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Time and Eternity
The Ring - Step Back In HistoryThe popularity of rings increased during the medieval period. People wore rings no matter if they were rich or poor. The most .....
"In the Fullness of Time..."
"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty
pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And
all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to a dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor
player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then
is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound
and fury, Signifying nothing." --Macbeth, Act V, Scene v.
One's weltanschauung is determined by the aperture through which
time and history is viewed. Modern secularism, consisting of
humanism, relativism, pragmatism, pluralism, statism and
neo-Darwinism, each in correlation, perceives history as the
consequence of impersonal natural forces acting at random in a
blind movement of energy in cyclical fashion. Secularism's foci
is the present world, its focus is the experiential now. Time is
The Fatum BankFIRST LOVE RECOVERY MINISTRIES THE FATUM BANK 2 Peter 1:3-4(KJV) "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that ..... devoid of any purposeful design renouncing any symmetry by which
sequential events within the individual or the nation are
progressing unto a consummation. The enhancement of the self in
the existential now is secularism's raison d' etre. Each
fleeting nanosecond is demanded to bring meaning and fulfillment
but the ever passing present is incapable of such grand
expectations. The attempt to extract from the momentary what is
immutable, stable and enduring is fruitless. It is what one
philosopher calls trying to "eternalize time." The secularist
ends up in what Thomas Altizer describes as a "...a total
immersion in historical time, and an immersion that is totally
isolated from any meaning or reality that might lie beyond it."
(Dialectic of the Sacred, p. 23) Late 20th century cosmopolitan
man or woman lives in a calendar prison as constricting and
oppressive as the walls and bars that enclose the inmate of any
maximum security prison. With each passing hour the reduction of
life grows more pronounced and controlling. Having rejected any
meaning or reality that might lie outside the constricted
moment, man has become time's prisoner. Within this enslavement,
time has inflicted him with a disease from which there is no
endemic antidote. "Eater of all things lovely--Time! Upon whose
watering lips the world poises a moment (futile, proud, a costly
morsel of sweet tears) gesticulates and disappears." (E. E.
Cummings, Puella Mea, p. 20) Modern secularism, having
discounted any realm or dimension outside the present world has
become the embodiment of myopia.
In the late '60s, three British astrophysicists, Roger Penrose,
George Ellis and Steven Hawking made a discovery that impinges
on the prevailing world view of time and history. Expanding on
Einstein's original equations of general relativity, which
implied the origin for matter and energy, the three physicists
established that matter was not only finite but that time and
space also had a beginning and thus was not infinite. "...in
real time, the universe has a beginning and an end at
singularities that form a boundary to space-time and at which
the laws of science break down." (Steven Hawking, A Brief
History of Time, p. 139) The space-time theorem of general
relativity has enormous implications, theologically and
philosophically. For time is the dimension in which cause and
effect phenomena take place. Without time there is no cause and
effect. If time had a genesis, concurrent with the origin of the
universe, then there must, by necessity, be an antecedent
reality or dimension, that existed before time and was its
matrix. This dimension would not be subject to time or space in
any contingent manner, but would be the determination of such.
Astrophysicist Hugh Ross sums up the point of divergence between
the measurable and the immeasurable, "If time's beginning is
concurrent with the beginning of the universe, as the space-time
The Politics Of FreedomThe war on terror should not be a political war. It should not be a war pitting Republican against ..... theorem says, then the cause of the universe must be some entity
operating in a time dimension completely independent of and
preexistent to the time dimension of the cosmos. This conclusion
is powerfully important to our understanding of who God is and
who or what God isn't. It tells us that the Creator is
transcendent, operating beyond the dimensional limits of the
universe. It tells us that God is not the universe itself, nor
is God contained within the universe. Pantheism and aetheism do
not square with the facts.." (The Creator and the Cosmos, p. 76)
"In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth."
(Genesis 1:1)
3,500 years before the discovery of the three British
scientists, in a succinct and understated declaration, there is
set forth the axiom of time and history; time is a creation from
a transcendent God. It is the dimension into which the Eternal
God would condescend to display His eternal nature to his
handiwork, with the ultimate intent to prepare those created in
time for eternal communion with Him. In the words of William
Blake, time "is the mercy of eternity." It exists by God's
appointing to make eternity accessible to humanity, for the God
of eternity pervades time. Time being a consequence of the
Divine fiat presents no boundary, constraint or limitation to
God. He is revealed as a God of infinitude; without boundary,
measureless and unlimitable. Not sequestered by time or the
events therein, God can operate simultaneously in myriad
dimensions. One of the prominent names in the Old Testament for
God's relation to time and history is "First and Last" (Heb.
aleph and tau, the first and last letters of the Hebrew
alphabet, Isa. 41:4, 44:6, 48:12). The name indicates that God
encircles, boundaries and encloses all of history. He initiates
it, sums it up and is present in all its movements. God is
controlling every nanosecond, directing it along to its
consummate goal. The title pictures God as standing at time's
birth and omega point simultaneously and within every
intervening second saturating it with His providential
preservation, direction and redemptive grace. God has enclosed
time with His abiding presence. Solomon describes the theistic
perspective of time, "He has made everything beautiful in its
time..." (Eccles. 3:11). Solomon utilizes a Hebrew word
frequently used in the Old Testament for the contour of a
beautiful woman. He sees in history a symmetry, a harmony, a
contour of interrelatedness and design, not a discordant morass
heading mindlessly toward a cul-de-sac. The historic Christian
view of time has always embraced early Judaism's perspective of
God's sovereignty over history. "History in the Jewish
conception is not a chaos leading to nowhere. But an overall
progression with a definite goal which it derives from God who
is above history, and who rules and controls history. For God in
Jewish teaching is not only the Lord of nature, but also the
Lord of history. History is the arena wherein God's activity on
behalf of man is made manifest, and in which, and through which,
His eternal purpose is being fulfilled." (Isidore Epstein, The
Faith of Judaism, p. 258)
JihadJesus spoke as much about Heaven as He did about Hell. What I would like to do is a little ..... "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His son,
born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might
redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)
C. S. Lewis writes that among times "...there is a time that
turns a corner and everything this side of it is new. Times do
not go backward." (Perelandra, p. 62). At the kairos point of
history, when the religious, political, economic and social
pieces were all in place, the time was ripe. Like a vessel full
to the brim, history was at its fullest measure. Under the
control of God every ordained event in preparation for this
climactic advent had transpired. The prophets of Israel who had
described specific, soteric kairos periods to come to Israel and
the world, had collectively reached an apex of fulfillment. The
anticipatory strand of history had reached the summit. In a
backwater province in the Roman empire in a rustic village,
aesthetically offensive, that spoke of the ignoble status of the
lineage of David, Eternity would intersect time. Time's conquest
would be accomplished by one who laid in an ox trough. The
ancient cry for God to rend the Heavens and come down (Isa.
64:1) would be answered in a manner far different than Sinai.
The God of Eternity would display the essence of His love for
the world; unreserved, self-emptying, self-sacrificial.
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the
clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for Me to be ruler in
Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of
eternity. Therefore, He will give them up until the time when
she who is in labor has borne a child..." (Micah 5:2-3)
For 600 years the House of David had been deprived of royal
dominion, declining into the lowliness of its origin, into the
obscurity of private life. Bethlehem spoke of humility and
degradation without the least vestige of royalty. Nothing of
David's greatness would attend to the present descendants of his
line. A young virgin was the divinely chosen descendant to bring
forth the scion of David, his greater son, whose coming would
inaugurate the day of salvation for Israel and the Gentile
world. As a tender sprout, He would come forth from the stump of
the felled tree of the House of David (Isa. 11:1, 53:2, II Sam.
23:5, Jer. 23:16, Zech. 6:12). The ancient village where David
was born and anointed to become King of Israel would once again
rise to prominence.
"And she shall bear a son; and you shall call his name Jesus,
for it is He who will save His people from their sins." (Matt.
1:21). Before the birth of this child he was divinely designated
to be named Jesus, indicating his soteric nature and work among
men. The name "Jesus" is freighted with the implication of the
deity of its bearer. For it is the Greek form of the Hebrew
Yehousa ("Jehovah is salvation"). Every First Century Jew
understood that only God could bring rescue and forgiveness from
sin (Isa. 43:11, 45:22, Ps. 67:2). Salvation was exclusively a
work of God alone. In Pesikta Kahana there is a characterization
of the Messiah's speech, "Confidence and restfulness are in His
words. His tongue gives pardon and forgiveness..." (Pes. K.
149a). The Son of God left eternity to become the Gaal, i.e.,
Kinsman Redeemer of mankind. One who is related to those in need
of redemption and thus qualified to present the redemptive price
for their complete salvation.
2,000 years removed from Bethlehem's advent, Christmas for
millions is just an opportunity for a cultural celebration
without a vestige of redemptive adoration. Yet the enduring
significance of the incarnation confronts us still. Time's
prisoner has been offered liberation by the Father of the Ages.
A portal from earth to eternity has been opened and the
passageway secured by the Divine Visitor of Bethlehem. His voice
still reverberates, "Come unto me, all that labor and are
heavy-laden and I will give you rest." The fiat nature of that
voice can bring peace by a whisper. Though it appears that most
are deaf to this soteric sound, a consummate day that He and the
prophets foretold, as certain as His first advent, is on the
horizon. He will speak then, not as the Kinsman Redeemer from
Bethlehem, but as the Kurios of the cosmos.
"The Word of the Father, by whom all the cycles of time were
made, entered time itself when he was made flesh in Bethlehem.
With the Father the Word precedes all the time, but by a human
mother the Word chose a particular day to appear in time. The
mother of men became a man. The ruler of the stars was born
beneath the stars. The power that brings food from the earth
sucked at the breast, and then ate bread. The One who is the Way
to salvation walked along dusty roads. The eternal judge of all
mankind was condemned by a mortal judge. The true vine wore a
crown of thorns. The foundation of the earth itself was nailed
to a tree. The source of all health was wounded in the side. The
source of all joy suffered and died. He who was pure took upon
himself the whole punishment of sin, that those who are saved,
might go free. Through Christ, time itself is made sacred, the
stars, the plants, the trees and the earth made holy-and mankind
is saved."-Augustine, The Trinity
About the author:
Lawrence Hilliard has been an educator and lecturer for over 30
years within private institutions, colleges, conferences, and
churches. He has a Masters Degree in History from the University
of Southern California and teaches philosophy, ethics, theology,
and contemporary political philosophy.In an anthropocentric
world, Lawrence Hilliard teaches from a theocentric perspective.
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