What does it mean that God is outside of time?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

God being outside of time is a way of expressing the biblical truth of God’s transcendence and His eternality. Being transcendent means that He is completely different and unlike His creation (Isaiah 55:8–9). Being eternal means that God has always existed, even before time was created (Psalm 90:2). Genesis refers to God’s creation being “in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1), implying that time began with creation.

So, being outside of time means that God is not contained by it nor restricted by it. However, God can also operate inside of time. We see physical examples of His working within the constraints of time, such as the Angel of the LORD (Genesis 22) and Jesus, the Son of God, being fully God yet also limited by time in His humanity (Galatians 4:4).

Therefore, while God is outside of time, He also operates within it. He can do this because He is simultaneously transcendent (distinct from creation) and imminent (actively and intimately involved with His creation). He is outside of time and unrestricted by it, yet He works within time to accomplish His purposes. Knowing that God is outside of time is a comfort for believers. It means that everything happening is what God has ordained and that He will work out everything for good in the end.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• As finite humans who understand reality only through the lens of time, it is difficult for us to fully grasp what it means for God to be outside of time. However, time began when God created (Genesis 1:1). Therefore, we can speak of God as existing “before” time using our limited human language. The concept of being outside of time is not explicitly stated in Scripture.
• However, it rightly encapsulates the idea of God’s transcendence and His eternality. Being transcendent means that God is completely unlike His creation. Scripture often refers to His transcendence as God looking down on creation (Psalm 113:5–6) and being unrestrained by it, being able to do whatever He wants (Daniel 4:35). God referred to His transcendence when He said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9). There is a complete “otherness” to God compared to His creation, including we humans.
• Being eternal means that God has always existed. Again, it’s difficult for us to understand eternality because we are only capable of thinking of existence as a sequence of elapsed time. However, time has not always existed, but God has. Moses tried to capture this idea, saying, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2).
• He likely got that idea from God Himself, who told Moses that His name was “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). By using a state-of-being verb, God was expressing that He is the self-existent being who always exists. He has neither a beginning nor an end.
• Note that even though God is transcendent, it does not mean He is incapable of operating within time. Indeed, God is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere (Psalm 139:7–10). Thus, while He is transcendent and outside of time, we also refer to Him as imminent, carrying out His plans within time.
• There are many examples of the truth that God is transcendent yet very present within time. Indeed, every time God speaks to someone in the Old Testament, He is condescending to the human level, meaning it happens within time. However, one interesting example is found in Genesis 22. In that account, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham obeyed, but just as he was about to kill him, God, referred to in that account as the Angel of the LORD, stopped him. He then made this interesting comment: “Now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me (Genesis 22:12b). He was not saying that He gained new information but that, over time, He had experientially come to know of Abraham’s faithfulness.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Theologians often understand the Angel of the LORD as the “preincarnate Christ,” meaning visual appearances of the Son of God before He took on humanity. Though Jesus was fully God, and thus both transcendent and eternal (John 1:1), He took on humanity to live among us (John 1:14). In His humanity, we see Him growing in stature and understanding (Luke 2:52) as well as obedience (Hebrews 5:8).
• Paul said of Jesus’ birth, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5). After creation and the start of time, in Genesis 3:15, God promised a Savior. Paul was saying that after the passage of the time God had ordained (“the fullness of time”), the Savior was sent to save.
• When Jesus was born, the angel called Him Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Being with us meant the Son of God condescending to take the form of a human (Philippians 2:6–7) to live within time like the rest of us. Jesus’ divine nature, which remained outside of time, was not negated by His human nature. So, in a way we can’t understand, by taking on a human nature, He humbled Himself in His humanity to be bound by time like the rest of us. In Jesus, we get a clear view of what it means to be both transcendent and immanent. The God-man was eternally God (transcendent) yet fully human (immanent).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Being outside of time means that God is transcendent and sovereign, in control of everything that happens. This should be a great comfort to the believer, knowing that nothing is happening in this world in this very moment that is not ordained and controlled by God. It also means that we must humble ourselves because we can’t understand God’s wisdom in the way He is working out everything for good. However, we can rest knowing that nothing is out of His control.

There is a time in the future when all things will be made right. One day Jesus will return to judge the wicked (2 Thessalonians 1:7–9) and to reward His followers (2 Corinthians 5:10). In the meantime, we can trust that God is in control of every moment, and right now, at this second, you are reading this. This is not an accident.

If you are not a believer, He is presenting you with an opportunity to repent of your sin and be saved. Since there’s no promise that you will still have time tomorrow, we implore you to consider where you will spend eternity before time runs out!

UNDERSTAND

• God exists eternally and is not bound by time, which is part of His creation.
• God is both transcendent over creation and immanent within it, meaning He is distinct from time yet present and active in every moment.
• God works within time to accomplish His purposes without being limited by it.

REFLECT

• How does knowing that God is not limited by time affect the way you think about His control over your life and circumstances?
• How are you encouraged or challenged by the truth that God is outside of time?
• In what ways does God’s presence in every moment encourage you in your daily life?

ENGAGE

• How do passages like Psalm 90:2 and 2 Peter 3:8 help clarify the difference between God’s relationship to time and ours?
• What are the theological implications of God being both transcendent and immanent for understanding His interaction with humanity?
• How does God's being outside of time impact our worship and trust of Him?