Before creation

puddleglum

New Member
The Bible begins by telling us how God created the earth. But what was he doing before? God is eternal so surely the universe we live in is not the first of God’s works and it won’t be the last. Some people think Heaven will be boring because we will have nothing to do. In fact we will have plenty to do just learning what God has done in the past and observing what he does in the future. (I wonder if the words past and future will have any meaning. We live in time so for us some things have happened in the past and others are still in the future. Will this still be true in eternity?)

The Bible does reveal some things that happened before the earth was created.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Job 38:4-7 ESV

In the book of Job angels were called sons of God.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
Job 1:6 ESV

Apparently angels are sometimes called stars.

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
Revelation 9:1 ESV

So we know that the angels were created before the creation account of Genesis 1.

When God created Adam and Eve he knew they would sin and bring death into the world he had created. He knew that he would send his Son into the world to die as an atonement for their sins and he knew who would repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus. He wrote their names in a book called the book of life and decreed that those whose names are in this book will not be deceived by Satan.

All who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
Revelation 13:8 ESV

So we know two things God did before the creation of the earth. He created the angels and he wrote the names of those who will receive eternal life in the book of life.

The Bible tells of another event that might have happened before creation. God spoke these words to Satan.

You were an anointed guardian cherub.
I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
Ezekiel 28:14,15 ESV

Satan was created good and given a position of authority. He chose to rebel against God and became evil. (Satan is often called a fallen angel; he is really a fallen cherub.) We know what happened but we don’t know when. When God finished creating the world he said that what he had made was very good. Some claim that this shows that Satan could not yet have fallen into sin, but all it says is that the things made during the previous six days were very good. It is possible that evil already existed.

Today God wants us to study what he has revealed to us in the Bible and put it into practice. If we devote ourselves to doing this we won’t have the time or the desire to speculate about what God did before creation. We will have plenty of time to learn about that in Heaven, when our work on earth is done.

Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV
 

DanLMP

Well-Known Member
What happened before Creation is probably one of those things we don't need to know (for now). It's above our pay grade. We don't have security clearance (Clarence).

So although I sometimes ponder the question too, I realize I won't be getting an answer on this side.

Regarding the existence of time in the eternal state, I believe that time will still exist for us.
We were made to rule and reign over God's creation here on Earth. We are experiencing a brief interlude right now while God fixes the problem that we created (to state the issue prosaically). After the fix it is my belief that God will continue with His original intent.
 

puddleglum

New Member
IMO, to say continue with His original intent would imply something caused Him to change His plans and we know that does not happen.
God's plans are always fulfilled but sometimes it appears that the fulfillment is delayed because of human unbelief. When God led the Israelites out of Egypt and told them to enter the land he was giving them they were afraid to obey and as a result spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. When Jesus came as king of the Jews the Jews rejected him and will not acknowledge him as king until he returns. These events appear to be delays but in fact God knew they would take place. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit God's plan for the earth and the human race seemed to have been derailed but in fact God knew what they would do and ultimately his plan for the earth will be fulfilled.
 

Batfan7

Well-Known Member
I think being able to comprehend all of the events of time at once is a divine characteristic and not something humans, even glorified ones, will obtain. So I think we will still experience events in a sequential fashion in heaven (we will experience heaven AFTER we get there!), but time will lose "it's sting" in the same way death will. We'll never run out of it. We might even have the ability to manipulate it (for example, go back and watch a past event), but we will still know that something happen before or after other things.
 
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