Hebrews 6:13-20
In verse 17, the author says that God wanted to make the "unchanging nature of His purpose" clear to the heirs of His promise. You might think those heirs should be Abraham's descendants, since he's talking about Abraham in the passage; however, the author doesn't--in verse 18, he identifies those heirs with "us", New Testament believers.
Understand this: God's plan has not changed in over 3500 years. The promise God made to Abraham led to the promise He makes to us, because it's the same promise. God's intentions toward mankind have not changed, His feelings have not changed, His mind has not changed. That was true 2000 years ago, and it's still true today.
I Peter says that for God, one day is the same as a thousand years. That seems pretty radical, but look at it from another perspective:
A movie director shoots a film. The director can choose to shoot any event in the movie in any order he wants, because he's not bound by the timeline of the film. He's outside that timeline. For the director, the ending of the movie isn't any different than the beginning; he can look at the ending, he can look at the beginning. He can look at the middle. He can consider any angle of the movie, any second within the movie, at any time--because he's the one creating the timeline within the movie, he isn't bound at all by movie time.
God's the same way. God created time, and He's above it, outside of it. There's nothing miraculous or supernatural about God being outside of time; it's only natural, because He's the One that created it! It's only fitting that a creator should not be constrained by the laws of his creation, isn't it? In the same way, it's very natural that God should see a single moment and a thousand year span as the same thing.
Now, with that in mind, how can I say that God has changed His mind about anything that happens in time? That's a mathematical equation that doesn't add up: change is a function of time, and we've already established that God doesn't exist within the boundaries of time. Even if God were to experience a type of time, it would be on a completely different scale than the one we know.
So, mathematically speaking, we might say that since God doesn't experience time, (being above it and not within its influence) it's impossible for God to change.
Smart person that you are, I'm sure you're asking, But if that's true, then how can we influence God? Why bother praying at all?
And I'll tell you, ...
I don't know. :) Good question. Never said my theory was perfect... but, according to this verse in Hebrews, God's purpose hasn't changed, and I believe that, even if I don't understand it all the way yet.
One thing is certain: God doesn't think of change in the same way we understand it. His plans take millenia to unfold, and He's been working on salvation for a lot longer than you or I can comprehend.
And another thing I know: I factored into God's purpose when He formulated it. So did you. God took each one of us into account when He set this world in motion and spun the stars into the web of the heavens.
And since He thought of you then, before the sun was setting on the world for the very first time, do you really believe He's going to forget about you now? God made the promise to Father Abraham so that we might have hope, you and I, and that promise was made thousands of years ago.
When you read the book of Genesis, you read a book that God wrote for you! Doesn't this tell you that? If this says that God spoke His words to a man two thousand years before the birth of Christ so that I, close to four thousand years later, might read them and believe in them, then how can I say that the book of Genesis doesn't belong in my life?
And it's not just true of Genesis--this is the whole Old Testament. When God made His promise to Noah, He was writing a promise for us. When God gave a sign to Gideon, He was giving us the same sign. When God issued the challenge of Immanuel to King Ahaz, He was showing us the same miracle. When God saved the people of Ninevah from their sins, He was writing to save me from mine.
God's purpose throughout the ages has not shifted or changed, and it will remain constant all the days of my short life: God wills that you and I come to know Him and the salvation He offers, and that we should love Him and spend eternity with Him. He loves us! He's been proving it to us since the dawn of time.
Understand this: God's plan has not changed in over 3500 years. The promise God made to Abraham led to the promise He makes to us, because it's the same promise. God's intentions toward mankind have not changed, His feelings have not changed, His mind has not changed. That was true 2000 years ago, and it's still true today.
I Peter says that for God, one day is the same as a thousand years. That seems pretty radical, but look at it from another perspective:
A movie director shoots a film. The director can choose to shoot any event in the movie in any order he wants, because he's not bound by the timeline of the film. He's outside that timeline. For the director, the ending of the movie isn't any different than the beginning; he can look at the ending, he can look at the beginning. He can look at the middle. He can consider any angle of the movie, any second within the movie, at any time--because he's the one creating the timeline within the movie, he isn't bound at all by movie time.
God's the same way. God created time, and He's above it, outside of it. There's nothing miraculous or supernatural about God being outside of time; it's only natural, because He's the One that created it! It's only fitting that a creator should not be constrained by the laws of his creation, isn't it? In the same way, it's very natural that God should see a single moment and a thousand year span as the same thing.
Now, with that in mind, how can I say that God has changed His mind about anything that happens in time? That's a mathematical equation that doesn't add up: change is a function of time, and we've already established that God doesn't exist within the boundaries of time. Even if God were to experience a type of time, it would be on a completely different scale than the one we know.
So, mathematically speaking, we might say that since God doesn't experience time, (being above it and not within its influence) it's impossible for God to change.
Smart person that you are, I'm sure you're asking, But if that's true, then how can we influence God? Why bother praying at all?
And I'll tell you, ...
I don't know. :) Good question. Never said my theory was perfect... but, according to this verse in Hebrews, God's purpose hasn't changed, and I believe that, even if I don't understand it all the way yet.
One thing is certain: God doesn't think of change in the same way we understand it. His plans take millenia to unfold, and He's been working on salvation for a lot longer than you or I can comprehend.
And another thing I know: I factored into God's purpose when He formulated it. So did you. God took each one of us into account when He set this world in motion and spun the stars into the web of the heavens.
And since He thought of you then, before the sun was setting on the world for the very first time, do you really believe He's going to forget about you now? God made the promise to Father Abraham so that we might have hope, you and I, and that promise was made thousands of years ago.
When you read the book of Genesis, you read a book that God wrote for you! Doesn't this tell you that? If this says that God spoke His words to a man two thousand years before the birth of Christ so that I, close to four thousand years later, might read them and believe in them, then how can I say that the book of Genesis doesn't belong in my life?
And it's not just true of Genesis--this is the whole Old Testament. When God made His promise to Noah, He was writing a promise for us. When God gave a sign to Gideon, He was giving us the same sign. When God issued the challenge of Immanuel to King Ahaz, He was showing us the same miracle. When God saved the people of Ninevah from their sins, He was writing to save me from mine.
God's purpose throughout the ages has not shifted or changed, and it will remain constant all the days of my short life: God wills that you and I come to know Him and the salvation He offers, and that we should love Him and spend eternity with Him. He loves us! He's been proving it to us since the dawn of time.
posted by ionathas78 at 5:51 AM
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