Day 17: God Is Eternal, Before All, After All

Scripture
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Psalm 90:2 ESV

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8 ESV

Confessional Summary
The Reformers confessed God’s eternity without hesitation. The Scots Confession opens by naming God as “eternal” (Scots Confession, Article 1). The Thirty-Nine Articles, shaped in the Reformed stream of the English church, begins with the claim that God is “everlasting” (Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, Article 1). The Larger Catechism repeats that He is “infinite, eternal, and unchangeable” in His being and perfections (Westminster Larger Catechism 7). The Second Helvetic Confession confesses Him as “immense, eternal, incomprehensible” (Second Helvetic Confession, Chapter 3).

When the confessions call God eternal, they are not saying He has simply existed a very long time. They are saying He has no beginning, no end, and no dependence on time. Time marks creatures. God is the Lord of time.

The Reformers believed God’s eternity means He is without beginning or end, so His promises do not weaken with time and His rule is never limited by it.

Reflection

You live inside time. Your days are measured, your strength rises and falls, and your life is constantly moving toward endings.

Psalm 90 does not let you ignore that. It places you before the God who was God before there was an earth to stand on or mountains to look at. From everlasting to everlasting, He is God.

Revelation takes that same truth and puts it in a Name. Alpha and Omega means God is not a chapter in your story. He is the Author of it. He is not carried along by history. History is carried along by Him. He is, and was, and is to come.

This is not meant to make you feel small in a hopeless way. It is meant to make you feel held. It is often the fear of loss that leads to so much sin, because everything in our world can be taken or can end. God cannot. His promises do not expire. His covenant does not age. His mercy does not run out. When you come to Him, you are not leaning on something temporary.

The eternal God also recalibrates what you call “worth it.” If God is eternal, then faithfulness is never wasted.

Application
Name one thing you have been treating as ultimate that is actually temporary. Put it back in its place. Then choose one act of obedience that will matter in a thousand years, even if it costs you something this week. For example, forgive someone you have been refusing to forgive.

Prayer
Eternal God, You were God before I drew a breath, and You will be God when my days are finished. Free me from living like temporary things are ultimate. Teach me to seek what lasts and to trust Your promises without fear. Through Christ. Amen.