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The Amish Voice 9
What is Time?
To some, time
seems to drag on and on forever and
ever. To others, time seems to be flying
past like a loose kite caught in the wind.
For some people, time is a gift that they
cherish while it lasts. For others, time is
work that must be struggled through day
by day until it is gone. How can time be
one thing, yet different to everyone?
Webster's New World Dictionary
takes
almost half a page describing the word
time
. That does not include all of the
similar words or phrases like: times,
many a time, time of day, or time after
time. The first definition for
time
is
“indefinite, unlimited duration in which
things are considered as happening in the
past, present, or future; every moment
there has ever been or ever will be.” That
definition raises some very important
questions. How many moments have
there been? How many moments will
there be? What does that mean to me? I
will try to answer these questions in the
following paragraphs.
How many moments have there been? I
believe that time began when the
universe began. Time and space are so
closely intertwined that it would be crazy
to believe they started separately. In fact,
Genesis 1:1 states that they were created
together, along with the other basic
element of the universe—matter. It says,
“
In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth
.” “In the
beginning” clearly refers to the beginning
of time itself. “God created the heaven”
clearly refers to the creation of space.
“. . . and the earth” refers to the creating
of matter. The reason the different
phrases and words are used to describe
the creation of the universe is that the
Hebrews did not have a word for
universe. Using different words in that
case is acceptable, because it refers to the
same thing—the universe.
God then went on to create everything in
the universe in six literal days (a unit of
time). Although God
created time, He
exists outside of
it. Man was
created after
time, leaving
man in his
physical form
bound in time.
God
would
come
down
very often to
walk with Adam
and Eve—the people
whom He had made. This
puts God, the One who exists outside of
time, with man, His creations bound by
the limits of time. Even though man was
still immortal, he still experienced time.
When God was not walking with them
one time, they sinned. They directly
defied God's orders, adding death to
time. This shows that once there was
time, but no death. Nowadays we place
time and death together, when they are
really two different things.
Ever since then, man has been born, has
lived, and has died. He then is sent into
the realm of infinite time known as
eternity. This is different from God's
eternity, because He is outside of time. I
believe we will always exist in time,
because time is good, and it was a part of
the original creation. That answers the
question of how many moments there
will be and leads us to the last question.
What does this mean to me? Sadly, many
people do not ask this question anymore.
We only care about our time here on
earth, and we pay no attention to the time
after death. There are two, and only two,
places to spend your infinite time after
death: Heaven or the Lake of Fire. They
were both created by God, the One
outside of time, yet these places, like
us, are bound in time. The
difference in them is not the
time (for they both last
forever),
but
the
conditions. The Lake
of Fire is exactly what
the name says—a lake
of fire. Since you are
dead, you will not die,
but you will spend
your infinite time in a
place
of
constant
suffering with no joy at all
forever and ever. Then there is
Heaven, which is bright and beautiful. It
is the very abode of God, where there
will be joy forevermore. It will be a
glorious place to spend your infinite
time.
So which do you prefer? More
importantly, how do you get there? If you
want to go to Heaven, stop trying to earn
your salvation, because none of us can.
We are ALL descendants of Adam, the
first man, so we ALL possess his sinful
nature that he brought upon himself.
Whether it is one sinful action, one
wrong word, or even one bad thought,
God cannot allow us to spend our infinite
time with Him in Heaven, for He is holy
and sinless. We cannot save ourselves, so
God made a way. All you need to do to
spend your infinite time with God in
Heaven is to listen and accept the
following truths: the all-powerful God,
not bound by time, became a man and
stepped into time to take your place in
death. Then He took back his own life
by using His infinite power to rise from
the dead. The God-man's name is Jesus
Time
—By Nathaniel DeRochie (Age: 15)
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