Jun P. Espina 5 min read
Updated on July 2nd, 2022
Of Time Consciousness
Time consciousness is one reason we have less appreciation for the things or persons considered timeless and eternal like heaven, the angels, or the promises of Christ. The apostle Paul’s teaching is clear that the unseen is eternal. That is why we also need to give interest and time to God and His Word. The hope of eternal life and the gospel of the resurrection of the dead are twin teachings that go out of the box of space and time. And the man-made doctrine therefore that the realities of life only revolve on the axis of time consciousness automatically cripples spiritual realities. We are always in the eternal sphere in a sense until God said: “In the beginning.” (Gen. 1:1) In short, time is just “eternity divided for the sake of man.” Time is just “inserted” into eternity after which, according to the Scriptures, timelessness would resume. Hence, our negligence of the eternal things like God, Jesus Christ, and our soul is just foolish and insane.
Of Time Consciousness and the Perfect Unbeliever
I knew of a perfect unbeliever of the Christian faith who argued sarcastically about the absurdity, according to him, of calling the name Jesus in prayer for his neighbor whose name was also “Jesus” might answer him. Then, he went on saying he would not call the name God either, for he also had a neighbor whose name is Godioso. The latter might answer him, too. His conclusion was that prayer to the unseen God is just unreasonable and not worth doing. This guy was the typical illustration of those persons living life purely on the intersection of time consciousness. Eternal realities do not touch the cord of their senses. And if they do, they would at once fight them as being incompatible with the truth they knew to be always observable by the five faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch.
The Barometer for the Determination of Truth
Just inserted by God into the orb called eternity, time, therefore, is not the final barometer for the determination of truth. Jesus Christ, for example, ordered the fig tree to wither; Peter to have a good catch of fish, and Lazarus to rise from the dead outside of the paradigm of time! Yes, because of our time consciousness, we can hardly understand the real meaning of our Lord’s PROMISED LIFE that’s timeless, ETERNAL in heaven with the angels of God. We cherish our 70 years of life on earth and neglect or even despise our inherent immortality. But said Christ: “For this is the WILL of My Father, that EVERYONE who BEHOLDS (as Lord) the SON (Jesus) and BELIEVES in Him will HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and I Myself will RAISE him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)
Time Consciousness Hampers the Truth of Living Beyond the Essences of Today’s Time
Revelation 21:4 (NASB) also gives a clue about the life of the future people who will live beyond the essences of today’s time: “[A]nd He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Eternal things are real. Our perpetual fear of death and the unknown and the endless pricks of our conscience are actual testimonials of the authenticity of the eternal things that are beyond the province of our materialist’s concerns.
Where is Time Consciousness When We Consider Living Beyond the Sunset?
There is life beyond the sunset even if you and the most prominent people of the world won’t believe it. That is the meaning of the apostle Paul’s exhortation: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” (Rom. 8:18; Phil. 3:8)
Time Consciousness or the Time-and-Space Archetype Makes Eternal Life Incomprehensible
The understanding of things based on the time-and-space archetype only can never be a durable philosophy when the pang of cancer or deteriorating old age comes to remind us of our need for real assurance to enter heaven and be with our loving God forever.
To the less spiritual, continue to be enslaved by time consciousness and the crass materialism of the day and consider timelessness as simply the prominent symbol of ignorance or academic mediocrity. Yes, think about the soul as just the brain; or God, as just the natural product of malnutrition or sleeplessness or the analgesic of the poor. Beyond this life, however, you will hear this thunderous voice from the Judge of man, Jesus Christ:
Faith in God and the Eternal Things are Not just the Analgesic of the Poor
Faith in God—trivialized by academia as religion, or the opium of the poor—transcends time consciousness. The time-and-space mindset (where the rich and geniuses live!) limits the habitation of the soul. That is why our faith in Christ Jesus does not serve as mere analgesic or pain relief. Our eternal hope in Christ means more than a feeling of physical comfort. Christianity should not be demeaned as merely the tranquilizer of the poor. The Christian confidence rests on what is eternal, and what is eternal goes beyond the cage of time consciousness. When Christ asked His Father concerning the sanctification of His followers, He said: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:16) This declaration means a lot of things and one is that the Christians are eternal beings in eternity future, and therefore, cannot be bounded by time consciousness.
The Christian Faith Reshapes Our Life’s Principles and Goals
The apostle Paul said that all he had were a mere dung compared to his hope of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ. (See: Phil. 3:8)
The word dung (manure) is translated as “filth,” “refuse,” “rubbish,” and “garbage” by other Bible translations. That is how Paul feels about his material possessions, “in view,” according to him, “of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
My daughter once said, “Dad, based on my readings, old people should not stop dreaming and creating goals.”
“I don’t have problems with that,” I replied. “I just believe the spiritual road of life is a better route as you struggle with aging.”
Setting your mind on eternal things is a better version of time consciousness.
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