alone, Faith Alone at Concordia University sums it up well: God’s Word says that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus and not by our own efforts or works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Grace alone means that God loves, forgives, and saves us not because of who we are or what we do, but because of the work of Christ.

So, what will this new imperishable body be like? Well, we can look at the resurrected Christ and see:

1. It will be flesh and bone: “Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself! Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have’” (Luke 24:37–39).
2. Jesus’s new body could be felt and touched: “Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ He said. They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshipped Him” (Matthew 28:9 NIV). “Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing’” (John 20:27).
3. Jesus could eat in this new resurrected body: “While they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, ‘Have you any food here?’” (Luke 24:41).
4. People who had known Jesus before could recognize him: The two disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus at first because “their eyes were restrained,” but once their eyes were opened, they did (Luke 24:13–35). Mary Magdalene at the Garden Tomb suddenly recognized Jesus by the tone of His voice (John 20:16).
5. Jesus’s resurrected body still bore the woulds of his crucifixion: “Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side” (John 20:19–20a). Scripture tells us that when Jesus comes again, He will still bear those marks (see Zechariah 12:10).

Jesus’s new imperishable body was different in many ways too:

1. He could enter a room without opening the door: When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).
2. He could disappear: And it came about that when he had reclined at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, he began giving it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight (Luke 24:30-31).
3. The resurrected Jesus did not need rest: To these he also presented himself alive, after his suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
4. His new body ascended into Heaven: And after he had said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them; and they also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

James Chapter 4 verst 14 says: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” 

If you live to be 5 or 105 what is that compared to eternity? Our time here is brief. I try to live a life that is pleasing to God always with eternity in mind.