God is Eternal?

This is an excerpt from

Chapter 1 of Triple Stamp: Understanding the Trinity by Daniel Justice

Eternity

God’s Timeless Dwelling

What is eternity?

The textbook definition is “a state to which time has no application; timelessness”. This will do just fine for our use in this book. Eternity in philosophy is a necessity. An uncaused cause to end the infinite regression which always plagues any naturalistic explanation of ontology (or being). If God created our universe, who created God? A favorite “gotcha” question among the online atheist community, this question exposes the heart of the ontological question. What is the nature of God’s being? The Bible says that God is eternal, and that He lives in Eternity. A realm that existed before the universe was created. The Old Testament makes this clear.   

Genesis 21:33

"Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God." 

The Hebrew term El Olam (Everlasting God) explicitly denotes God’s eternal nature, emphasizing His existence beyond time.  

Deuteronomy 33:27
"The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms."

Describes God as "eternal" and His arms as "everlasting," indicating His unending existence and enduring strength.  

Psalm 90:1-2
"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."

This passage clearly states God’s existence "from everlasting to everlasting," affirming His eternal nature before and beyond creation. Again and again the scriptures use the same terms to reinforce who God is.  

Psalm 93:2
"Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting."

God’s throne and His being are described as "from everlasting," again signifying His eternal sovereignty and existence.  

Psalm 102:25-27
"Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end."

Contrasts the temporary nature of creation with God’s unchanging, eternal existence, whose "years have no end."   

Isaiah 57:15
"For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit...'"

Isaiah explicitly states that God "inhabits eternity," emphasizing His transcendence over time and His eternal dwelling.   

Jeremiah 10:10
"But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King."

Describes God as the "everlasting King," affirming His eternal rule and living nature.   

Habakkuk 1:12
"Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die."

Directly refers to God as being "from everlasting," underscoring His eternal existence and reiterating the same language.   

What about the New Testament?

In the ancient Greek world the term for the “mind or force” responsible for the creation of the world and the governance of it was “the Logos”. The logos was “the word” “order” “reason” or “account” and considered an invisible force of existence early in Greek thought.

Heraclitus around 500 BC is often credited with introducing Logos as a philosophical concept. For him, Logos was the universal principal the rational order governing the cosmos. The underlying law or reason that maintained harmony amid constant change (flux). Exemplified in his famous saying, “You cannot step into the same river twice.” Suggesting that through any amount of time the man and the river will have both changed due to flux, but would still be a river, and still be a man, due to logos.  

In the classical period, Logos was less central as a metaphysical concept but was widely used in rhetoric, philosophy, and everyday language to mean "speech," "argument," or "reasoned discourse."

Plato, around 400 BC, used Logos in the context of rational dialogue and argumentation, as seen in his Socratic dialogues, where it referred to the reasoned account or explanation of truth. He did not develop Logos as a cosmic principle but emphasized reason (nous) and the Forms as the basis of reality.

Aristotle about 50 years later used Logos in his logic and rhetoric, where it denoted rational argument or the faculty of reason. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Logos was associated with the rational part of the soul, distinguishing humans from animals. Like Plato, Aristotle did not elevate Logos to a universal principle as Heraclitus did.  

Later the Hellenists, between 323-31 BC, evolved the concept of Logos further.  The Stoics, including figures like Zeno of Citium (c. 334–262 BC), Cleanthes, and Chrysippus, developed Logos into a core tenet of their philosophy. They saw Logos as the divine rational principle that permeates and governs the universe.

Jewish thinkers like Philo of Alexandria in the first century BC adapted the Greek concept of Logos to Jewish theology, blending it with biblical ideas. For Philo, Logos was a bridge between the transcendent God of Judaism and the created world. It was: An intermediary between God and humanity, akin to a divine agent or emanation. The rational structure of the universe, reflecting God’s wisdom and plan.

Identified with the “Word of God” in the Hebrew Bible, such as the creative word in Genesis (“And God said, ‘Let there be light’”). Philo’s Logos was more personalized than the Stoic Logos, sometimes described as God’s first creation or a divine being subordinate to God. Logos took on a life of it’s own (pun intended).   The apostle John starts his gospel with this;

John 1:1-2
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." John refers to Jesus as “the Word” in the Greek “logos”.

Jesus is the Logos, the Word. In the beginning, not creation but creator, outside of creation, outside of time. Here’s some more examples from the New Testament. 

Romans 1:20
"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made."

Highlights God’s "eternal power," indicating His timeless divine nature revealed through creation.  

Romans 16:26
"But has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God..."

Paul refers to God as the "eternal God," emphasizing His unending existence and authority.  

1 Timothy 1:17
"To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

Describes God as the "King of the ages" and "immortal," affirming His eternal reign and imperishable nature.  

Hebrews 1:10-12
Quoting Psalm 102 (above), this passage applies to Christ, affirming His eternal, unchanging nature in contrast to the temporary creation.  

Hebrews 13:8
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Affirms the eternal, unchanging nature of Jesus, implying His existence transcends time.  

Revelation 1:8
"‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’"

God describes Himself as the "Alpha and Omega" and eternal in existence, encompassing all time.  

Revelation 4:8
"And the four living creatures... day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’"

God’s eternal nature is celebrated as the One who exists across all time—past, present, and future.  

Revelation 22:13
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Spoken by Jesus, this verse reaffirms His eternal nature as encompassing all of time and existence.  

The Bible repeats this revelation about the nature of God’s timeless existence. Timelessness implies no cause. The God of the Bible is eternal and answers our ontological questions of “being” and origin.