Our understanding of God’s covenant is significantly related to our understanding of the nature of time. The nature, scope, and effect of God’s covenant of redemption in Christ is conditioned upon our comprehension and cognition of how we acquire knowledge and belief. Hermeneutics deals with the theory and methodology of biblical interpretation and comprehension. Reformed hermeneutics is the application of practice and belief that the Scripture can be relied upon to be self-explanatory. We must therefore search the Scriptures for all answers to life’s questions and challenges. Man thinks chronologically and therefore our primary reference point generally begins with a concept of the origin of time and its passing events.
The Lord created time before (Acts 15:17-18, John 8:58) He in the most Divine wisdom (Ps. 33:11, Jer. 23:18) called the universe into existence. On the whole, men have a poor conception of time. Men trend to live each day as if immortal. Men are inclined not to consider their life’s end (Ecc. 12:1), purpose, direction, nor the succession (Ps. 145:4) of their work to able men of the next generation. What is your succession plan? How do you contemplate federal headship within your walk of faith?
Men must learn (Ecc. 12:1) that present time, as we know it, leads forward to the Day of the Lord when at the sound of the great trumpet call all men will find their station in eternity future. Many Christians conceive of the covenant of grace as conditioning man’s (yours and mine) obedience to God’s laws, but men are unable to fulfill the just demands of that law. If man’s salvation were to depend on man’s obedience to God’s law there is no hope.
For men, the future is unpredictable and the lack of clarity may seem dark and foreboding. Many men fear the future. Fear is the result of misplaced (Prov. 9:10) trust, and poorly set expectations regarding the future. Time management requires wisdom and complete trust that is dependable and time-proven. The sole foundation of trust lies at its heart in the integrity of the covenant within the Triune God who irrevocably guarantees the fulfillment of all his promises. Sin has no dominion over the elect because they are the recipients of unmerited grace and mercy. The promises of the covenant-keeping God are eternally secure. He has sworn an oath of integrity by his own name (Amos 6:8, Heb. 6:13) to keep covenant forever.
The elect in Christ can find their only comfort in the presence of the Living God who knows (Isa. 40:13) all things, sees all things, and from whom nothing (Ps. 139:16) can be hidden. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. In him alone is light, and that light alone overcomes the darkness (Matt. 6:22-23) of evil that is in the world. The elect in Christ are full of his light, so that the darkness can have no effect upon their eternal destiny.
Prior to the events of creation nothing (John 1:3) existed. The ex nihilo (Heb. 11:3) creation is the work (Ps. 102:5) of God (John 1:1) who IS (Ex. 3:14), the Great I AM, in eternity past and in eternity future. Time is part of the created order. Before time, the Triune God IS (Rev. 1:8) to all eternity. God IS without days (Ps. 90:2). He is not subjected (Jude 1:25) to time, rather he exercises governance (Titus 1:2) over and above time. At various times, God acted in good order to reverse the flow of time, to temporarily suspend the passage of time, or to redirect the passage of time.
That the Lord God changed the course of time is well attested to in the Old Testament narratives. The Lord governed the trajectory (Jos. 10:12-13) of time as he heard the call of Joshua at the confrontation with the kings of the Amorites. The Lord caused the sun dial to reverse so that Hezekiah would be assured of God deliverance from the hand of the king of Assyria (Isa. 38:7-8).
The image of God is a metaphysical expression, associated uniquely to mankind. It expresses more than a symbolical relationship between God the Creator (Ex. 3:15) and the creature (man) whom he made. God is not like the creature he has made, his being is infinitely above and beyond man. Man was made to fit into a time-capsule, so to speak. God is outside (2 Pet. 3:8) of that time-capsule, and yet God condescends (Ex. 3:14) to man. Life within the time-capsule is finite. Outside the time-capsule is infinite eternity that is upheld by the Divine Being, and is ordered comprehensively to his glory.
We know from Eph. 1:4 that those chosen to inherit eternal life were sealed in Christ by divine decree. The choosing of the elect was in place prior to creation. The elect being sealed in Christ was decreed by the Divine Trinity in full communion (Gen. 1:26-27). The One true God acting out of covenant love made man in his own image and in his own likeness. Man thus being the image-bearer of the Lord, bearing the seal of redemption that is upon the elect has the purpose to glorify the Lord (Eph. 1:5-8). The Creator instantiated time (the beginning), and called into being the perfect ecosystem suitable for the image-bearer to do his assigned work. We see from this that the Lord’s work in creation was a covenant work of grace from the outset, filled with abundant goodness (Gen. 1:31).
In Jesus’ high-priestly prayer he made ardent supplication (John 17) in behalf of those whom the Father had given him. He thereby assures the elect that they surely shall know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom the Father had sent. Jesus is the true federal head of all who are sealed in him to eternity. His promised covenant mercies are sure to all whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. When afraid or in doubt trust the Lord (Ps. 56:3-4) because flesh cannot harm you.
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