The Master of Time
In any apologetics endeavor, we have to be aware that people will naturally argue from their worldviews. We are to present the gospel (Luke 24:46-27, 1 Peter 3:15-16), and the other person's starting point may be it's atheism, evolutionism, a false Christian system, postmodern philosophy, or a different religion entirely. They ask questions and we can give answers, but watch out — some people use loaded questions and try to keep us on the defensive. They have assertions of their own that they need to explain. In addition, we need to know what the Bible teaches and be clear about it, because some people will think that the true God is just another deity to add to their stable; receiving Jesus is almost meaningless to them.
A follower of the an offshoot of Hinduism known as Jainism was trying to say that God did not create time. Instead, time created God. Then he insisted that since the Bible does not specifically say, "God created time", his view is justified. However, the Bible makes it clear that God is the sovereign Creator, the master of time and not its subordinate.
 |
| Generated at Redkid, then added some text of my own. |
When preaching the Gospel to people of other religions, it is important to make clear that the God we worship is the ultimate being. God is the sole source of all things, He is uniquely worthy of worship, and the fundamental sin of humanity is that we put other things before God. If we don’t make this clear, there is a danger that people of other religions will add God to their pantheon, as today’s feedback illustrates.To see Shaun's informative answer, click on "Did God create time?"
Emily H. from the United States wrote:
OK, I have a question on how to deal with one of my friends. He believes something that doesn't even make sense. He is from India and says his religion is Jainism, but he believes in all gods from all over the world, and that there is a super power that we humans just don't know the real name of that created everything in the universe and believes that we just came up with different names for him (remember, he is from India and they have a multitude of false gods). He also believes that time is a god and that it created God. I tried to tell him that God created everything, and quoted several verses saying how God created all things, but he said that because it didn't specifically say God created time, he can't believe it. I have also tried to tell him that God always was. There was no beginning for God. He came back with “if God always was, then why couldn't time be there?” I don't know what to tell him. Do you have any pointers or verses that I can give him?CMI’s Shaun Doyle responds: