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The Eternity of God's Predestination
God created eternity in an instant.
Cole F. Watson
February 01, 2024
“What is 3R Thursday?”
3R Thursday is a short Rambling that contains Ruminations, Reflections, and Readings published most Thursdays to equip Christians with practical theology and thought-provoking philosophy.
“But Cole, that’s four Rs.”
“I went to law school—not math school.”
Previous essays can be read here.
Now onward and upward 🤝
3R THURSDAY: The Eternity of God’s Predestination
God is outside of time.
God is not bound by time.
Time cannot bind God.
God created eternity (Eccl. 3).
Man created time. He manufactured units of time and then mass-produced them like widgets in a factory.
Units of Time (you’re welcome)
A millennium is 10 centuries.
A century is 10 decades.
A decade is 10 years.
A year is 12 months.
A month is between 28 and 31 days.
A day is 24 hours.
An hour is 60 minutes—and don’t get me started about an attorney’s “billable hour.”
A minute is 60 seconds.
A second is 1,000 milliseconds.
A millisecond is 1,000 microseconds.
A microsecond is 1,000 nanoseconds. (Is a nanosecond really different than a microsecond?)
Thanks, Google.
God created eternity in an instant.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
God created the world in [number] [unit of time].
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.
Did God know he would create the earth in [number] [unit of time]?
Does God know the future? Does he predestine the future?
Did he predestine the past?
Did he know what he was going to create on the “6th” “day” as much as he knew that Abraham and Sarah would have Isaac? That Isaac would have Jacob? That David would be anointed as king? That Jesus would be born in Bethlehem?
Is God in the future or is he confined to [unit of time]?
Can God still use the past—that is a unit of time before this moment—for his glorious purpose? Can he use the future—that is a unit of time after this moment—for his glorious purpose?
Is God then trapped in the past? Trapped in the future?
Is he limited to the stories in the Bible? Is he confined by those tiny words on those thin pages? Confined by the intentional maneuvering of certain lines we call “letters” in a certain order that we call “words?”
Or is he greater than we could ever think or imagine?
God created the world. (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1)
He promised a Savior to redeem his chosen people. (Gen.3; Gen. 17; 2 Sam. 7)
He chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Through this lineage came King David.
From King David came Jesus.
From Jesus came salvation, life everlasting.
Jesus’ disciples proclaimed the good news of the Risen King.
Christ's followers formed communities and were on a mission—the Great Commission—to share the gospel.
We are the heirs of his glorious grace and their faithfulness.
And now we anticipate the return of Christ when God will create a new heaven and a new earth.
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Revelation 22:13
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything,but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Hope you have a blessed week.
See you next Thursday,
CFW