Introduction to Time

Time is a creation of God. Hebrews 11:3 says,

³ By faith we understand that the worlds [aionas, “ages”] were prepared [katartizo, “to fit out, equip, arrange, put in order”] by the word of God, so that which is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

The Greek word aionas refers to an indefinite span of time, best translated “ages.” It has nothing to do with “worlds,” or physical planets. Hence, God created ages that are subsets of time itself.

The Goodness of Time

Everything God creates is “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and therefore has a purpose in the overall plan of God. God uses time, along with everything else that He created, to advance His purpose for creation. Therefore, we must embrace time in order to better understand the mind of God.

The Greek word katartizo, which the NASB renders “prepared” and the KJV renders “framed,” has a range of meaning. In this case, the word is used to show that time was created to “arrange” events in a particular order, so that historical events would not take place all at the same time. I picture God creating light while holding a prism. The light refracts through the prism, separating the white light into its component colors, so that the colors may be seen separately and in a specific order. Think of those colors as ages.

From God’s unlimited perspective as the creator of both light and ages, all time is one, as some have said. We need to be able to see things from God’s perspective—at least dimly, but through our developing spiritual eyes—but we should not lose sight of the fact that we are part of God’s creation and are therefore, as Psalm 8:5 says, “a little lower than God” (Elohim). This is an exalted position, relative to the rest of creation, because as sons of God, we are destined to enjoy the same quality and substance of God Himself; but yet we are still under God insofar as authority is concerned.

God knew the end from the beginning and is the great Architect of time and space. Adam’s fall did not take God by surprise, even though sin is a violation of His law (1 John 3:4) and runs contrary to the very nature of God. Built into the divine plan was the fall of man as well as his redemption. Thus, Jesus Christ was, as it were, “slain from the foundation of the world”: (Revelation 13:8 KJV).

From God’s timeless perspective, where all time is one, the Lamb of God was slain at the same time that God created all things. Whenever God spoke, things came into existence according to His word, for God “calls into being that which does not exist” (Romans 4:17). Existence itself originates in the word of God, along with time as well.

Time provides an invisible element of structure to existence, and this allowed time for the redemption of mankind and the reconciliation of all things. Knowing that all things came into existence by the word of God, we can see that the fall of Adam was not the end of the story, nor was the subsequent darkness in the world destined to win in the end.

A second Light was to be spoken by the word of God, bringing Christ into an earthly existence, a Light that would shine in the darkness, a Light that the darkness could neither comprehend nor overpower nor extinguish (John 1:5). All that was lost in Adam would ultimately be found in Christ. When all is put under His feet, no darkness will remain, for His New Covenant promise declares that “all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them” (Hebrews 8:11).

This will take time, of course, for God has brought time into existence by His word and by his promise. His promises will be fulfilled, for it cannot be that any word of God should fail in its purpose.

The Purpose of Time

The purpose of time is to “arrange” events and put them in order so that not all things happen at the same time. Time creates history, but in no way does time thwart the divine plan. Though time delays events (from the human perspective), time lacks the ability to overcome any word that comes from the mouth of God.

Time, in fact, is the mother of all delays. We perceive delays only because we fail to see events through a timeless perspective. But there is no delay with God. There is only an arrangement of events along the divine timeline, most of which is hidden from us. As with the prophet Habakkuk, we struggle with delays in the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Prophecy itself is the word of God that brings events into existence long before they actually occur in history. Prophecy, by its very nature, foretells things before they happen, and the intervening time is God’s crucible that tests and refines our faith.

Faith is the currency of heaven and the standard of true wealth. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Our quality of faith will determine our level of wealth in heaven. It seems to me that the main purpose of time is to increase our true wealth from God’s perspective. We begin by hearing His word (Romans 10:17). Faith is born, perhaps the size of a mustard seed. It grows as it is tested by time, refining it by removing the impurities (doubt, fear, and impatience).

In other words, time creates heavenly wealth, even as gold is refined to increase its value. The increase in faith can be measured in terms of one’s patience and endurance. James 1:3, 4 says,

³ Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

This topic is of great interest to the author of the book of Hebrews as well. Hebrews 10:36 says,

³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

Endurance is the result of tested faith, which is faithfulness.

Living in the Moment

There are some who focus on living in the moment, thinking this is the way to live. Some think that they must live above time, as God does. They think that they can transcend time and its jurisdiction as a way of life. Certainly, there are times when God allows such things to take place. For example, both Elijah and Philip bilocated and engaged in some sort of time travel. But there is no indication that they did so of their volition; it was something that God did to them. Others even today have reported similar experiences, but this is not part of normal life.

For the most part, we remain subject to the laws of time as much as we are subject to physical laws.

Living in the moment does, indeed, have some advantages, for it is a childlike way of life. Insofar as faith is concerned, we do need to have child-like faith, which is carefree and has the character of innocence. However, children are not mature enough to rule or to bear the burden of nations or even organizations of people. We are here to mature spiritually, so that we might be prepared to judge and rule the world. 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3 says,

² Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? ³ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?

It takes spiritual maturity to rule and to judge. Thus, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:11,

¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

Again, in Hebrews 5:12, 13, 14, we read of those who live on the milk of the word and are incapable of digesting meat. Such are "infants," and Paul admonishes them to grow up.

A moment in time lacks context. Those who think they can live above time are trying to live without peripheral vision. Without context, there is no understanding of truth. Understanding is the ability to connect the dots, to see connections between events in other points in time.

Faith itself is obtained in a moment of time, but faithfulness comes only through time. Children lack patience, because time has not yet refined their faith by overcoming the discouragement caused by delayed fulfillment of prophecy and the word of God.

Prophecy

All prophecy, by its very nature, includes a time factor. On occasion, the time factor is short, such as we see when the earth opened up and swallowed the rebellious followers of Korah (Numbers 16:31, 32). But most prophecy is fulfilled long after the death of the prophet, and this has caused many prophets to be stoned as false prophets.

Messianic prophecies were given in the book of Genesis but fulfilled only in Christ a few thousand years later. Even then, prophecies of Christ’s second coming yet remain to be fulfilled. Though we are admonished to be watchful and to know the times and seasons, we all have struggled with delays.

Prophecy is based on the sure word of God (2 Peter 1:19), and from God’s perspective, every word is an accomplished fact as soon as He speaks it. His word immediately brings all things into existence. Nonetheless, there is a difference between existence and fulfillment. Fulfillment brings what already exists into visibility. To put it another way, fulfillment is where things in heaven are brought into the earth until the whole earth is filled with His glory.