Proverbs 8:23
“I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.”
God is here speaking to us through King Solomon concerning his preeminent eternal existence. I remember on one occasion as a child…and as I looked up at my dad, I began to ponder the fact that he was older than I. As I began to think about that, I suddenly realized that there was a time when I was not. Therefore, if there was a time when I was not, then where was I during that time!
According to Jeremiah 1:5 the scripture says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” I believe that there is a wonderful secret that is revealed in this verse of scripture. The first part is in reference to God as creator saying, “Before I formed you…” The second is in reference to us and his knowledge of us saying, “…I knew you.” Part of God’s eternal power is his omniscience. His knowledge is not limited by time…whether past, present, or future.
However, in my mind the marvel is not so much His eternal existence…that is something we come to expect from God. The marvel can be found in our connection with that eternity! We are also eternal beings. In eternity God knew us. Before there was a body, there was a spirit. That part of us is the part of us that is eternal. Every day my body is growing weaker and weaker. It is slowly but surely dying. However, how wonderful…how surprising…and yes…even humorous…to think that in this pile of earth…that is in our temporal flesh…God has hid a wonderful irony! For simultaneously as this outward shell of our life dies…a great treasure…an eternal one… builds daily inside of us a strength and value that will never lose its power…nor diminish in its strength.
For what then is our life in this flesh? It is simply an opportunity…an opportunity to appreciate God, his wisdom, his mercy, his strength, and more importantly his deep, deep love for his creation. The only way that we can do that is from the confines of weakness. We are here as eternal beings in temporal houses, so that we might understand just how wonderful it is to know God and his love.
However, this temporal house also is a sign. It is a sign that points towards eternity. I know that when I am on a bus…I am not yet home…it is only a temporal dwelling. Just as our weakness points us to our need for forgiveness…even so this flesh points us towards our need for eternity…our ultimate destination!
II Corinthians 5:1 “For we (that is we as believers) know…That if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved…We have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!”