THE PARADOX OF GOD’S “TIME”

THE PARADOX OF GOD’S “TIME”

“God Almighty,’ Who was, and is, and is to come’.” (Revelation 4:8)

“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)

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will come.” (Revelation 17:8)

LINEAR TIME and CHRONOLOGY

This is, at the very least, a difficult concept to understand. In its simplest form, that is in linear time, one could say that something or someone existed in the past, exists in the present and will exist in the future – either continuously, or inexplicably comes into being, disappears (passes from natural existence), reappears in the present time, passes away again, only to reappear at a  future time.

Imagine standing on an imaginary static point just outside the timeline (the passing of linear time) watching as time passes. You would see the present become the past as it goes by, and the present become the future as it goes also passes by. So, in reality, you are seeing the past and the future, in the present – but one thing at a time and in a straight line.

Now imagine you are floating above time – that is, far above the timeline. Imagine that you can see ‘all time at once’ from your station. Looking down, you can see the past, the present and the future, all occurring at once – simultaneously, but the past being continuously transformed into the present and the present being continuously transformed into the future. This is the paradox of non-linear time.

When God says “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come,” the Almighty”, we are seeing the Omniscient God, continuously present OUTSIDE of time.

This concept is vitally important when trying to understand Biblical eschatology – more specifically the tribulation period (tribulation seals ONE through FIVE), the Great Tribulation (the final SEVEN years of Great Tribulation), Seals SIX and SEVEN, the SEVEN Tribulation Trumpets and the SEVEN Tribulation Bowls of Wrath.

Tribulation Seals ONE through FIVE, in linear time, according to the testimonies and teachings of Jesus, the Apostles Paul, Peter, Timothy and John, began at or around the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus and have continued to occur, intensify and overlap. We are waiting for the breaking of the SIXTH tribulation SEAL (the beginning of the 7 years of Great Tribulation, the Great and Terrible Day of The Lord and the Wrath of The Lamb), in linear time.  At this moment in time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET BLAST, and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other (Matthew 24:30-31).

Following the breaking of the SIXTH Tribulation Judgement Seal, in linear chronological order, we will see the 7^th Seal opened, the sealing of the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel and the multitude before the throne of God. Then the 7 tribulation judgement trumpets are blown, and the 7 judgement bowls of wrath are poured out.

At the end of these things, Jesus (has defeated, is defeating and will continue to defeat) Satan, the Beast and their armies, and they all (have already been cast, are being cast and will continue to be cast) into the eternal lake of fire.

But for the believer, the disciple and follower of Jesus, “He, (Jesus), (has showed, is showing and will continue to show) me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; we will see His face, and His name will be on our foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and we will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate us; and we will (then) reign forever and ever.

And he (has said to me, is saying to me and will say to me), “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

From a heavenly perspective – from God’s View, all of this has already occurred, is occurring and shall occur until its completion. But make no mistake, it is already finished, and we are simply living it out in linear time.

SO WHAT?

We are called – no, commanded – to live as if all things are already determined, because they are already determined! We can be made able to live an expectant life, full of hope for our future – and in fact, our past is forgiven, our present is protected, and our future is secured.

We do this by following and obeying the Word of God. We may struggle, and we may suffer, but it is through obedience that we find our joy, our peace and the success that God has promised.

Finally, perhaps you have heard of the flawed theological concept of “already but not yet”.

It holds that believers are actively taking part in the kingdom of God, although the kingdom will not reach its full expression until sometime in the future. We are “already” in the kingdom, but we do “not yet” see it in its glory. The “already but not yet” theology is related to kingdom theology or inaugurated eschatology.

The “already but not yet” paradigm was developed by Princeton theologian Gerhardus Vos early in the 20th century. In the 1950s, George Eldon Ladd, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, argued that there are two meanings to the kingdom of God: 1) God’s authority and right to rule and 2) the realm in which God exercises His authority. The kingdom, then, is described in Scripture both as a realm presently entered and as one entered the future. Ladd concluded that the kingdom of God is both present and future.

The “already but not yet” theology is popular among the Charismatics, for whom it provides a theological framework for present-day miracles. “Already but not yet” is officially embraced by the Vineyard Church and underpins many of their teachings.

There is a sense in which God’s kingdom is already in force. Hebrews 2:8–9 says, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death” (ESV). In this passage, we have a “now” (we see Jesus crowned with glory), and we have a “not yet” (not everything has been subjected to Christ). Jesus is the King, but His kingdom is not yet of this world (see John 18:36).

Also, in 1 John 3:2, we read, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be, has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Again, we have a “now” (we are the children of God), and we have a “not yet” (our future state). We are children of the King, but we must wait to see exactly what that entails.

Add to this the facts that Romans 8:30 says we are “glorified” and Ephesians 2:6 says we are seated with Christ “in the heavenly realms” as if these were completed acts. We don’t feel very glorified, most of the time, and our surroundings do not much resemble “heavenly realms.” That’s because the present spiritual reality does not yet match up with the future, physical reality. One day, the two will be in sync.

So, there is a biblical basis for the “already but not yet” system of interpretation. The problem comes when this paradigm is used to justify the prosperity gospel, name-it-claim-it teachings, and other heresies. The idea behind these teachings is that Christ’s kingdom is in full operation and that prayer can make it “break through” into our world. Evangelism is thought to “advance the kingdom.” And people are told they never need be sick or poor because the riches of the kingdom are available to them right now.

The Bible never speaks of “advancing the kingdom,” however. The kingdom will come (Luke 11:2). We must receive the kingdom (Mark 10:15). And the kingdom is currently “not of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus’ parables of the kingdom picture it as yeast in dough and a tree growing. In other words, the kingdom is slowly working toward an ultimate fulfillment. It is not sporadically “breaking through” to bring us comfort in this world. (the foregoing paragraphs in italics are from GotQuestion.Org).

NOW, BEWARE:  Matthew 5:19, instructs us, “Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Revelation 22:18-19, also warns, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

Our is to trust and obey – there is, simply, no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young