To say that God is eternal means that He has no beginning and no end. He simply is. Before time began, before the universe was formed, God already existed. And long after all things pass away, He remains the same. When Moses asked God for His name, the Lord answered, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Those words tell us something profound: God’s being doesn’t depend on anyone or anything. He exists by His own nature — unchanging, everlasting, and beyond the limits of time.
Many people struggle to imagine eternity because everything we know has a start and an end. Yet in God, there is no “before” or “after.” Time itself is His creation. As Psalm 90 beautifully says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” This means that while we live within the flow of time — past, present, and future — God stands outside of it, seeing all things at once with perfect wisdom and love.
The eternity of God also comforts us deeply. Because He never changes, we can trust Him completely. His love will not fade, His promises will not expire, and His mercy will not run out. When everything else shifts around us, God remains the same — a steady anchor for our hearts. As St. James wrote, “There is no variation or shadow of change” in Him (James 1:17).
For us, this truth means that our relationship with God is secure forever. Eternal life is not just endless time — it is sharing in God’s own eternal life through Christ. In heaven, we will not simply live “a long time”; we will dwell in the very presence of the Eternal One, where time gives way to pure love.
May this truth fill us with peace: the same God who was, who is, and who is to come holds our lives in His timeless hands.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
