Revelation 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and was, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus.
The statement of interest here is: Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and was, and shalt be…. The Lord is eternal. He is past, present, and future all at the same time. This means that in the realm of spirit where God is, for He is Spirit (John 4:24), there is no time as we know it in the natural realm. Whether past, present, or future it has its reality before God. Ecclesiastes 3:15 says, That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requires that which is past.
The fact that the past is still alive in God is very important for us. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a thing of the past, yet it is still alive and valid. Because it is a present reality before God, it can be a present reality for us. For almost 2,000 years people have believed in the present power of the cross and have received cleansing from their sins. Not only that, but it also opens the door for every believing individual to enter into the eternity of God.
When Jesus hung on the cross and said, It is finished! (John 19:30), nothing else needed to be done for the salvation of man in any age. It was a work that would live throughout eternity. He opened the door that gave access to the eternal God, and no man can shut that door (Revelation 3:8). Knowing that His work was finished, He sat down at the right hand of God (the place of eternity) waiting for us to enter the access He had provided that we might participate in eternity with Him. But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Hebrews 10:12-14. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:3.
Paul said in Romans 4:17, God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were. God quickens the dead. That involves resurrection, but it is on a broader range than we usually think about it. Historians will say that as soon as a thing happens or is spoken it is history. That particular thing or word is past and over. One may be able to bring about a similar event or to repeat the words that were spoken, but the original event and words cannot be relived. That is true on the natural realm, but God is able to quicken the dead, to make alive what is past so that it continues to live.
The Word of God is that way. It never dies; it is eternal. The Word is more than just facts that are always true. When God speaks, His Word enhouses His eternal nature. God and His Word are one and the same. His Word is eternal, for He is eternal (John 1:1).
The same can be true of events. God can quicken something that is done so that it is alive forever. When Jesus was resurrected He entered eternity, so also the work that He accomplished. We don’t need another sacrifice! His sacrifice still lives!
Now what about the future? In Romans 4:17 Paul said, God calls those things which be not as though they were. God is able to take things that have never happened, things still in the future, and make them a present reality. If God related to us as we are right now in this present moment, He probably wouldn’t have much to do with us. But He knows what we are going to become, what He is going to create us to be, and He relates to us as a finished work.
Isaiah prophesied …And with His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). Peter repeated his prophecy saying …by whose stripes you were healed (I Peter 2:24). Yet Jesus went around healing people before He ever received the stripes. God calls those things which be not as though they were. God took something that was future and made it a present reality. He can do that because He is eternal. The past, present, and future is a present reality to God.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that everything of the past is a present reality to God. He can also forget anything He wants to forget. He can wipe out something of the past so that it never happened. Thank God for that because when we repent of our sins, He remembers them no more! They are wiped out! They have no more reality with God.
We have no trouble believing that God is eternal, but we do have trouble believing that we can participate in it. We do not have to die physically to experience His eternity, but we do have to believe that He has given us access. It doesn’t just happen. We must believe! We must appropriate His provision! Peter says, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4). His divine nature is eternal. We can partake of it.
We can be where Jesus Christ is. We can begin experiencing His realm of Eternity. It is not absolutely necessary to die physically first, but it is necessary to die. It is necessary to die out to self, to the realm of unbelief. We must have a cross experience, too. If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. Matthew 16:24-25. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. II Corinthians 4:10-11.
God has provided so much, and yet we have experienced so little. He has prepared a table before us (Psalm 23:5), but we seem to be satisfied with the crumbs. We accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, have our sins forgiven, and we are content. But the Lord’s atoning sacrifice provides so much more. How much of the eternal God can we experience in this life? How much of God is available to us? How great is the provision? The Scriptures talk about being filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19).
It is time to repent for our passivity! It is time to repent of our lukewarmness! Today’s church is like the Laodicean church – wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked (Revelation 3:17) But we don’t have to be! We can walk with God! We can live in His presence and begin experiencing His eternal nature. Now is the time to begin! Now is the time to take the first steps! We may take a couple of steps and fall on our faces, like a baby learning to walk. But we’ll get up and take a few more, until we are walking with Him in the Spirit. Oh, how the Lord will rejoice to see us take those first steps! He’s been waiting a long time for a people to really believe His Word.
It doesn’t have to be a long drawn out process. God can bring forth a nation in a day (Isaiah 66:8). He can bring down Babylon in an hour (Revelation 18:10). As soon as we begin to move in faith, taking our first steps, God will move on the scene. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13. God is able to bypass the process and turn the water into wine (John 2:1-11).
The Book of Revelation speaks of a people who are full of eyes before and behind (Revelation 4:6). They have entered into the eternity of God. They have full awareness of that which is before, the future, and that which is behind, the past. We can become that people! Believe for it!
Copyright © 2004 by Henry DuBose