There is so much in eternity and infinity which is beyond our comprehension (An understatement, to be sure!). Beyond the comprehension of even the combined brilliance of all the ages. There is a vastness which boggles the imagination, defies description. Even those who’ve stood on tiptoe and stared through sophisticated, powerful telescopes have only been able to stare in wide eyed wonder, knowing there is so much more in time and space.
And if, even using incredible computer technology, mankind can grasp the vast, extensive wonders viewed telescopically, there is the reverse of that: What if eternity and the endless vastness of space extend also microscopically? Can we ever have the audacity to think or say we “get it?”
On occasions, we are told in Scripture, that eternity and time intersect. They cut across each other’s paths. In my opinion, they exist together all the time. Eternity does not begin when time ends. It has always been here, but there are times when we find ourselves intensely aware that we are in eternity and eternity is right here.
There is, for example, the Creation event. For all its efforts, Natural Science has never been able to come up with a better explanation of that grand event than the simple, profoundly beautiful words of Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…”
No mention is made there of a date (beyond “in the beginning.”) or a time frame (the word “day” in this instance could mean a definitive twenty four hour period of time, or an indeterminate period of time which could stretch for aeons.). No defense or explanation is ever offered, but the options are very clear and very simple: You believe that story, or you don’t. If you do not believe that story, you do believe another explanation.
Does anyone have a better one?
Those who believe the Genesis account is a statement of fact accept it as such based on faith. Pure and simple. Admittedly, that carries some “intellectual baggage.”
Those who do not believe the Biblical Creation account is a statement of fact are also making a faith presupposition. They believe in no God. In my opinion (which I also believe is fact in this case), they are faced with even greater intellectual difficulties than the simplest minded Biblical believer.
Later, there is the Biblical story of the Incarnation. One can only wonder at such a happening: It simply cannot be fully understood. Essentially, what the Bible teaches is that all the wisdom, love, and power of the Universe became concentrated and was focused in that Infant (Jesus) born to peasant parents in Bethlehem, Judea. The point made by the Biblical writers is simply that, in that incident, God, Himself, came here to live among, love and to save His people.
The next major happening was a public execution which occurred on a hill called Golgotha outside the Jewish city of Jerusalem. The Infant grew to become a man and claimed to be Messiah. The Savior. The Lord. When the people to whom He had come rejected Him, they murdered him. The form of that execution was one of the cruelest, most barbarian methods ever devised by man, crucifixion. Publicly, the criminal was nailed to a cross, which was then dropped into a socket of earth, tearing and ripping flesh and breaking bones. The Christian understanding of that eternal event is that two things occurred there that day: One is that it reveals the extent to which prideful sin can drive mankind: Deocide. The absolute, final, fatal rejection of the right of God to rule His creation. The second shows how far God will go to demonstrate His love for his created ones.
All around the Christian world, people in the next few days will be remembering that event. Hopefully, we will not consider it simply as an actual historical human event. There are eternal implications, if I have any understanding at all of its significance. There are also personal implications. Very personal implications.
If so, we’d all be wise to pause and ponder what Good Friday means to the world.
And to you. And me.
In my own studies, I’m trying to understand the implications of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Especially I’ve been drawn to consider the Apostle Paul’s expression of his desire: “That I may know Him (Jesus) and the POWER of HIS RESURRECTION.” ~Philippians 3:10).
God’s servant, your friend and fellow student, ~donkimrey
Scripture Student 