CHAPTER 28
WHY DID GOD STRUCTURE TIME AS HE DID?
Looking back at what we have covered in this book, and having discussed how God structured time, we should stop and summarize why God structured time the way He did. We have discussed the central tenet concerning time, namely that time has not existed forever into the past. God created time, therefore it had a beginning. However God did not create time until creatures required it since He never needed time, and still does not need it for Himself. When God determined to create creatures with souls, those creatures required time and location, so that is when both were created.
Part of the answer regarding why God structured time the way He did is because souled creatures could not exist without some form of time. We have seen how time allows souled creatures to have continuation, to live sequentially inside an orderly process, to know their life and actions have meaning because there will be a tomorrow, to learn from the past to have a better future, to have memory of what has been done in the past and take those memories forward in time, to invent and improve because there is a future where such improvements would matter. Taken together, time and the universe allow creatures to understand where they fit into life regarding location, position, status, and sequence in the timeline of history, and to relate to each other and also to God. Without time, souled creatures would have no orientation or motivation since they could not even exist, or if at all only for a fleeting moment, having no past and no future to look forward to. There would be no such thing as progress, improvement, or learning, and therefore no reason to do anything at all since there would be no "tomorrow" or even a next moment and therefore nothing at all would matter. Such creatures could not even survive since survival requires continuation, which requires time. And even if they could survive for a fleeting moment their life would have no higher level meaning or purpose apart from time. They could not worship God since that requires enough time to first understand and appreciate God, and then express appreciation toward Him. Therefore, before God created souled creatures, He graciously created time. And along with time He created location. These two creations of time and location by necessity preceded the creation of the first souled creatures. Ultimately, time enables souled creatures to use their free will to make decisions, for or against God, and to live with the consequences of those decisions.
God treated the creation of time as a gift to His souled creatures, and He wanted them to have "the image of God" as the core part of their souls, with the central characteristics of His own essential being. And that is the answer as to why God structured time the way He did, to allow souled beings to have "the image of God" and therefore be truly sentient beings with the ultimate choice of being able to choose for or against God. But God could not enable them to live in His eternal now since they were not God. Therefore these souled beings needed a structure of time and location which would support them having the "image of God" even though they were created beings. God structured time to play out as it has so far, and how it will play out in the future, so that His souled creatures could have as much of what He possesses as possible. Unfortunately, they were not content to remain in harmony with God, and both angels and humans made wrong choices. That is the conundrum of eternity, that souled creatures would look at all the wondrous things God provided and say "it is not enough" and demand more. But they did. And when they did, God restructured time to play out in a manner which enabled additional choices by souled creatures, for or against God. Many would make correct choices to serve and worship God, but many others would not.
During the course of time there will have been numerous locations, as we have already discussed. God structured these various locations to suit the creatures He created, and He also renovated locations when required, including the earth. Angels and man have the exact same soul, but angels have vastly superior bodies. The universe and earth were originally created as locations for the angels to occupy, so they were designed to accommodate angelic bodies. But when God prepared those same locations for man with their vastly reduced physical capabilities, the earth was renovated to suit the reduced physical capabilities of humans. This is why the original universe and earth had the features they had and the renovated universe and earth had very different features including the changed plant and animal life. For instance, God did not mix dinosaurs and man on earth at the same time.
God therefore restructured time after the fall of souled beings to play out in a variety of ways which would prove His love and fairness in sentencing souled creatures to the Lake of Fire. Human history was divided into Ages of time, with each Age having purposes under different covenants between God and man. Man could then choose for or against God, while Satan and his angels could also make their choices. The structure of time allows and enables choices, for or against God.