I’m midway through a study of the classic Christian book, The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer. I’m studying it online with some friends in Asia. These are my notes from our fourth week. I hope they will bless you. If you would like to join us, please send me a message!

In the seventh and eighth chapters of “The Knowledge of the Holy,” A.W. Tozer teaches that God is eternal and infinite.

Eternal means everlasting, endless, without end. Imagine a rope that goes on and on without beginning or end.

Infinite means unlimited, limitless, without limit. Imagine a piece of paper that goes out in all four directions covering your room, your house, your city, your nation, the globe, the universe.

Eternal is primarily used to describe time, while infinite is used to describe time as well as other things, like space or patience or mercy.

God has infinite wisdom, infinite patience, and infinite power, but people are not infinite in our wisdom or patience or power. We have limits on what we can think and do. We are finite. There are all kinds of things that we can’t do.

I can’t be in China and America at the same time. I can’t know what you are thinking. I can’t see what my children are doing right now in the other room of my house.

I can’t fly. I can’t bend steel or jump over tall buildings or shoot spiderwebs out of my hands.

We don’t like these limits. We can be frustrated by all of these things that we are unable to do! I think that’s a big reason why people like superheroes so much! Superheroes can do things that regular people can’t do.

What is something you wish you could do, but you can’t?

God alone is infinite (without limit) and God alone is eternal (without beginning or end).

God existed before time began and God will still exist after time comes to an end. Some number of years ago, God created the enormous universe and everything in it. The sun, moon and stars were created at a point in time. Time began at some point.

“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

“诸山未曾生出， 地与世界你未曾造成， 从亘古到永远，你是　神。” 诗篇 90:2

God created every human with an eternal soul, but every man, woman, and child who has ever lived came into being on a certain day.

I was born in January of 1973, and I was created by God about 9 months before that! 😊 Right now, I am 48 years old.

When is your birthday? How old are you?

The English language uses a lot of different verb tenses. My students must spend a lot of time and effort in learning how to use the correct verb tense. “Yesterday, I ran. Now, I am running. Every day I run to school. Tomorrow I will run at the park.” They also must learn: “comes before” and “comes after.” January comes before February. February comes after January. 2020 comes before 2021. 2021 comes after 2020.

God alone is the great “I am.” (Exodus 3:14) God came BEFORE the first day of creation and God will exist for all eternity. God is the only one who always WAS, who always IS, and who always WILL BE!

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8b

圣哉！圣哉！圣哉！主　神是昔在、今在、以后永在的全能者。启示录 4:8

As human beings, created in the image of God, we are born with a desire to live forever. We have “eternity in our hearts.” But sometimes we forget that our time on earth will not last forever. We should remember that our days here on earth are numbered.

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

“求你指教我们怎样数算自己的日子， 好叫我们得着智慧的心。”  诗篇 90:12

Yet our lives after we die are eternal. We have souls that will never die. Our souls will live for eternity. We will either live forever with God in heaven, or with the devil in hell. In God’s infinite love and mercy, God sent His own Son Jesus Christ into the world to pay the price for our sin, that through faith in Him we, too, could have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

神爱世人，甚至将他的独生子赐给 他们 ，叫一切信他的，不致灭亡，反得永生。 约翰福音 3:16

God’s love for us is both eternal and infinite. He loved us before the foundation of the world and His love for us is boundless, measureless, limitless. There is no limit to His love. God’s love is so infinite that He sent His own Son to die in our place. Can you imagine love like that?

When have you experienced human love?

When have you experienced God’s love?

Who do you know who needs to be reminded of God’s infinite, eternal love?

Grace Greater Than Our Sin – Sovereign Grace Music

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide;
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide;
Whiter than snow you may be today.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe,
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin