FOLLOW THE LEADER
encapsulated in time, God dwells in eternity and is untouched by time (Ps.
90:2; 93:2). God is immutable or changeless throughout the ages (Mal. 3:3;
Ja. 1:17). Only of God can it be said:
“You, O Lord, sit enthroned forever, Your renown endures
through all generations...Your years go on through all
generations. In the beginning You laid the foundations of
the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out
like a garment. Like clothing You will change them...
But You remain the same, and Your years will never end” (Ps.
102:12, 24-27; Isa. 51:6).
It is because of His omnipotence over time that God can be omnipresent in
time! When He supernaturally manifests Himself within the chronos of
the cosmos, it is a kairos moment! Jesus was the only person Who has ever
lived Whose chronos time was perfectly synchronized with God’s kairos
time! Jesus often spoke of this kind of kairos time when He said:
“My time has not yet come” (Jn. 2:4);
“My appointed time is near” (Matt. 26:18);
“Father, the time has come” (Jn. 17:1).
Ultimately, it was “...at the right time that Christ died for the ungodly”
(Rom. 5:6; Eph. 1:10). Since that divine saving moment, we all live in the
“Age of Grace” – or God’s “...acceptable time of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2).
Both chronos and kairos find their focus and fulfillment in Jesus Christ! In
all of our chronos time, Christ is to “...have first place in everything”
(Col. 1:17-18). That only takes place when our chronos time is managed by
God’s kairos time!
We understand chronos by asking questions like: “What time is it? Am
I early or late? Am I out of time?” By contrast, kairos asks a different
question: “What is time for? What am I living for? Am I ready? Is this the right
time?” Whereas chronos is concerned about the quantity of time, kairos is
more concerned about the quality of time. We imply this when we ask a
question like: “Did you have a good time?” The emphasis is not upon the
quantity of time spent – but rather upon the quality of the time invested.
Was it meaningful...rewarding...fulfilling...significant?