Human experience is marked with by time. There are popular expressions such as “racing against time” or “running out of time” that are familiar figures of speech. We are connected to time, because it gives an order to life that depends on a beginning and an end with intervals of time trapped in between. Every human being on Earth experiences this. We are born destined to die. This is a sad truth for atheists; however, Christians no longer fear death. Our faith tells us that, in Christ, we are set free from the bonds of time.

Outside of time

We know that God has no boundaries and that includes time. He is everlasting. A psalm ascribed to Moses declares, “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God,” (Psalm 90:1-2). We witness this truth in the first words of the Bible, “In the Beginning.” It became the universal reference point where a benevolent Creator would begin everything. As it states in John 1:3, “All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.” God, in the person of Jesus Christ, created all things including time. He has the ability to exist simultaneously in the beginning and at the end. He is also ever present as noted in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

Space & time

In science, time is an important concept to master. God did not create time to stand alone. He entwined it with two other factors in the form of space and matter. As we witness every moment in our physical existence, everything is moving in space through time. It might seem complicated, but the only way you can measure time is if something is moving through it. As we observe the earth, we find it spinning on its axis at a dynamic speed of 1,000 miles per hour. Simultaneously, the stars and galaxies are moving vast distances through time at remarkable velocities. Our Milky Way Galaxy is moving at 1.3 million miles per hour. Time that is involved with materials moving through space attracted the attention of two of the greatest scientific geniuses of all time. Each man in his own right would revolutionize our understanding of the physical universe.

Newton’s laws

The first was Isaac Newton (1642-1747), who mesmerized the world by showing us a unique perspective of how to interpret the movement of matter through the constant of time. Along with so many of his profound scientific and mathematical contributions, he gave us the Laws of Motion that are universally accepted today. He took on the mighty challenge of demonstrating how the mysterious force of gravity works, and he applied it to the planets in our solar system as well as all the heavenly bodies. The forces of gravity make a body accelerate downward in space as many of us have experienced in amusement park rides going faster and faster downward. Newton developed a special math called calculus to demonstrate the change in speed through time, thereby signifying that gravity was a constant force affecting an object continuously. His impressive array of significant scientific contributions would easily make him the most honored scientist of all time. Interestingly, Newton realized that there had to be a Creator of time. With regard to the heavenly bodies moving with such precision through space, Newton humbly noted, “This most beautiful system of sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being.”

Einstein the genius

The other great intellect of science, Albert Einstein, would be of the same caliber of genius as Newton. Einstein has the distinction of being able to think outside of the box, thereby making him the most influential scientific mind of the modern era. His many contributions made a great impact by ushering in the atomic age, and changing the way we view our reality. By introducing the laws of relativity, Einstein challenged Newton’s description of gravity happening every instant in a uniform way. He described gravity as operating differently when objects approached the speed of light. He hypothesized that gravity in the vacuum of outer space could warp (gravitational lensing) and produce a hole caused by large masses such as planets and stars. The larger the mass, the more warp; making the hole even larger. If it got large enough, this gravitational hole would suck everything into it, including light. Using Einstein’s theory, astronomers have taken this idea a step further. They have given it the popular term “Black Hole,” speculating that a star collapsing in on itself with a great deal of mass would produce this phenomenon.

Einstein’s relativity laws, like an imaginary time machine, also provided a way that time could move faster or slower. As objects move closer to the center of the earth, time slows down in very small increments. As objects move away, time is predicted to speed-up. This concept of distorting time seems incomprehensible to our human minds, yet there are calculations that have to be made to calibrate the satellites that orbit the earth so our GPS devices can function correctly. Einstein’s relativity laws have been tested and verified, but there still needs to be a more comprehensive explanation that may or may not come in the future.

Time is God’s creation

It has been theorized, and accepted by many Creationists, that God spread the entire creation into existence when the living Word of God spoke “In the beginning.” In this case, there would be no need for a Big Bang. God would stretch the universe out like a garment, with time moving faster as matter moved away in the deep vastness of outer space. The earth would have an apparent age, just like Adam and Eve, who appeared suddenly as mature adults. They were placed in a fully-grown garden, so they could have provisions to live.

Time is God’s creation not the work of man. Perhaps that should be our focus point. The laws of gravity and relativity that changed the world are based on the fabric of time created by God’s infinite power and divine intelligence. Gravity and relativity give us a glimpse of what it might be like when we leave this earth and witness the new heavens and the new earth from God’s eternal perspective.

Tom DeRosa is the Executive Director and Founder of Creation Studies Institute, He is an author, teacher, and sought out speaker with a passion to equip other believers with the tools needed to refute the lies of evolution. Tom can be reached at [email protected].