For the most part, I confess, I’ve never given much emphasis to the celebration of the New Year. Growing up, Christmas was the main event, and New Years just served to signal the end of the Christmas break and the impending return to school. As I’ve gotten older, New Years is always something of an after thought. I don’t watch football, I don’t participate in wild parties or drunken revelry, I don’t usually even stay up till midnight. Given the option I go to bed at the same time as normal, much to the chagrin of the teenager in our house. I usually mutter something about the new year coming wither I’m awake or asleep before heading off to bed.

After all what is the big deal? It is easy to see the significance of celebrating the incarnation—God entering into his own creation by taking on human flesh and a human nature in order to bring about the salvation of his people. By contrast, what is the passing of another year? It just seems like a non-event.

Why are we as humans so interested in marking the passage of time. Is it beneficial to do so, and more importantly is it Biblical? What does Scripture have to say about time and our interaction with it? Is it wise for us as believers to mark the passing of years? That is what I hope to consider this article.

I will tackle this in two parts. In this post I will, very briefly, survey the Bible’s teaching about the passage of time, particularly as it relates to God, and to mankind. In a subsequent post will look at how to practically apply the truths revealed in Scripture to our lives as believers.

God & Time

Since theology is the study of God and his nature, we must begin with an understanding of how time relates to God. This is not an easy subject as it requires us to consider some very big questions. Perhaps you’ve considered this subject before, or maybe you’ve heard some questions like these:

  • Is God subject to time or outside of it?
  • Is he bound by time or sovereign over it?

Origin of Time

In order to answer these questions we must determine where time comes from? What is it, what is it’s origin or source? How does the Biblical doctrine of God and creation apply to theses questions?

Internal or external?

We know from scripture that God is the ultimate source. Nothing exists apart from him:

“For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Corinthians 8:5–6)

The phrase “all things” in not hyperbole. All things have their origin with God—they are are “from” him. See also Rom 11:36.

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Though every thing comes from God not everything is a part of the external creation. A good example of this is something like truth. Before God created anything did truth exist? Was God’s existence true even before he created anything? Yes. Things like love, wisdom, and justice existed before God ever said let there be light. That does not mean that they exist apart from God, rather they are who God is, and they come from God.

Another example of this is love. Scripture tells us that God is love. He is it’s origin and ultimate source. So any true love in me is a result of my being made in the image of God, or it is a work of the Spirit of God in me.

So is this true of time? Is it internal to God like the attribute of love? I don’t think that it is. First, Scripture never applies this to God like it does the other attributes we mentioned. He is never described as time in the way he is described as love, or truth, or holy. Second, as we will see, the Bible indicates that God is not bounded by time. If it were one of his attributes then he would be limited by it in the that he cannot contradict his own nature. (i.e. God can not lie, he cannot cease to be holy, or good, or sovereign.)

Creation or Decree?

Therefore time is external to God in that it does not belong to the being of God. Time is also not a part of the physical creation of the world as scripture speaks of a time before the world began. So where does time come from? I am going to suggest that time is the outworking of God’s decree.

Now I know that we are already covering a lot of ground, but for those who might not be familiar with the concept we must briefly define what God’s decree is. Louis Berkhof in his book Summery of Christian Doctrine give a good simplistic definition:

“The decree of God is His eternal plan or purpose, in which He has foreordained all things that come to pass.”

So in short, when we speak of the decree of God, we are talking about his plan or purpose, where by, he has ordained everything that ever has happened, and ever will happen. This is referred to in Scripture as his “eternal purpose” of “the counsel of his will”.

“remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’” (Isaiah 46:9–10 ESV)

“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Ephesians 3:8–11 ESV)

So, God in his sovereignty has decreed everything that comes to pass. These are not only the big things, but Scripture makes clear that every sparrow that falls, every flower that blooms, even the the number of the stars in the universe, and the hairs on your head are all all a part of his decree, they are made by him, upheld by him, and they do not perish apart from his will.

This decree extends not only to the events themselves but to exactly when and in what sequence they happen, and this is where time comes in. I believer time, as we experience it, is simply God’s decree being worked out. We could define it this way:

Time is the progressive unfolding of all that God has sovereignly decreed within himself.

God decreed that events would happen, not simultaneously, but in a particular sequence. Another way of saying this is that God “created” time not so much by saying “let there be time” but by creating a world that operates in a linear fashion.

Result of God’s Relationship to Time.

If time is simply the outworking of God’s decree, then we have an answer to the second question. God is not bounded by time. He is sovereign over it. This unique relationship between God and time as the outworking of his decree results in a number of realities that we find expressed in scripture.

He is Eternal

The first is that God is eternal. Look at Psalm 90:2.

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

We use word eternal in two different ways, and it is important to distinguish between them. The scholastics divided being into three categories.

  1. Those which have a beginning and an end. This applies to creatures such as animals whose being comes to an end at death.
  2. Those which have a beginning but no end. This applies to angels and the souls of men which exist forever.
  3. That which is without beginning and without end. This applies only to God. He is “from everlasting to everlasting” (see Ps 90:2).

This is what we mean when we say that God is eternal. His being is completely unbounded by time.

He is Omniscient

Since everything that happens, including the sequence in which they happen, is part of God’s sovereign decree it is perfectly known to him.

This is why he could say to Jeremiah, ”before I formed you in the womb I know you.” It is why the Psalmist says “before a word is on my tongue, oh Lord, you know it already”.

In Isaiah, God marks this knowledge out as one of the things that sets him apart from all the so-called gods. He alone knows exactly what will happen, because it is by his decree that all things come to pass.

Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.” (Isaiah 44:6–7 ESV)

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” (Isaiah 46:8–11 ESV)

This is a distinguishing mark of the one true God. He alone knows perfectly what will happen in the future because it is all a part of his sovereign decree. When we understand this it should put to rest the absurd idea that you can hide anything from God. Before the world was created he already knew what you would do, and that you would try to hide it from him.

“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)

This a fearful though to you if you are in rebellion against God. However, as believers, this should be a great source of comfort for this means that nothing is ever uncertain to God. He never has to wonder what will happen, or be unsure about anything. Everything happens according to his sovereign will and perfect plan.

Immutable

As temporal creature who are bounded by time we are ever mutable, that is we are changing. God however is immutable. He does not change.

“For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

God is not moving in time like we are—becoming older, and learning new things. God’s being never changes for he is perfect. To change from what he is would mean that he is becoming something other than perfect, or if what he becomes is perfect then what he was before was something less that perfect.

Most Free

Finally the last result of God’s relationship to time is that he is most free. We use this term to describe the unique type of freedom God has. Since everything—even time—is part of his decree, then he is the ultimate source, and fist mover. Everything depends on him because “apart from his was nothing made that was made” (Jn 1:3), and “He upholds all things by the word of his power” (Heb 1:3). Since he existed before anything else, he is dependent upon nothing. Likewise everything else is limited by him, and he is limited by none. This is what we mean when we say that God is most free. All creaturely freedom has limits, but God is not so bound.

Limits of Our Reason

These concepts we have been discussing are difficult to understand, and I hope I’ve succeeded in making them clearer rather than more opaque. It is never easy as finite creatures to try and think about the infinite God. Indeed, we would have no hope at all apart from God revealing himself in Scripture. The Bible is our only sure footing when thinking about such subjects for we are dealing with things beyond our comprehension.

Man & Time

Having looked at how God relates to time we now move to how creatures—particularly mankind—relate to time. It should go without saying that our relationship to time is very different from God’s. In most areas the relationships are opposite.

Temporal Creatures

First, where God is described as eternal, man is temporal. This means that man is bounded by time. Like everything else that is made we exist within in the boundaries of time. Our being and all that we think say and do are part of the progressive decree of God. Because of this time is not just a part of our lives, but everything about us even down to the way that we think is limited by the progression of time.

Also as temporal creatures our time in this current world is fleeting. Compared to the eternal God our lives are described in Scripture as quickly fading grass, flowers, vapor, breath, and shadow.

“O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.” (Psalm 144:3–4)

Bounded by Time

Second, we are bounded by time. It imposes limits on us that we can’t cross. We may choose how we spend our time, but we cannot alter how we move through time. We cannot speed it up or slow it down.

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Luke 12:25–26)

Limited In Knowledge

Third, our perspective and understanding are both limited by time. We know only the present, and a limited amount about the past. As to the future, the best we can do is guess. The only way time-bound creatures can know the future is through revelation from God who alone knows what it holds.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13–15)

In contrast to God, our limited view means that we are uncertain about everything outside of what he has revealed. (weather, world events, health, finances, etc.)

Mutable

Finally, Man is mutable—constantly changing simply by existing in time. Even from moment to moment you change. You are different that when you woke up this morning. You’ve gained new knowledge, and had experiences that shape your view of the world around you. You’ve changed since you began reading this article. Perhaps you’ve changed you opinion of my writing for the worse. Even since you began reading this sentence you’ve changed—hair has fallen, cells have die or divided. As creatures we are always becoming. Our health, mood, emotions, and relationships are ever in flux requiring constant learning and course corrections. It can bee exhausting, never knowing what to expect form others or even from your own emotions day by day. As mutable creatures we must look to something outside of ourselves to find stability and assurance.

The Believer & Time

In this article we have briefly surveyed the relationship of God and man to time. In the next we will walk through Psalm 90 and look at how these truths should effect us as believers. However, I cannot end without giving you some points of application to think over.

So what about our original question? I have come to believe that there is wisdom in marking the passing of time. I’m not prescribing a particular ritual or even saying that we must do so by celebrating the new year, but I think it is good for believers to be conscious of the passage of time, and to meditate on what Scripture says about this subject. I believe that doing so will result in four positive outcomes.

Worship the infinite God

What Scripture reveals about the infinite, eternal creator should lead us to worship. As we ponder the eternal nature of God, how everything down to the precise moment by moment unfolding of time is part of his sovereign decree, it should cause us to say with the psalmist, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me”. The future is certain, His purposes will come to pass for “from him and through him and to him are all things.”

Remember our creaturely finitude

What Scripture reveals about man should remind us of our limitations as creatures. When we consider how little control we have over the flow of time, and how little we know with certainty, it should cause us like Job, to put our hand over our mouth. We should be humble and recognize our utter dependance upon God.

View this age as temporal

What Scripture reveals about the temporal nature of this world should frame our view of the world and the present age. Recognition of just how fleeting our time in this life is will impact how much value and importance we place on things that will soon pass away.

Hope in the sure promise of the age to come

Finally, what Scripture reveals about the future should give us certain hope in the promise of the age to come. God for whom the future is certain had revealed to us the ultimate outcome of all things. Because of this we can have hope and peace in spite of our own inability to see the future. This does not mean that we know everything that is to come or that we no longer have any questions, but we can rest in knowing that “when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.”