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Author Topic: Eternity  (Read 5443 times)

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Craig

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Eternity
« on: April 04, 2010, 10:15:19 AM »

Dear Donale:  I will make a few COMMENTS in your email...............


Dear Ray,

Here’s another fellow believer praying for you and your loved ones. Please read this email only when you’re not too weak.

I have believed in God’s reconciliation of all His creation for many years. The Good News!

I’ve been studying your pages for several weeks and am finally at a point to ask questions and make statements. I believe God has given you great insight and discernment. It’s a gift that apparently not many of us have. Perhaps because many of us simply don’t ask for it … “we have not, because …” (James 4:2b).

My question is, have you ever delved into research concerning “Eternity”? It is one of the more fascinating topics to ponder (to me at least … but then, I’m a geek). Ever since Einstein we know that eternity is not a very very very long time (that’s Infinity);

COMMENT:  It's hard to discuss a subject when one does not have a clear definition of any of the words being discussed.  And just how is it that   "...since Einstein we know that eternity is not a very very very long time (that’s Infinity);"?

Infinity has nothing to do with "time."  Infinite has to do with "having no boundaries or limits--immeasurable."  It has nothing to do with time itself.

 But eternity is the absence of time. Physics tells us that time, space, light and mass are related. You can’t have one without the other (like love and marriage) ;)

COMMENT:  Just HOW does "physics tells us" that eternity is the absence of time?  That things have relationship or are related us not proof that one does not exist without the other.  "In the BEGINNING [that's BEFORE

there was mass or light] God CREATED the heavens and the earth [that's mass.]"  In verse two AFTER the creation of "mass" in verse one, "...DARKNESS was upon the face of the deep." But it was not until verse 3 that

we are told that God said "Let there BE LIGHT" (Gen. 1:1, 2, & 3).  Even our dictionaries are confused as to the absolute meaning of "eternity"--"eternal adj.  1.  Having no beginning or end; existing OUTSIDE time...eternity n.

1,  Time without beginning or end:  INFINITE T-I-M-E" (American Heritage College Dictionary).  See what I mean?  "OUTSIDE time vs. INFINITE time."

I'm afraid I do not agree with most of the rest of your statements also, but I don't have "time" or the inclination to go through all that right now. Hope you understand.

God be with you,

Ray



By the way, it’s always fascinating when scientific findings corroborate the Bible! God said, “Light be!” … and Light was! Amazing. The creation of space-time.

The topic becomes even more intriguing (to me) when considering the element of light -- the photon. It is constantly in motion. It cannot not be in motion. When it is in motion it travels 186,000 miles per second (the speed of light). If we venture into the hypothetical realm and assume we can get close to travelling at the speed of light, then the thought experiments (and actual experiments) yield interesting results. Namely that the faster you travel, the slower time passes for you as the traveling observer. For the photon travelling at the speed of light, time has stopped completely and has become infinite.

Mass is interesting too. As it becomes denser, it attracts more mass. Dying stars are a good example on a grand scale. As they implode their size gets smaller and their density (and attraction) grows. They start “sucking in” surrounding mass. This continues until they become almost infinitely dense at which point something really odd happens. Light that gets absorbed by this almost infinitely dense mass can no longer escape either. Even though it is travelling faster than anything else in the created universe, it does not have escape velocity. That is why to the distant observer such dying stars appear as “black holes.”

Since nothing escapes a black hole and nobody has ever travelled to one and come back to tell about it, much knowledge surrounding them is theoretical. Applying the laws of physics, we can successfully determine the dynamics of these very dense objects up to the point where they become infinitely dense. At which point the known laws of physics break down (as they do when we try going back to the ultimate dense object: the universe at the “Big Bang”). We can speculate though that at the point of this singularity, space-time is no more. Welcome to Eternity!

Eternity is where God is. Knowing what little we know about it, we can say (scientifically and Scripturally) that in Eternity there is no “was” and there is no “will be” there just is “is.” No past, no future, just presence. The eternal presence of God.

Because of that, in Eternity there can be no change. There can also be no choice. If everything always is, then it can’t be different than it is. It just is and it can’t and won’t change (not unlike God Himself). If you were taken out of space-time at this very moment and you were to enter into Eternity, then you would be what you are at this instant without the option for change or choice.

Space-time is necessary for choice! (likewise, mass is necessary to operate within space-time -- hence our God assumed mass: Jesus)

In the words of Billy Mays – “But wait, there’s more!!”  (to eternity, that is)

I know that you contend from scripture that when we die, we’re dead. I totally agree. You say that we won’t be alive again until we’re resurrected. I totally agree. From our earthly vantage point it would seem that some time passes between these two events, death and resurrection. But may I suggest that while this is true for the observer in space-time, for the person who died, the experience may be very different. If you’re transported from time into eternity, then time no longer exists and all events are in the present. But apparently that’s not the end of it. The Bible promises a new Heavens and a new Earth (and new bodies to boot … I can’t wait for mine). This would imply that somehow there is mass and space and time again. Say you go from this life into eternity and into the next life, the time that passes between the two is actually no time at all. Time does not pass in eternity.

Bear with me please!

If you were to die and pass through eternity into the next life, then this is your resurrection! This reconciles those apparently contradictory scripture passages speaking of the sleep of the dead vs. being with Jesus in paradise “this day.” On earth, life goes on when you die (you’ll be deeply missed though). Time continues to flow. But for you it has stopped. It doesn’t exist. And then it does exist again … as you see Jesus coming again and meet him “in the air”! But guess what, when you see the events surrounding your resurrection unfolding, everyone else who has ever lived will see them too, at the same time. For them, who were still alive when you died, time has passed. For you it hasn’t. In the “twinkling of an eye” you have come out of eternity only to see everyone doing the same at the same time! While they mourn for you on earth, you won’t even have “time” to mourn for them on your journey because you won’t even be separated from them long enough to begin mourning for them. What this also implies is that “the other side” (call it “heaven” or “the new heavens and new earth”) is currently empty. No one is there yet. Moses isn’t there yet, King David isn’t there yet, Mother Theresa isn’t there yet (quit praying to saints -- they can’t hear us). All because--You aren’t there yet! Once you are there, they are there too. This goes for all of us. When we enter eternity, everyone else does too; and everyone exists it in order to enter the new creation.

These theories are more than simple little mind games. They make sense from a scientific standpoint. And they also help reconcile scriptures (think of the one telling us that nobody has ever seen heaven, for example).

God’s ways are not our ways. There’s so little we understand. But God has given us wisdom to grasp at least some of those things. Isn’t He awesome!

One final thought. What if after our death we weren’t “rescued” out of Eternity? If I were to enter eternity right now (and remember, eternity not a very very very long time, but it’s the absence of time) … I would be there in the state I’m currently in. God is love and God is good and God is perfect! Everything about Him is pure perfection. He can “survive” eternity. I can’t. Wouldn’t that be “hell”?

Love in Christ!

Don

 
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