No Need for “Time in a Bottle” When the Best Part of Salvation is that it is Timeless
Jim Croce wrote, “If I could save time in a bottle, The first thing that I’d like to do, Is to save every day, Till Eternity passes away, Just to spend them with you.” Time began the very moment God spoke (Genesis 1:3), He set light in place (which requires time to exist for the speed of light is a finite constant, essentially measurable in its existence by time) and a sequence of events that had both a beginning and will, if they have not already, have an end. Thus time, though finite, (and thus proof of a Creator) is a genuine reflection of the I AM, or, always present. Just as God is essential for life (John 14:6), so time is essential for life EXCEPT…just as no one ever died in the presence of the incarnated Christ during His earthly ministry, so life can exist outside of time. EXCEPT, because God, Who is infinite, is outside of time, those who belong to Him, are indwelt by Him and will live with Him, are impervious to timelessness. Once outside of time, anything that does exist, will always exist. Hence, only God could have existed before Genesis 1:3 for only God is outside of time, as evidenced by his independence of and from time. (The Big Bang theory just got banged). Go ahead, sing with me, “How great is our God!”
What does all this mean for the people of God? It means that “salvation” takes on a whole new dimension when we consider that eternity is a fortress against nonexistence. Once we are outside of time, we must, by virtue of timelessness alone, always exist forever and equally as important, free of those things that are dependent on time for memory and existence. And at the exact moment that the Scripture says, “There will be no more night” (Revelation 22:5), time ends. Thus, just as Genesis 1:3 introduces time to existecne, Revelation 22:5 ends time forever. It comes as a great comfort that timelessness will end time (I know that sounds repititious but it isn’t). As time is a great healer of all things harmful to the people of God so timelessness will once-and-for-all put an end to the thihgs from which we need healing. The great joy is that, contrary to ”Time in a Bottle” eternity will never pass away. When time ends, hurt ends. When time ends, fear ends. When time ends, joy beyond understanding begins. No wonder Revelation 22:3 says, “ No longer will there be anything accursed…”
Croce lamented, “But there never seems to be enough time, To do the things you want to do, Once you find them…” But there will be. And that time will be filled with only those things that are joyful to the people of God. But what a thought, that timelessness or eternity will only begin an aspect of our ’salvation’ that it will take forever to enjoy and experience. And since eternity doesn’t end, there will be no end to the joy of that experience.