Our study of the creative work of God in the beginning automatically makes us to address our attention to what was before the beginning – or, to put it more correctly, “What is beyond creation at the beginning” The answer to this great question is what the Bible calls Eternity.

What is Eternity?
The concept of eternity is understood more by the context in which it is used in the Scriptures and less by the academic grammatical meanings of the different words variously translated as eternal, everlasting, forever, etc. Primarily, eternity is the mode of existence where God exists having life in Himself.

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Isaiah 57: 15

God has always existed in eternity. He still inhabits, and permanently continues to inhabit eternity. He is always in that mode and He alone can be in it, although He has graciously determined that creation will partake with Him certain characteristics of eternity.

Nature of Eternity
To us creatures, the nature of eternity cannot be known in the positive sense of what it is, but only in the negative sense of what it is not.

Essentially, what God did at creation was to create Time, Space and Substance. So, descriptively, we know that eternity is a mode of existence where there is no Time, no Space, and no Substance, but where there is the uncreated life of God which He alone possesses. Later, we shall learn that this life, called zoe, is part of the characteristics of eternity that the grace of God makes available to those who do His will.

We therefore see that the popular notion of eternity as “infinite time” is inappropriate for there is no time at all in eternity – whether finite or infinite. Time was created at the beginning (Titus 1: 2; 2Timothy 1: 9) and God had been existing in eternity beyond the beginning.

The absence of time means there is no notion of before, now, or after in eternity. No notion of older or younger. We cannot even say everything is in the present for since our conception of present is “now” and hence time-based. We agree (with J. Lindsay) that in the eternal form of existence, all the infinite series of varying aspects or processes are in the unity of a single insight.

Therefore, time is not at all a segment of eternity which we have seen as the mode of timeless existence of God.

Space and Substance
Apart from timelessness, the eternal mode is also devoid of space as well as substance. There is no interval in eternity. Neither is there height nor width nor depth. There is no “here” or “there” Absence of substance also means there is no quantity. God, who inhabits eternity cannot be measured or weighed. He has no height or girth. Neither weight nor complexion. Nor does He have content of which He is composed or constituted. He is simply alive, nay, He is Life in absolute perfections. YHWH.

Life in the Eternal Mode
In considering the nature of the eternal mode, we have also necessarily observed the attributes of that mode viz.: (a) self-existent life, (b) incapability of change, (c) limitlessness, and (d) insubstantiality

It is important for us to remember that these attributes of God are practically (experientially) inconceivable to us as humans, Therefore, we often use conceivable language to express our ideas. Thus we end up describing the equivalent time-based attributes rather than the timeless attributes to convey our message. For instance, timeless life cannot be understood by our brains, but since we figure that a timeless being:
• will not have time boundaries, we describe Him as everlasting (unending time)
• if alive, will be incapable of dying, so we call Him immortal

It is therefore, permissible to use such time-based attributes to replace eternal terminologies whenever such exchange will help our understanding, provided that we do not forget that they are not actually synonymous. Indeed, if we always insist on eternal terminology alone, we would get into conceptual quagmire because our human language will not be able to bear the burden. For example, if Psalm 53: 2 is written as “ from eternity to eternity, You are God” we shall enter into the problem of describing eternity as an extensible changing (progressive) mode since the word “to” implies a range in time or space.

But apart from these, what more is there to the eternal mode? Would it not be a rather dull and boring existence? The Scriptures tell us much about this mode and we shall now take a closer look in three major aspects: (a) Eternal values, (b) eternal processes and (c) eternal works.

Before the Foundation of the World
Just as the expression “Foundation of the world” signifies “the Beginning”, the phrase “Before the foundation of the world” is a synonym for eternity which helps us to comprehend timeless eternal events in time-coloured language. Nonetheless, let us never forget that the eternal mode is not past tense since it did not stop at creation but continues as God’s unique and private habitation even as He shares the temporal mode with us.

Eternal Values
These are the primal values which reside in God and characterize His being. It is from these values that all other values are expressed and communicated to creatures. Therefore when all other values expire, these will remain. The eternal values of God are Faith, Hope and Love. (1 Corinthians 13: 13.) All other value will come to an end. The love of God is eternally expressed within the Godhead in the internal relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, God could not have been said to be love (1 John 4: 8) In love, God created by faith making statements of faith and abiding in hope that creation will fulfill its purpose. The will of God is that we too should make these three things our focus even here on earth (2 Corinthians 4: 18)

Eternal Processes
Within the Godhead are three eternal processes.
• Generation (i.e. Begetting) The Father eternally begets the Son (John 3:16)
• Filiation (Being begotten) The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. (John 1:14, 18; Hebrews 11: 17)
• Spiration (Procession) The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father. (John 15: 26)

These processes are not in time or space. They are eternally on, ever continuing, yet ever completed. They must never at all be compared with any temporal process of similar names. We shall study them deeply in the future issue on the Holy Trinity.

Eternal Works
God is a working God and every Person of the Godhead partakes of divine work (John 5: 17) The works of God exist in both eternity and temporal modes and all of them are known to Him in eternity (Acts 15: 18). The specific works of God which are settled in eternity are:
• Both the Father and the Son existed in a love relationship (John 17: 24)
• God foreknew and predestined the Elect (Ephesians 1: 4; 3:11; Romans 8: 29; 2 Timothy 1: 9)
• The Covenant of Redemption was mapped out (Titus 1:2)

God bless you.