Don Stewart :: Does the Bible Teach the Eternity of God? (That He Has Always Existed)

Yes. The Bible teaches the eternity of God. This means that God has always existed. His existence extends endlessly in the past and in the future. There was not a time when He did not exist. He never came into being and He will never cease to exist.

The Bible says.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Psalm 90:2).

The Bible records God saying.

I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever (Deuteronomy 32:40).

Isaiah wrote.

Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD - with the first of them and with the last - I am He (Isaiah 41:4).

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen (1 Timothy 1:17).

John wrote in the Book of Revelation.

And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay!" (Revelation 10:6).

One of the names of God is El Olam (the everlasting God).

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God (Genesis 21:33).

The Bible says that God inhabits eternity.

For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah 57:15).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).

I say, "O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days, your years are throughout all generations. Of old you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands" (Psalm 102:24,25).

The God of the Bible is the first and the last.

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me' (Isaiah 44:6).

God is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8).

He is the one who is, was, and who is to come.

And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come" (Revelation 4:8).

He is called the eternal God.

The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27)

Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is his name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you' (Exodus 3:13,14).

Because God is not bound by time constraints He knows what will happen in the future. We find Him answering the questions of the martyrs to certain events before they occur.

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed (Revelation 6:10,11).

Consequently, God will always be in control of all events.

Time is a creation of God. Scripture speaks of events in the past, present and future. However God has never been bound to time. He sees all things in the present. The Bible says.

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day (2 Peter 3:8).

The idea that God inhabits eternity but has His dealings in time causes apparent contradictions in the mind of humans. This is one of the antinomies in Scripture (two truths that are seemingly non-reconcilable).

There Is No End To God

The doctrine of the eternity of God provides comfort to believers. Since God will never cease to exist neither will those who have put their trust in Him.

The Bible teaches the eternity of God - He has always existed. There was never a time when He came into existence, there will never be a time when He goes out of existence. Because created time, He is not limited by it. Everything to Him is the present. Therefore He can tell us what will happen in our future because it is not future to Him.