Time - What is it really?
When I was in middle school, my Sunday School teacher did a lesson on time and God's existence apart from it's constraints. We talked about Einstein and other philosophers and read a lot of Scripture. That lesson made a big impact on me. I learned that as a Christian I could think about my faith intellectually. I also began to grasp (as much as a human, let alone a middle schooler can) the greatness of God.
Several years later, I was back at that church and asked that Sunday School teacher if she remembered the lesson. She did and from what I understand she teaches it every 3 - 4 years. I asked her for a copy, which she was pleased to give me.
So, now, a few years separated from our conversation, I sit down to read the curriculum again. This time as an adult who has completed Bible college and is preparing for the adventure of seminary.
To give just one more tidbit of background knowledge as to why this study has recently peeked my image, I'd like to share the theological impact it left on me the first time. Since that class I have believed that God is beyond the constraints of time and space. Yes, in his interaction with humans he must do and act in ways that respect the natural laws that govern the way people live, but he is not limited by these laws in His own existence. As I have understood it, God is in the past, the present, and in the future all at once. As he is actively involved in my life today, in this same moment he is interacting with Abraham, and the people living in the last days. He may zoom in and focus on a minute of time in my world, so that it seems like several hours, or He may expand his view and several months of my life may appear like a millisecond. In this manner, He is personally interactive with all moments of time and can know what happens in the future while allowing free will. Now, what I am unsure of is whether I reached this theological conclusion based upon the lead of my Sunday School teacher or if this is what I, as a middle schooler, deducted from our studies of Scripture.
As our world turns attention to the massacre at Virginia Tech and people discuss the Sovereignty of God, free will, and why bad things happen, I return to this Sunday School lesson to find the source of my theological position and to decide whether it is strong or weak.
(Yes, I recognize that "schooler" is not a word found in the dictionary, but I also recognize that it accomplishes its purpose and it's meaning is recognized.)
Several years later, I was back at that church and asked that Sunday School teacher if she remembered the lesson. She did and from what I understand she teaches it every 3 - 4 years. I asked her for a copy, which she was pleased to give me.
So, now, a few years separated from our conversation, I sit down to read the curriculum again. This time as an adult who has completed Bible college and is preparing for the adventure of seminary.
To give just one more tidbit of background knowledge as to why this study has recently peeked my image, I'd like to share the theological impact it left on me the first time. Since that class I have believed that God is beyond the constraints of time and space. Yes, in his interaction with humans he must do and act in ways that respect the natural laws that govern the way people live, but he is not limited by these laws in His own existence. As I have understood it, God is in the past, the present, and in the future all at once. As he is actively involved in my life today, in this same moment he is interacting with Abraham, and the people living in the last days. He may zoom in and focus on a minute of time in my world, so that it seems like several hours, or He may expand his view and several months of my life may appear like a millisecond. In this manner, He is personally interactive with all moments of time and can know what happens in the future while allowing free will. Now, what I am unsure of is whether I reached this theological conclusion based upon the lead of my Sunday School teacher or if this is what I, as a middle schooler, deducted from our studies of Scripture.
As our world turns attention to the massacre at Virginia Tech and people discuss the Sovereignty of God, free will, and why bad things happen, I return to this Sunday School lesson to find the source of my theological position and to decide whether it is strong or weak.
(Yes, I recognize that "schooler" is not a word found in the dictionary, but I also recognize that it accomplishes its purpose and it's meaning is recognized.)
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