Is God outside of time? (Part 2)

I went to a seminar by Michael Ramsden (European director of RZIM Zacharias Trust) at Momentum and asked him if he thought God was outside of time. Interestingly, he was certain that He was, talking about the space-time continuum being part of creation, and that God was external to this.

Apparently Christians have been saying for centuries that time had a finite beginning (rather than something that always existed). And this idea had been ridiculed by secular thinking. Until, of course, the Big Bang theory. This initially scared a lot of scientists because it confirmed Christian thought on time. Many of them rallied against the theory because they didn't want anything that seemed to confirm the biblical account of creation.

Anyway – bible verses – always useful! Michael Ramsden mentioned that there are four verses in the New Testament that talk about God existing before the 'age of time', i.e. before time was actually created. I've done my best to find them:

1 Corinthians 2:7
No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

2 Timothy 1:9
This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

Titus 1:2
a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.

Jude 1:25
through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.

Proverbs 30:8-9

I really liked Oli Stevens' preach from 9th August "Rich Towards God'. One of his points was that storing up money can decensortise you to God, because you no longer need to rely on him. Like putting on a glove – it reduces your sense of touch.

Interesting that in the Lord's prayer it says 'give us our daily bread' i.e. give us just enough for today. As Proverbs 30:8-9 says:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

Your sin and your prayer life are inversely connected

"Spurgeon preached "strongly and plainly upon the necessity of giving up sin, in order to succeed in prayer," and he spoke against the seemingly unimportant little habits many Christians practice that keep them from true fellowship with God."
'Spurgeon: A New Biography' by Arnold Dallimore

This see-saw relationship between sin and prayer has never actually occurred to me before. But thinking about it, it's such an obvious point. When one goes up, the other goes down. The best way to overcome sin: increase your prayer life.

We (my wife and I) were listening to the 'Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus' hymn (which I flippin' love!) in the car yesterday and it totally echos that point:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

The best way to look overcome sin is to look directly at the son. When you look at something incredibly bright you can't make out other objects in your peripheral vision. They're completely overpowered and out of focus. Life isn't about being consumed with your sin, obsessively trying to resist and overcome, it's about being consumed with Jesus: his glory and grace.

Humility is Masculine (Part 1)

Another quick thought (and one which I'll expand on later) is that humility and repentance are both very masculine traits when you think about it. They're the mark of a true Christian. As Luther said, 'all of life is repentance'.

They're also very difficult to achieve. They're the opposite of human nature. To achieve them requires strength, perseverance, endurance, boldness, courage and faith. There's nothing easy about that, but the more you think about it, the more these traits fit in with true masculinity.

People are of infinite value

Just a quick thought: because people are eternal beings, it follows that they are of infinite value. They are the only things you can take with you when you die. If you're whole life was about being a 'link in the chain' of just one person coming to know Christ, you've achieved something of eternal significance and worth.