God is outside of time.
I can hear a big sigh of ‘Duh’ headed my way, but track with me for a second.
I wrote about the origami man a little bit ago (read the entry here.)
Just recently, I watched a video by Chuck Missler called “The Science of God.” (Watch the YouTube video of here.)
It was amazing to see Mr. Missler confirm some of the thoughts I was having. Not only that, but Mr. Missler also revealed how close I was to the scientific implications of God’s deity and how that interplayed with our limited, 4-dimensional understanding of the world.
To track with what I am saying, read my blog entry about the origami-man here, then watch the YouTube video on the Science of God here.
From here, my mind jumped to what I experience when I am in the presence of God. When I press into the presence of God, I lose track of time in general. Time is currently the top dimension that we consciously operate in.
If you notice, all references to God are limited by time. Look up most references to God and you will find that there are some implications and references to time. For God to have a nature that is loving and kind at one moment, and burning with anger the next, that would mean that either A) God is limited by time (He is one thing, and THEN something else), or B) our understanding of God being angry and then loving would be insufficient for God.
Who are these references for? Who is limited by them? When it says that God’s anger burned against Israel in the desert, did God really change?
One who is outside of time cannot be one thing and then the next. He must be both at once.
In our mind, when we imagine someone angry, we picture them doing something to show us they are angry. We see their face scowling, or them throwing something, or yelling. All of these actions, any actions, are bound by time.
We know that God is outside of time. He must be. (The bible says that there is none greater than Him. If God were limited by time, then there would be something greater than Him; in this case, time would be God. Though the one we are worshipping may be greater than us and some type of spirit being, it would not be God in that Time were greater than it.)
Since we worship an ultimate God, that God must be ultimate and outside of Time. If He is outside of Time, he must be outside of any actions or activities that are bound by time.
A smile is bound by time (and space; called space-time.) The points of my mouth are pointed down at one moment. They then shift from their location to pointing upward, and it is several moments forward in time. Their location has changed, and now I am smiling.
Though God may be able to smile, would He be using a smile to communicate because that is how He communicates, or because that is how we understand friendliness, friendship and love?
I offer that it is the latter.
Now, one can rightly inquire as to what is the origin of friendship? What is the origin of what it is to be a friend, to be love and loved?
These, I believe are truly Godly because they take you outside of time. They take one to another level that is irrelevant to time. When we love, truly love, it is a thing that lasts forever. When we are friends, truly friends, it lasts until death and beyond.
When we love, truly love, we learn something about the eternal. We feel closer to our God.
When we are friends, truly friends, we learn something about the eternal. We learn something about God. It lasts far beyond that moment, far beyond that person, and far beyond our own life!
Going back to the presence of God, it is another confirmation of our ability to step beyond our dimensional limitations by stepping into His presence. When I pray, I lose track of time. I develop a vision, for my life and internally, that far surpasses my limited scope. Faith, which surpasses our 4-dimensional limitations by its very nature, grows in me. Hope, which also surpasses our 4-dimensional limitations, grows in me.
When we spend time in the presence of God, our 4-dimensional limitations cease.
Two examples of that seem to confirm that with me.
First, there is a couple I know who spend hours every day in prayer and in the presence of God. Though their bodies have grown old with time, their countenance, and thus their complexions, have stayed relatively young. One is closely approaching 45 and looks younger in countenance than any 55 year olds I know. His skin is still young and taunt. His hair barely shows any grey. It is the same with anyone who has spent massive amounts of time with God (outside of our time limitations.) And, even as their body does deteriorate over time, their awareness seems stronger than those who do not in their old age.
The second example is the awareness of time. Time is a measurement of our detectable world. It is based on relativity. (Current discoveries on relativity and light could easily adjust these thoughts soon.)
When I am in prayer, I cannot tell how much time has passed. Like spending time with a lover, time seems to go by too quickly, yet simultaneously seems to have drifted so slowly. It was not enough time, yet it was so full of joy and excitement that it crept pleasantly by. My typical points of reference for time (how much work I achieved in a day, what the hands on my watch say, etc) are irrelevant to my pleasure.
This is the dichotomy of our eternal nature. We, for precious rare moments, experience what it is to be eternal. We are privy to what it is to be in His presence.
So, when my watch was an hour off yesterday after worship, true worship in His presence, did I step outside of time? Though practicality says that I did not; faith and hope tell me I did!
