RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-06-16	What Was God Doing Before He Created Everything?
		Because God always existed it seems meaningless to ask what God was doing before He created. No matter how far you go back in time, you would still have an infinite amount of time before He created! Actually, there was no time before God created. Time is a created entity. Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. “In the beginning” is the beginning of time. A study of this verse reveals that God created time, space, and matter on the first day of Creation Week. No one of these can have a meaningful existence without the others. Time is only meaningful if physical entities exist, and events transpire during time. Our minds cannot comprehend that before the universe, God exited alone. We know from John 1:1 that Jesus also existed, and it was the Holy Spirit that hovered over the face of the earth in creation. So, before time even existed, God existed in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity existed in perfect harmony. They had all they needed in one another (Ps.90:2). God is separate from both time and the universe. There was no “before” God created. We could say there was not even “nothing.” This is why faith is always an aspect to our understanding of God. Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. David wrote, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps.16:11). To be in the presence of God carries with it an overwhelming sense of joy and fulfillment. God has and always will experience complete joy because He has complete and perfect knowledge of Himself. God dwelt joyfully alone in eternity as the Trinity. These three were together in fellowship with one another from all eternity. They loved each other. At some “time” they discussed the redemption of mankind (Jn.17:24; Ep.1:4-5; 2Tm.1:9). Remember when Moses asked God who he should say sent him to lead his people out of Egypt. Exo 3:14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " God is the great “I AM.” He exists in eternity. He was not created. Our ability to trust God’s promise of salvation relies upon our ability to trust everything He says about history, from beginning to end. If we cannot trust His claims about the past, how can we trust His promises about the future? Though He is beyond space and time, He humbled Himself to become a man and die on the Cross for our sins. He also has given us a record of this history in His Word so that we can know it is really true. Thankfully, we serve a God we can trust in every detail, even though we know little of what He did before “time.” Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

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