January 4, 1996
By  Ken Hicks

I woke up this morning about 1:30 A.M. contemplating the next millennium. That made me start thinking about the measurement of time and time itself. Since our current calendar started on January 1, 1, the next 1000 years did not start until January 1, 1001. The reason for this is the way we count years and measure time. When I was born, my age was counted in days, weeks and month's, until I had completed 365 days of life. Then, I had my first birthday. (I lived a "zero" year.) Our calendar started on a "1" year, and did not have a "zero" year until the year 1000. Therefore the next millennium does not start until the January 1, 2001, not on January 1, 2000.

Of course this is a fact that will be discussed a lot in the next 4 or 5 years. But it was this thought that made me begin to look at time in general. We categorize time into three (3) parts, Past, Present and future. Also to measure it we use seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, etc. It was this measurement that made me aware that time is irrelevant. Let me explain what I mean. First let's look at the categories of past, present and future. In order to understand time, we have to realize that everything that we see, touch, taste, smell, say or do is in the past! Everything that we contemplate doing is in the future. So where is the present? The present is a "nano-second" of time somewhere between the future and the past. Sound confused? Well think about it. While I am contemplating a thought, it becomes the past, while the spoken or written word is still in the future. (It has yet to exists) As the words are spoken, they become past, or history. (How many times do we wish we hadn't said something?) Every action immediately becomes history! Every planned action, word or deed is in the future. We can not change the past, and we have no control over the future. We can make plans for the future, we can contemplate what we want it to be, but none of us can control even the next second of future time. You ask, "So what?"

Let's analyze this thought further. If we can not change the past, and we do not have control of the future, and we live in the present, and the present is nearly non-existing, then what are we? Do we really exist? Does everything around us really exist? Remember that the past is finished. The future is here. What happened to the present? How do I know that this computer is real? Could it be a figment of imagination? Touch me, am I real? How do you know, the touch is already in the past! Now obviously I am real, because I am able to think these thoughts and type them down. But is the physical or carnal part real, or is the spirit part of me real and the carnal only exists so the spiritual part has something to make tangible? All confusing questions, but ones that have great importance on our reason for existence.

Back to time measurement. Time is measured only for the need of the carnal part of me. The spirit part of me is endless, or eternal. Eternity is forever, and therefore it does not have need for measurement of time. In other words, the spirit part of me exists in a non-measured time realm and yet it coexists with the physical! Could it be that the only reason for the carnal "time" is to prepare for the spiritual "timeless" hereafter? If this is true, then everything in the carnal sphere is irrelevant!

Every culture and civilization has had some belief in a life after death. Since I am part American Indian, I shall use their concepts. Nearly every tribe believed that we are in the present life on mother earth, and that she takes care of us, while we watch over her. When the time comes for us to depart mother earth, and go to be with the sky father, we will either go to the happy hunting ground, or the land of disfigurement. The out come is decided by the way that we live on mother earth. For many tribes, that is why they would disfigure their enemy, so that their enemy would not be with them in the happy hunting grounds. Of course this is a simplification of the facts, but it illustrates that they did believe in a hereafter and that the hereafter contained two places, one good and one bad.

As a Christian, I also believe in the hereafter, and I also believe that the "eternal" hereafter, consists of two locations. The bible clearly speaks of heaven and hell, as being two separate places. One prepared for those that believe in the salvation by grace because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God. One place prepared for Satan and his angels. The latter, a place of eternal damnation.

Since we are made with a "spirit" part of us, and made with a free-will nature by God, we will decide where we will spend eternity once we leave this carnal or physical existence. How is that choice made? It is made by a conscience decision, recognizing that we are down fallen beings, as a result of Adams sin, and that only by the belief that Jesus was sin less, and died for our sins, and rose again from the grave, over coming death for us, can we be saved. This salvation is eternal, and is a gift to us from God, that reinstates us to sin less beings, as the original created man once was. Having obtained salvation by grace, I am assured that I will abide with God and the family of God for all eternity in his dwelling place. All other created humans that fail to recognize their sinful nature will not be allowed to enter Gods dwelling place and will be cast into the second place, prepared for Satan and his angels. Why is this of any importance with thinking of time? It is the main reason for contemplation of time!

Our belief that we are accumulating material items is a myth! Let me explain. Several years ago, our family was awaken in the middle of the night by a fire that destroyed everything that we had accumulated over the previous 20 years of marriage. In a moment of time, everything was gone, including the lives of three of our daughters. Their carnal existence was over, and their eternal spiritual was continuing. They were all Christians, and they went to be with God in his dwelling place. All that we had hoped for and dreamed of for their future was over. There would not be grand children, there would not be family gathering, there would not be any of the things that we "planned". In addition, everything that was important, precious, valued, cherished and worked for so long to achieve was gone. Why had we wanted to have "those things?" It was our carnal belief, that the need to have comfort and convenient was paramount. Was it? The answer is no. We would have gladly given everything we had to have our children survive the fire. If given the opportunity to have them back now would I take it? The answer to that is also no. Why? Because it would be an act of selfishness to ask them to leave the place they are in to return to this place. And yet, that is exactly what Jesus did and more! He gave up the spiritual to become physical, never more to return to the state of spirituality that was once his. What great love that is. Who can not understand it? This requires an explanation. Although we are both physical and spiritual, our spirit requires a place to reside. The bible tells us that we will have a new body, different from what we have here, in that it will not be subject to time or space, but a body never the less. You see Jesus was all spirit, not subject to the limitations of any body, and yet he gave up that to become man, so that our sinful state could be returned to the sin less nature of creation. His choice to accept that was for eternity. Wow, that is awesome!

This leads us back to the reason we exist in the physical or carnal nature. We are here for one reason and one reason only and that is to exercise our free will nature and choose between heaven or hell. Contemplate what I have just said. Our only reason is to make a choice! What are we doing with all of the "time" allotted us? What are we doing attempting to surround ourselves with "stuff"? Stuff that may not even exist! You have heard the old saying, "If a tree falls in the forest when no one is around, does it make a sound?" Well, does it? Who can say, since no one was around to hear it! This is used to illustrate the point. If every thing is in the past, does it exist in the future also? Or does it only exist in the present, whatever that may be.

We need to reflect on this in greater detail, because the reality of this thought is absolutely awesome.

Further study: cultures, civilizations, religious beliefs, theories of time and space. Scripture on: time, space, heaven, hell, and spiritual beings.

(The following was written as an "after thought" to this subject.)

By Ken Hicks

Time is a term that is so hard to define. Time and the measurement of time are determined by our relationship to where we are and what we are. It is a dimensionally expression relative to the limitations of space.

Since we are on earth, our measurement of time is determined by our relationship to the Sun. Since the sun is the source of all continuation of life on earth, and our planet revolves around it, we measure time based on that association. As we know, our planet travels in an orbit around the sun, which takes 365.25 days to complete one circumnavigation. Our earth revolves at approximately one revolution per 24-hour period; therefore, we measure time on these two principles. One rotation of the earth equals 1 day and one rotation around the sun equals approximately 1 year. We divide time into increments, which make it possible to keep track of events and to provide for control of our activities. Without time, we would not know what to anticipate, nor could we contemplate our heritage.

But just how relative is time? What if we had a visitor come from another galaxy in which the planet that he/she lived on circumnavigated their life-sustaining star every 180 days? What if their planet rotated every 12 hours? Would they still have the same values to determine time? Would they divide one year into 180 days? Would their day consist of 12 hours? If so, would the life expectancy on their planet be 150 years? How would their contemplation of time, be effected if they came to visit us? And how would our contemplation of time be effected if we went to visit them? Now to add confusion to this scenario, throw in hundreds of different planets through out space, each with their own concept of time! How would we ever coordinate our "time" if we were to interact with each other? In other words, "Whose time would be the right one!"

We have divided our calendar into twelve months of varied days. Wouldn't it be better to divide it into 13 months of 28 days each? Because 365.25 divided by 28 are 13.045714. That would be easier to comprehend, with each month having 4 weeks of 7 days. 52 weeks divided by 4 equals 13. Why not have a 24 hour clocks, like the military uses? That way we would not be confused as to if day or night were meant.

As we can see from these questions, time and measurement of time is relative to a physical plane of relevant matter. But how is it effected by the term, "eternity"?

The very thought of eternity is mind-boggling. What if we attempted to try and measure it? What if, in eternity, there was no day or no night, just continual light? How would we measure it? What would be the determining factor for relevance? Therefore, why would we need to bother with time?

Eternity is what we will all be entering, when we cross over to the next life after this one has expired. Everyone will be there. Some in continual light, and some in continual darkness. Either way, time will have no importance. The need to measure it will have terminated.

We will no longer be subject to the past, present of future. In eternity, these forms of measurement are no longer necessary. As we have seen in previous studies, the present is a nano second of time, which separates the past from the future. It is nearly impossible to determine the present because it happens at such lightning speed. Once it is here, it immediately becomes the past, while the future is always here. Once liberated from the present, we will be able to be in any sphere of time, whether past or future simultaneously, without limitation of time.

There is only one reason for the measurement of time, and that is to determine how long we have remaining on this planet, and what have we done with the "Time" that has been allocated to us by the creator of time? That is the most critical aspect of time, what did we do with the time God has given each of us? That is what we will be asked to explain to him someday. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10) What will you say to him? You better take stock of your life now, time is running out.

(See article on "Alien's" - You may be surprised!)