Will time no longer exist in Heaven?
We will live for eternity as finite beings. God, who is timeless, can accommodate himself to us by entering into time, but we cannot accommodate ourselves to timelessness because that is a condition to infinity.
The phrase "and time shall be no more" comes from a hymn, not from the Bible. Revelation 8:1 speaks of "silence in heaven for about half an hour." Even the presence of music in Heaven implies time, because meter, tempo and rests, all of which are intrinsic to music, are time related.
Songs, like conversations, have a beginning, middle and end.
Some people point 2 Peter 3:8 as evidence that time is suspended in Heaven. But that verse refers to God, not humans. When it says, "With the Lord a day is like a thousands years and a thousand years are like a day," it is speaking of God's infinity. He exists outside of time and space, but we don't. He created us to live in time and space, as finite creatures. Heaven clearly enters into the sequence of time on Earth, right down to the inhabitants of Heaven rejoicing over conversions on Earth (Luke 15:7). The martyrs look for and anticipate judgement on Earth, asking God, "How long?" and being told they must "wait a little longer" (Revelation 6:9-11). Waiting involves the passing of time.
The phrase "and time shall be no more" comes from a hymn, not from the Bible. Revelation 8:1 speaks of "silence in heaven for about half an hour." Even the presence of music in Heaven implies time, because meter, tempo and rests, all of which are intrinsic to music, are time related.
Songs, like conversations, have a beginning, middle and end.
Some people point 2 Peter 3:8 as evidence that time is suspended in Heaven. But that verse refers to God, not humans. When it says, "With the Lord a day is like a thousands years and a thousand years are like a day," it is speaking of God's infinity. He exists outside of time and space, but we don't. He created us to live in time and space, as finite creatures. Heaven clearly enters into the sequence of time on Earth, right down to the inhabitants of Heaven rejoicing over conversions on Earth (Luke 15:7). The martyrs look for and anticipate judgement on Earth, asking God, "How long?" and being told they must "wait a little longer" (Revelation 6:9-11). Waiting involves the passing of time.
Comments
Post a Comment