We all live by a clock. We have to wake up at a certain time (unfortunately!), arrive at work at a certain time, eat at a certain time, and so on. This is called time. We all know time well (except maybe those of us who seem to live in a different time zone and always arrive late). What is God's relationship to time? Will there be time in heaven? These questions can be answered in the doctrine called the "eternity of God."
God is timeless. In Scripture, we see that God has no beginning and no end (Psalm 90:2; Job 36:26; Revelation 1:8; cf Revelation 4:8). We also see that God created the universe, which implies that he existed before it and there was no matter until he created it (Gen. 1:1; John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). In physics, it has been discovered that "matter and time and space must all occur together: if there is no matter, there can be no space or time either" (Grudem, 169). So, before the universe was created, there was no "time," at least not in the sense that we know it (Grudem, 169). By this, we can conclude that God created time and he does not live in time.
In Psalm 90:4, Moses writes, "For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night." In 2 Peter 3:8, Peter writes, "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." What can this mean? First of all, each of them are trying to communicate a long time -- not necessarily 1,000 years exactly. Secondly, it is obvious that God's experience of time is much different than ours. If a short amount of time is long and a long amount of time is short then we must conclude: "in God's perspective, any extremely long period of time is as if it just happened. And any very short period of time (such as one day) seems to God to last forever" (Grudem, 170). So for God, time never stops being "present" in his consciousness (Grudem, 170). I can't even remember everything I ate yesterday (true story), but God sees every single aspect of time in the past, present, and future equally vividly as if it were all present to him. In addition to God's ability to see in time, he has the ability to act in time. We can see this by his actions throughout Scripture (example: sending Jesus - Gal. 4:4-5). God can act in time, because he created it, rules over it, and uses it to display his glory (Grudem, 172).
We have seen God's relationship to time, but what will our relationship to time look like in heaven? Will time still exist? Even in heaven, only God will be infinite, and we will still be finite. Otherwise, we would all be gods. Scripture indicates that by heaven's light the nations will walk (Rev. 21:26), people will sing and cast crowns before the throne of God (Rev. 4:10), and a tree will yield fruit each month (Rev. 22:2). All of these events must happen in time; therefore, the "regular passage of time and the occurrence of events in time" will continue to occur. What is the difference to time on earth? People will experience joy in God's presence with no night and no need for light (since God himself will provide light) for all of eternity! Time will still exist, but our experiences in time will be much different and much better.
Why is this important to know? I can think of at least five reasons. First, it shows us how big and powerful
God really is. Second, we can feel confident because God is in complete
control of the universe, and he can see and handle all things. Third, our praise to God becomes more passionate. Fourth, thinking about our future in heaven gives us hope. Lastly, and most importantly, our love for God grows as we learn more about him.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
