God is Eternal!

   Many so called gods have come and gone through the ages.  The Lord God Jehovah is completely unique - He is "the everlasting God!" (Rom. 16:26).  Without beginning and without end, eternal by nature.  He was not created, designed, fashioned, manufactured or imagined into existence.  It is not enough to say there is no god like Him - there is no God except Him!

   The very first verse of the Bible declares God's eternality: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).  The apostle John similarly stated, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Jn. 1:1).  Before there was a beginning to this world God was already there, and He will still be there when this world has come to an end.  The psalmist put it well: "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God" (Ps. 90:1-2).

   God was not declared to be a god, as has been the case with many human beings, virtually all of whom are now dead and gone.  In their regard a glaring question must be asked, "how does a supposed god die?"  The same point can be made, in principle, pertaining to the countless idols that have been worshipped throughout the millennia.  What happened to them, where are they today?

  By contrast the apostle Paul referred to God's "eternal power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:19-20).  God's plan for man's salvation, brought to this earth by Jesus Christ, was according to His "eternal purpose" (Eph. 3:9-11).  In His omniscience God knew, before He ever created mankind, that humanity would fall through sin and consequently need forgiveness and redemption.  As a result, God designed a plan for man's salvation from "before time began" (Tit. 1:2).

   It's difficult for us, as mere human beings, to fully wrap our minds around the concept of God being eternal.  We can imagine time without end, but we have real difficulty grasping the idea of time without beginning.  Yet that's exactly the meaning behind the phrase "from everlasting to everlasting."  This is but another aspect of His unique nature that identifies Him as truly being God!

   Undoubtedly, we will more readily understand when we stand in His very presence in Heaven and begin our eternity with our eternal Father.  Until then, we can be thankful that we serve the God of eternity.  How aptly the psalmist put it: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting!  And let all the people say, 'Amen!'  Praise the Lord!" (Ps. 106:48).