How Old Is God? The Surprising Truth For New Believers

You may have asked yourself this question, “How old is God? Does God have an age?”

This question assumes God’s existence.

Some have said that there is such a thing as a stupid question. Certainly, this question IS NOT! Your children or kids from Sunday school may ask.

However, this question also assumes the ambiguity of the identity of this God. It could be other gods that we’re talking about.

As a pastor, I want to provide you with biblical teachings on this question. I believe that the Bible is sufficient to address this question.

Let’s dive into it!

God Is Eternal

Theologians talk about a theological concept called the attribute of God. God has many attributes or characteristics that describe who He is or God’s qualities.

For instance, God is love, merciful, gracious, holy, righteous and just.

The attributes of God do not define God in parts but as a whole because God is who He is.

God is eternal. That’s who He is. That is God’s nature. God exists as the eternal God unto eternity before the world’s creation.

God never came into being. He was never born. He did not pop out of nowhere one time in history.

It may be mind-boggling for mortal humans to ponder eternity before creation, but that should put us in awe of God.

We simply cannot conceive of or express God’s eternity BECAUSE we are beings who have not always existed but were created by a God who has always been and will always be.

He is the only God who is eternal. He exists infinitely. One cannot put a number on infinite.

Since God is eternal, is it impossible to ascribe God’s age? We cannot.

Even Daniel noted that God is from the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9). The Hebrew phrase literally means “before days were.” Ponder the fact that days did not even exist until creation. And God existed before He created the reality of days and time.

Every historic confession or statement of faith would mention that God is an eternal being.

God Is The Everlasting God

We sing songs with lyrics like this, “You are the everlasting God. The everlasting God.”

Have you paused and pondered what that means?

The Bible uses the phrase, “everlasting God,” twice:

Genesis 21:33: “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.”

Isaiah 40:28: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”

Another text says this:

Psalm 90:2: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

The Hebrew word for “everlasting” communicates the idea of continuous and perpetual existence. In other words, God has no beginning and no end. God is timeless in His own being.

Even though He is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the idea communicates that He’ll always and forever exist.

Such a concept also communicates other attributes of God, such as His immutability. He’ll always be the same forever and ever. He’ll never change. God never ages, and He lives forever and ever.

God Is The Creator

The Bible states in the book of Genesis, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God communicates these first words in the Bible.

In his systematic theology, Wayne Grudem states this, “The fact that God never began to exist can also be concluded from the fact that God created all things, and that [H]e [H]imself is an immaterial spirit.” [1]

God created this physical world, including heaven and earth. He also created humans when He formed them in our mothers’ wombs. The universe began with space and time.

He sustains the universe with His everlasting arms.

Richard Dawkins once said (and I’m only paraphrasing) that since God is the Creator, then who created God? He was trying to refute the cosmological argument for the existence of God (whatever has an effect has a cause).

However, such an argument fails to understand the extent of that argument and also the nature of God.

Since God’s eternality is true, He is the uncreated God. He never ceased to exist. He can never be created by anything outside of Himself. He is the self-existent God. Theologians called this the aseity of God.

Thus, God deserves to receive His glory forever.

God In The Person Of Jesus Christ

The Renaissance paintings depicting God as an old are quite familiar to many people. However, what if God is not an old man but a “young” being (so to speak).

The eternal God took upon flesh in the person of Christ Jesus. Our Lord God chose to condescend and live among humanity. In the person of Christ, there are two natures: Divine and Human.

The Apostle Paul states this in Philippians 2:5–7: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

God was born as a babe 2000 years ago. As the God-Man, He grew in stature and wisdom until He entered his earthly ministry.

Jesus Christ is the same God as the Creator God, who came into the world to offer eternal life to those who believe in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Christ has ascended to the Father’s right hand, and the second coming of Christ will happen imminently as the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, God only wise.

God Is Who He Is

In Exodus 3, our Lord revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush.

Moses asked this question in Exodus 3:13, “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

How did God respond? He says in verse 14: “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

What does this have to do with God’s age?

As mentioned, God is eternal. That is His incommunicable attribute. Eternality is His ultimate reality.

As humans, we cannot add or change God’s reality. Many in our society have mistakenly pictured God as an old man, suggesting that He is like us who can age. However, that is fallacious.

Furthermore, God’s ultimate reality in His eternity is also related to the Trinity.

The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that God is One who exists in three consubstantial persons: Father, Son, and Spirit.

John 1:1-2 says, “[1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God.”

When John talks about the Word who was from the beginning, he’s indicating the essence and existence of the Word (referring to Jesus) in the sense of BEFORE ALL TIME AND CREATION.

Jesus preexisted, coexisted with the Father and Spirit, and self-existed for all eternity. The Spirit of God was present at the beginning of creation (Genesis 1:2).

In the Godhead, the Father, Son, and Spirit had an eternal relationship with one another. Hence, we can understand why God is love.

Yet, God is also spirit. He is an immaterial being. Therefore, we cannot ascribe material elements to an immaterial or a spirit being.

10 Bible Verses – God Is Eternal

1. Psalm 90:2 – “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
2. Deuteronomy 33:27 – “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.'”
3. Isaiah 40:28 – “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”
4. Genesis 21:33 – “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.”
5. Psalm 102:12 – “But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations.”
6. Revelation 1:8 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
7. Psalm 103:17 – “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children.”
8. Isaiah 57:15 – “For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'”
9. 1 Timothy 1:17 – “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
10. Psalm 146:10 – “The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!”

Frequently Asked Questions

How old is the earth to God?

I hold to the young earth perspective.

I believe Genesis 1-11 are historical accounts, and in a literal and historical Adam.

God created the heavens and the earth in six literal days and rested on the 7th day.

How God sees the earth’s age should also be how we see it.

So, the earth might be on a spectrum of 6000-10,000 years old.

How old was Jesus when He died?

Traditionally, the (satisfying) answer would be 33 years old.

Does God ever feel old?

It is hard to imagine that the eternal God never feels old like us. When we get old, we get slow and weak.

Not with God.

The Bible says in Isaiah 40:28: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”

Again, we cannot ascribe material beings or human attributes to God.

God never feels old. He does not grow weak and tired like us. Jesus says that He and the Father have been working until now (John 5:17) since the beginning of creation. How awesome is our God?

Yet, in the hypostatic union, Jesus Christ was both God and Man. In John 4:6, Jesus, in His human nature, was tired, but it’s not applied to His divine nature.

Are Humans Eternal Beings?

As humans, the Bible tells us that we are an eternal being, but not in the same way as God is.

‌We had a beginning when we were conceived and formed in our mother’s womb. Every person has an immortal soul.

Yes, we will all perish and die because we are mortal beings with a physical body.

But we have no ending.

Scripture is clear that after we die, we have an eternal destination. We will go to one of two places.

Those who placed their faith in Jesus’ person and work will be with the Lord in heaven for eternity.

However, those who reject Christ’s gift of salvation will spend eternity in eternal conscious torment in hell, suffering the fullness of His wrath.

What Is God’s Real Name?

The name for God Israel represents the biblical pronunciation of YHWH.

The name Yeshua consists of a series of vowels Yode, Heh Waw, and Heh called Tetragrammaton.

Conclusion

So, how old is God?

The simple answer is that God does not have an age.

The reason is because He is eternal and everlasting. That’s the ultimate reality of who God is.

If you want to tell children how old God is, He is infinite years old.

Yes, I suppose very old.

Citation

[1] Grudem, W. (1994). Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. 169.