Time is part of the created world. Genesis 1 says "there was evening and there was morning, the first day." Originally the cycle of moon and sun was our measure of time. Now it's more technical, but no less a part of the created world. The international measurement of time is the second, which is a 9 mm cycle of the radiation of a cesium atom. This 9 mm cycle apparently does not vary - ever. It takes one second. Or... it makes one second. Measuring a cesium atom's radiation is what atomic clocks are all about.
God however, does not live in time. Since He made it, it serves Him but He is not confined by it or controlled by it in any way. He lives in eternity, the eternal present. He told Moses that His name is "I Am."
Still, time has this beckoning way about it. We who live within it in our earthly lives want to understand it more and make peace with it. The fact that in the U.S. we spend about $20b per year on anti-aging suggests we certainly haven't made peace with it. Mostly, we fight it.
What about time in the big picture? The world's cultures have generally operated on one of two concepts of time - either cyclical or linear. These are really the only options, sort of. In cyclical time, "there is nothing new under the sun." Anything that is has been before. Anything that could be, only repeats what has already been. The first time the cycle went round it could have been interesting, but after that it's all "do overs" and thus the cyclical model is without purpose. The good thing about cyclical is that it doesn't end. Good thing? Same thing over and over, with no end? Futility is the word for this view of time, the word and the feeling.
In linear time things progress, there is meaning because there is movement in a forward direction. It's not a "round and round" experience, it's a forward moving experience. The past influences the future, there are new experiences. There is purpose. Problem is, in the linear view, there's also an end. If we know that whatever we do or experience is all going to wind up with an ending, then all the experiences and effort aren't worth anything. Cuz they just all get thrown out. If cyclical time felt futile, this feels fatal. Cyclical doesn't end, but there is nothing new. Linear has new, but it ends. So which is it, cyclical or linear?
Neither. Really.
The Bible speaks of a beginning and an end, a kind of linear view. The end however, is not so much a conclusion but a transition. A transition to a newness of life where Jesus "is making everything new (forever!)" When this transition happens, when Jesus consummates time, we'll live in eternity - outside of time - where Jesus is making all things new. Now we have endless time, but unlike the futility of cyclical time where everything old goes round and round, we have an eternal existence of never ending experiences that are always new. It never ends, but it's always new. This is the thrill of eternity where Jesus reigns. And the bible says of His reign that "His kingdom will never end." Good times. Yep.
