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Excerpt from www,biblemagazine.com
What is Immortality ?
The word immortality has nothing whatsoever to do with space-time or other-worldly dimensions. As a dictionary will soon demonstrate it simply means undying or incorruptible (from the Latin moro--death). In the New Testament it is translated from the Greek athanasia which literally means deathlessness.
This meaning is verified by what the apostle Paul tells believers in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. He discusses how the dead are to be raised and "with what body" they will come (verse 35). He points out that there are various kinds of bodies--and they are not all the same (man, animals, fish, birds and so forth--verse 39). He also says that there are celestial (or heavenly) bodies. To amplify this he says "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (verse 44).
Everyone knows what is meant by a natural or earthly body--and the apostle is careful to point out the fact that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (verse 50). This being the case, he says "we shall all be changed". In other words, an earthly and natural flesh and blood body which is subject to decay and corruption cannot inherit the kingdom of God because such a body will not last for ever. Consider this in the light of Genesis 17:8 where God told Abraham:
"...And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession..."
This then is "the promise of eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:15). But it is not possible for flesh and blood to inherit the land of Canaan on an eternal basis. A natural body, subjected as it is to corruption and death cannot receive anything as an everlasting possession because it will eventually die. The only possible solution is for the natural flesh and blood body to be changed, just as the apostle says.
The Promised Land seen pictured from space.So what will it be changed to? The inspired apostle tells us that the corruptible body must put on incorruption. He says that this mortal (dying) nature must put on immortality (or deathlessness)--verse 53. When this has been accomplished, the result will be that "Death is swallowed up in victory." Those who are the subjects of such a bodily change will no longer be subject to death. As Jesus himself expressed it: "Neither can they die any more"--Luke 20:36. That, according to the Scriptures, is what it means to be immortal.
For those who are not changed, death will eventually come and they will sleep for eternity--they will not be conscious of passing time ever again but will have entered a black void where all existence and time has ceased--Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10.
Infinite Time
"The dead know not any thing" says the preacher; "his thoughts perish" says the Psalmist (146:4)--so the dead have no consciousness, they do not experience anything; their senses have ceased to function--they have passed away into oblivion. A dead man may lie in his tomb for a thousand years--yet he will not be conscious of one passing second. Such is death. For the living however, there is the awareness and consciousness of passing moments--the experiences of life, whether good or evil; and even if it be evil there is hope.
Now if a natural body is changed so that it is immortal or deathless, conscious existence will continue for ever. In other words an immortal being could look forward to an infinite amount of time. Thus the Psalmist says of God--"But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end" (Psa. 102:27). Here is infinite time stretching on into an endless future, the scope of which is beyond the experience of mortal man.
The concept of infinity--whether in regard to space or time--is difficult for us to imagine, yet it is something that is clearly taught in Scripture. God Himself has always existed and will always exist. In Psalm 90:2 it is written: "even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." The word that is here translated "everlasting" is the Hebrew Olam, and means a concealed period, or as Strong's Concordance explains it: "the vanishing point"--i.e. infinity. Some commentators have suggested that the word also carried a metaphysical sense, but that is placing a doctrinal concept upon the word which its literal meaning does not support. The words of Psalm 90:2 are clear--God's existence is not "beyond time" (which would be equivalent to saying that God is dead), but He is constantly there throughout infinite time.
God in Control of Time
In view of what has been written here, there are those who will want to ask: "Is God subject to the limitations of time?" The answer to that question will depend upon the sense meant in the question itself. Some will ask the question as a genuine enquiry, others will be intending to challenge the Truth by it.
The facts are as follows. God is not subject to the measurements of time as this is governed by the movement of "lights in the firmament of the heaven" (Genesis 1:14). God can control time in this sense just as easily as we might put the clock forwards or backwards to adjust for summer-time and ordinary time. Such incidents are recorded of course in Joshua 10:12-14 and Isaiah 38:7-8.
There is another sense also in which God controls and governs "the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power" (Acts 1:7). As the Revised Version and its marginal reference will show here, the times and seasons are "appointed" by God's authority--in other words, events such as the restoration of the kingdom to Israel will occur at the time appointed by God--He is in control of the timing. There is a "set time" to favour Zion (Psa. 102:13)just as there have been "times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). Time is thus harnessed and used by God to work out His purposes with mankind. As God uses His power in various ways to accomplish His designs, so also He uses His time--infinite though it is--in the exercise of His goodness.
The Divine Attributes
To say that God does not experience the passing of time would be to deny His revealed character. It is true that "a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night" (Psa. 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8); for what is a thousand years when you have infinite time at your disposal? On a lesser scale we can understand what is written of Jacob--"And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her." The time flew by--but does that mean Jacob did not experience the passing of those seven years? Of course not. So it is then with God; a thousand years is still a thousand years, but it is all relative. A seventy year-old man has lived for approx. 25,550 days--what is one day out of that? In relation to his seventy years it is of no account; so with God, a thousand years is as but a day. Time is still time, however, even to God Himself. Otherwise, of what value would it be to say that He is "longsuffering" (Ex. 34:6).9
We cannot minimize this attribute of God--it must mean something when He says (for example) "Forty years long was I grieved with this generation" (Psa. 95:10). It must mean something when Peter writes that "the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing" (1 Pet. 3:20). Those who would try to put God into a dimension beyond time thus deny Him; they undermine the value of His good Name and character. There can hardly be greater proof than this, that the whole philosophy of a metaphysical timeless dimension is false. The thesis is utter bunk!
Eternal Life
As a matter of fact, the Divine attributes as taught in Scripture, form the true basis of eternal life. In Exodus 33:13 Moses prayed to God: "Show me now thy way, that 1 may know thee". This "way" (or "ways" R.V.) also forms God's glory (verse 16), and His goodness (verse l9). These "ways" involve "the name of the Lord" (verse 19) which is proclaimed in the words of chapter 34:6-7. To "know" someone, we need to know or be familiar with their ways--and the closer we are to a person the more we know their ways. Thus we see Moses seeking a closer relationship with God. Now Jesus says that "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). To "know" the only true God and Jesus Christ is to know their ways; their attributes and characteristics. This is the basis of eternal life.
The word "know" in these places means more than simply "to be aware of". This is not just academic knowledge, it is experience of. When someone exercises judgement and justice--when they discern the cause of the poor and needy so as to respond to it--then they are said to know God--Jer. 22:15-16. In other words, to "know" God and the Lord Jesus really means demonstrating their attributes and characteristics through faith. Thus the apostle John wrote:
"And ye know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life" (1 John 5:20).
These words need careful thinking about. Here is a true understanding of the issues of eternal life--and in that understanding a man or woman may glory--see Jer. 9:23-24. Let us then put aside the myths of a pagan world and embrace the Truth of God, seeking to bring forth this precious fruit in our earthly bodies through faith in the great God and His Son Jesus Christ.
What is Immortality ?
The word immortality has nothing whatsoever to do with space-time or other-worldly dimensions. As a dictionary will soon demonstrate it simply means undying or incorruptible (from the Latin moro--death). In the New Testament it is translated from the Greek athanasia which literally means deathlessness.
This meaning is verified by what the apostle Paul tells believers in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. He discusses how the dead are to be raised and "with what body" they will come (verse 35). He points out that there are various kinds of bodies--and they are not all the same (man, animals, fish, birds and so forth--verse 39). He also says that there are celestial (or heavenly) bodies. To amplify this he says "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (verse 44).
Everyone knows what is meant by a natural or earthly body--and the apostle is careful to point out the fact that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (verse 50). This being the case, he says "we shall all be changed". In other words, an earthly and natural flesh and blood body which is subject to decay and corruption cannot inherit the kingdom of God because such a body will not last for ever. Consider this in the light of Genesis 17:8 where God told Abraham:
"...And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession..."
This then is "the promise of eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:15). But it is not possible for flesh and blood to inherit the land of Canaan on an eternal basis. A natural body, subjected as it is to corruption and death cannot receive anything as an everlasting possession because it will eventually die. The only possible solution is for the natural flesh and blood body to be changed, just as the apostle says.
The Promised Land seen pictured from space.So what will it be changed to? The inspired apostle tells us that the corruptible body must put on incorruption. He says that this mortal (dying) nature must put on immortality (or deathlessness)--verse 53. When this has been accomplished, the result will be that "Death is swallowed up in victory." Those who are the subjects of such a bodily change will no longer be subject to death. As Jesus himself expressed it: "Neither can they die any more"--Luke 20:36. That, according to the Scriptures, is what it means to be immortal.
For those who are not changed, death will eventually come and they will sleep for eternity--they will not be conscious of passing time ever again but will have entered a black void where all existence and time has ceased--Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10.
Infinite Time
"The dead know not any thing" says the preacher; "his thoughts perish" says the Psalmist (146:4)--so the dead have no consciousness, they do not experience anything; their senses have ceased to function--they have passed away into oblivion. A dead man may lie in his tomb for a thousand years--yet he will not be conscious of one passing second. Such is death. For the living however, there is the awareness and consciousness of passing moments--the experiences of life, whether good or evil; and even if it be evil there is hope.
Now if a natural body is changed so that it is immortal or deathless, conscious existence will continue for ever. In other words an immortal being could look forward to an infinite amount of time. Thus the Psalmist says of God--"But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end" (Psa. 102:27). Here is infinite time stretching on into an endless future, the scope of which is beyond the experience of mortal man.
The concept of infinity--whether in regard to space or time--is difficult for us to imagine, yet it is something that is clearly taught in Scripture. God Himself has always existed and will always exist. In Psalm 90:2 it is written: "even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." The word that is here translated "everlasting" is the Hebrew Olam, and means a concealed period, or as Strong's Concordance explains it: "the vanishing point"--i.e. infinity. Some commentators have suggested that the word also carried a metaphysical sense, but that is placing a doctrinal concept upon the word which its literal meaning does not support. The words of Psalm 90:2 are clear--God's existence is not "beyond time" (which would be equivalent to saying that God is dead), but He is constantly there throughout infinite time.
God in Control of Time
In view of what has been written here, there are those who will want to ask: "Is God subject to the limitations of time?" The answer to that question will depend upon the sense meant in the question itself. Some will ask the question as a genuine enquiry, others will be intending to challenge the Truth by it.
The facts are as follows. God is not subject to the measurements of time as this is governed by the movement of "lights in the firmament of the heaven" (Genesis 1:14). God can control time in this sense just as easily as we might put the clock forwards or backwards to adjust for summer-time and ordinary time. Such incidents are recorded of course in Joshua 10:12-14 and Isaiah 38:7-8.
There is another sense also in which God controls and governs "the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power" (Acts 1:7). As the Revised Version and its marginal reference will show here, the times and seasons are "appointed" by God's authority--in other words, events such as the restoration of the kingdom to Israel will occur at the time appointed by God--He is in control of the timing. There is a "set time" to favour Zion (Psa. 102:13)just as there have been "times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). Time is thus harnessed and used by God to work out His purposes with mankind. As God uses His power in various ways to accomplish His designs, so also He uses His time--infinite though it is--in the exercise of His goodness.
The Divine Attributes
To say that God does not experience the passing of time would be to deny His revealed character. It is true that "a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night" (Psa. 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8); for what is a thousand years when you have infinite time at your disposal? On a lesser scale we can understand what is written of Jacob--"And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her." The time flew by--but does that mean Jacob did not experience the passing of those seven years? Of course not. So it is then with God; a thousand years is still a thousand years, but it is all relative. A seventy year-old man has lived for approx. 25,550 days--what is one day out of that? In relation to his seventy years it is of no account; so with God, a thousand years is as but a day. Time is still time, however, even to God Himself. Otherwise, of what value would it be to say that He is "longsuffering" (Ex. 34:6).9
We cannot minimize this attribute of God--it must mean something when He says (for example) "Forty years long was I grieved with this generation" (Psa. 95:10). It must mean something when Peter writes that "the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing" (1 Pet. 3:20). Those who would try to put God into a dimension beyond time thus deny Him; they undermine the value of His good Name and character. There can hardly be greater proof than this, that the whole philosophy of a metaphysical timeless dimension is false. The thesis is utter bunk!
Eternal Life
As a matter of fact, the Divine attributes as taught in Scripture, form the true basis of eternal life. In Exodus 33:13 Moses prayed to God: "Show me now thy way, that 1 may know thee". This "way" (or "ways" R.V.) also forms God's glory (verse 16), and His goodness (verse l9). These "ways" involve "the name of the Lord" (verse 19) which is proclaimed in the words of chapter 34:6-7. To "know" someone, we need to know or be familiar with their ways--and the closer we are to a person the more we know their ways. Thus we see Moses seeking a closer relationship with God. Now Jesus says that "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). To "know" the only true God and Jesus Christ is to know their ways; their attributes and characteristics. This is the basis of eternal life.
The word "know" in these places means more than simply "to be aware of". This is not just academic knowledge, it is experience of. When someone exercises judgement and justice--when they discern the cause of the poor and needy so as to respond to it--then they are said to know God--Jer. 22:15-16. In other words, to "know" God and the Lord Jesus really means demonstrating their attributes and characteristics through faith. Thus the apostle John wrote:
"And ye know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life" (1 John 5:20).
These words need careful thinking about. Here is a true understanding of the issues of eternal life--and in that understanding a man or woman may glory--see Jer. 9:23-24. Let us then put aside the myths of a pagan world and embrace the Truth of God, seeking to bring forth this precious fruit in our earthly bodies through faith in the great God and His Son Jesus Christ.