#54 CHRIST AND THE CLOCK OF TIME 8-29-26

We live by clocks.

We watch the hands move across the face. We mark our lives by birthdays and anniversaries, beginnings and endings, yesterday and tomorrow. We hurry because the clock is moving. We worry because time is passing. We look backward and wish we could return. We look forward and wonder what is coming.

Time is one of the great mysteries of our existence.

But there is One who is not controlled by the clock.

Christ is the Christ before time, the Christ within time, and the Christ beyond time.

THE CHRIST BEFORE TIME

“In the beginning was the Word.” (John 1:1)

John takes us back before Bethlehem. Before there was a manger, there was Christ. Before there was a star over Bethlehem, there was glory in heaven. Before Mary carried Him in her arms, He existed with the Father.

Christ did not begin at His birth.

His earthly life began, but His existence did not.

He was with God in the beginning. He was God in the beginning. All things were made through Him. (John 1:1-3).

Think about the mystery of that truth.

The hands that were formed in Mary’s womb were the hands that formed the world. The voice that cried as an infant was the voice that spoke creation into existence. The One who lay beneath the stars in Bethlehem was the One who had hung those stars in the heavens.

He was before the clock began ticking.

Before there was a first day, there was Christ.

Before there was a first sunrise, there was Christ.

Before there was time, there was eternity.

And Christ was there.

THE CHRIST WITHIN TIME

Then something happened that angels must have wondered at.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)

Eternity entered time.

The Creator stepped into His creation.

The One who existed before time allowed Himself to be born into time. He entered the world He had made. He walked roads He had created. He breathed the air He had fashioned. He became tired. He became hungry. He wept. He suffered.

And He did it for us.

Galatians says, “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son.” (Galatians 4:4)

Not when Rome was ready.

Not when Jerusalem was ready.

Not when humanity thought it was ready.

When the fullness of the time had come.

God’s clock was never wrong.

Jesus came at precisely the appointed time. He lived according to the Father’s will, and when His hour came, He went to Calvary. Again and again in John’s Gospel we hear about His “hour.” (John 2:4, John 7:30, John 12:23)

The cross was not a divine interruption.

It was the divine appointment.

Jesus entered time so that He could die within time, rise from the grave, and redeem people who were trapped beneath the curse of sin and death.

What a Savior.

The eternal Son became temporal flesh so that temporal sinners could receive eternal life.

THE CHRIST BEYOND TIME

But Christ did not remain in the grave.

The clock moved forward.

The stone was rolled away.

The tomb became empty.

And the One who had entered time through Bethlehem conquered death within time through the resurrection.

Now He reigns in glory.

And one day, when our clocks have stopped and our calendars have ended, Christ will still be Christ.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

Yesterday cannot change Him.

Today cannot surprise Him.

Tomorrow cannot threaten Him.

Time changes us, but time does not change Christ.

We grow older.

He does not.

Our strength fades.

His strength does not.

Our circumstances change.

His promises do not.

Our earthly homes disappear.

He is preparing an eternal home for His people. (John 14:2–3)

This is why the Christian does not have to fear tomorrow.

Tomorrow is already in the hands of Christ.

We do not know what the next hour will bring. We do not know what the next year will hold. We do not know how many pages remain in the story of our earthly lives.

But we know the Author.

And that is enough.

The clock may be ticking, but Christ is reigning.

The years may be passing, but Christ remains.

Our bodies may grow weak, but Christ is our life.

And someday our final earthly hour will come.

For the believer, that hour will not be the end.

It will be the doorway.

The clock will stop, but eternity will begin.

And there we will discover that the Christ who was with us in our first hour is the Christ who will welcome us into our eternal home.

So do not spend your life merely watching the clock.

Watch Christ.

Do not let yesterday enslave you.

Christ is there.

Do not let today overwhelm you.

Christ is here.

Do not let tomorrow frighten you.

Christ is already there.

He was there before your first breath.

He is with you in every breath you take.

And He will be there when you breathe your last.

Christ before time.
Christ within time.
Christ beyond time.

The clock belongs to Him.

The ages belong to Him.

And if you belong to Christ, then your life is safely held in the hands of the One who holds eternity itself.

________________

Lord Jesus, You were before time, You entered time for us, and You reign beyond time. Help us not to be imprisoned by yesterday, overwhelmed by today, or frightened by tomorrow. Teach us to trust You with every moment You give us. When our days seem short, remind us that eternity is long. When our lives seem uncertain, remind us that You never change. And when our earthly clock finally stops, may we find ourselves safely in Your presence, where time shall be no more. Amen.

BDD