When Did Eternity Start?

In America, we wrestle with the big questions like “Who stole Tom Brady’s sweaty jersey,” and “When will Blue Bell re-start their production of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream?” While these questions are critical to a few, most of us just go on with life as usual, not knowing or caring.

However, every once in a while, some out-of-the-box mind will stumble into the really big questions like “What is gravity made of,” “Why do we yawn,” and “Who made the black hole in space?” Knowing our US government, they will spend multiple trillions of our tax dollars on searching for answers. And if they do get an answer, they will defund it.

It took a child to ask a question that astounded me. More than likely, the child had no idea how incredible his question was. To him, it was just an ordinary question like “Why is the sky blue, “or “Why does my Dad snore so loud.” But to me, I had to do some research, and still the answer to his question is beyond my mind to grasp.

The child’s question was: “When did eternity start, and how long does it last?”

I remember going with my parents on a road trip. They gave me books, puzzles, and other stuff to keep me busy until we arrived at our destination. Eventually, I would ask, “Are we there, yet?” It seemed to me that it was taking an "eternity" to get there. The word eternity represented a long time to me.

We use the word in modern times, but questions remain. There is an eternal flame at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and at the tomb of John F. Kennedy. But we have record of when it started. Anyone can start something, and call it eternal. But it is not eternal if you know when it started! There was a time before those flames were created.

But not so with eternity as understood in the Bible. No one knows when it started. There is no record of anything that happened before eternity began. I define eternity as infinite time; duration without beginning or end.

Some say the word eternity is from the old French word eternité meaning "eternity, perpetuity." In the Bible, the Greek word for eternal is AIONIOS, meaning endless. It refers to our precious Godhead (The Trinity) who have always existed and will always exist. (1 Timothy 1:17).

Knowing that God has always existed, we can grasp the obvious fact that eternity has always existed, too. For where ever God was, there was life. (Psalm 90:2; Jude 25) The life we now have, sprang from the life God has always had. As Paul wrote, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

I may not know exactly when eternity began, but I do know when Eternal Life begins. It starts when you accept Christ as Lord and Savior:

• “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

• “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”

Are we there, yet? Some are. Are you?