Forever the Same

"Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

They will perish, but You will endure;

Yes, all of them will grow old like a garment;

like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed.

But You are the same, and Your years will have no end."

Psalm 102:25-27, NKJV

 

Of old, the Psalmist writes.  Way, way back there.  A long, long time ago.  I really don't understand why people get so bent out of shape over the age of the earth and the universe in which it sits.  I've studied both sides of the old earth-young earth debate.  Both sides have valid points, both sides have inexplicable problems.  I have no problem believing that God made all that is in six days six thousand years ago, and that when He made it, He intentionally made it to appear infinitely old, with all the mysteries of age built into it.  I also have no problem believing that God made all that we now know in six days six thousand years ago, but that the earth and it surroundings may have been here for eons before that, with lots of stuff happening before God made man.  After all, we're talking about an eternal God who doesn't tell us what happened before He begins His account of his dealings with humanity. 

 

Bottom line--regardless of when God created it all, I absolutely believe that God did indeed create it all.

 

Of old, God laid the foundations of the earth.  From nothing He formed everything and laid it out according to His divine design, founding the earth by His power and setting it in the perfect place for life to thrive.  Of old, God stretched out the heavens like a cloak upon the earth, a garment that will serve the purpose of its appointed time before He folds it up and puts it away.

 

These are the works of God's hands.  It wasn't just a matter of uttering a word in the silence and waving an omnipotent hand across the void, casting all of creation into existence.  It was all done deliberately, specifically, intentionally.  God was personally involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth.  God rolled His sleeves up, so to speak, and got His hand dirty in the making.  It was not distant oversight, and neither did He just throw it all up an walk away.  He made it all, He sustains it all, and He continues to work with it all, according to His eternal plan and purpose.

 

Like all things with a beginning, the heavens and the earth also have an appointed end, directed by the sovereignty of God.  They will perish and vanish away.  Like a garment that is worn out with age and use, the earth and heavens that we now know will one day be no more.  God will fold them up and put them away, exchanging them for something even more glorious.

 

But through it all, God will remain, and He will never change.  As He was before it all began, He will be after it all ends.  He who had no beginning will have no end, and He will always be the same.  Which means I can always depend upon Him.  I may change, but He never will.