If God exists outside of time, how does He have a "plan"?

Answer 1

because he created all things including our perception of what time is.

Answer 2

Very interesting question.

To us a plan is something we dont know until we think about it and develop it.

God does not get knew information and react. He knows all things past present and future and has for all eternity past what ever that means. By nature he is omniscient. You cant go to him and say, "hey did you see that over there?", or "are you sure you have the results of that covered?".

God sees time like being in a blimp above a parade. We see time as one on the ground as it passes. He sees the end and beginning and the whole string all at once.

So to say God has a plan is not equated to what we understand as a plan. God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. He wills it, it happens, no if or buts. And the clincher is that he has always known it.

Answer 3

You have to understand that God sees time from the outside. Time is for us to compartmentalize various aspects of our lives and history. It is a tool. God exists outside of time and sees past, present, and future in the same glance. He knew you before you were formed in the womb just as He knows what you will do tomorrow, how you will honor (or curse) Him, and how your life will end.

When you hear that God "has a plan for you" you must understand that He already knows what you're going to do; He knows if you will choose obedience or not, and the implications of your decisions on the rest of your life. You have free will. You can do as you please. So, even though God knows what you will choose to do, He also knows the implications of your alternate choice.

I know, sometimes it's hard to grasp and I may not have explained it very well. It just helps to understand that God is not governed by time. He is infinite; we are not. Our finite nature mandates that we have a means of measuring it. Yet how sad that our tombstones reflect everything we did in our lives with little more than a dash between our birth and death.

Answer 4

Hey....why don't you check into The Urantia Book Foundation.
You seem like a smart fella. It requires a very rational mindset to keep up with it's concepts. Not a "cult" but a cult of personality maybe. I have known many people who followed this tome since i was a small child. I think you may be interested in it's depth. Some start with the Jesus Papers, to learn more about a truer way things went with that, before getting into more complex papers/chapters.
It is not for the simple minded. Very in depth teachings. Many groups out there reading it together... they are very cool people.
Peace!
you can read it from the link too:

Answer 5

He is very aware of time.
(2 Peter 3:8) However, let this one fact not be escaping YOUR notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

(Matthew 24:36) “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.

His plan is to rid the world of wickedness.

(Psalm 37:9) For evildoers themselves will be cut off, But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth.

(Revelation 21:4) And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

Put them all together and you have people living on the earth, with no wickedness, and with no sickness or death.
Living peacefully forever. Nice future Eh!.

Answer 6

when someone stands outside of a house and looks in the window at what is going on inside.
he has no part in what they do inside, because he is limited in not being able to be in both places at the same time. he's limited in that he didnt create anything that's around him. and only until he goes inside and interacts with those there can he have part or in some way effect present and future.

now a parent knows that present children will grow up so he makes plans to provide for them even when he's gone because he knows that his time is limited.

now God created everything. and from His position He sees past, present and future., He sees it all as present.
He made plans and provided for those He created.. at the same time because He continues on forever He can interact with those in present, past and future.

Answer 7

You're confusing God with an energy form.
God is the spirit of life.
If tomorrow were truly known, creation would
surely curl up and die.

Creation forms when energy bits called "quarks",
explode and interface with invisible forces we
know as Laws Of Physics.
Time & space are merely by-products of this
reaction.

The energy is not the forces.
The Forces are not the energy.

Answer 8

to say god is timeless is to imply that he is time, for if space is time demonstrated, then the passage of time is actually the passage of space w/in space, creating more space from a timeless void where time exists in extreme abundance. to have a plan from timelessness, you simply encourage in the most efficient way possible the justifiable continuance of human freedom. the spiritual inspirational energy associated w/ god helps us to clearly and objectively view the entire spectrum of our options, to where we don't trip over our own feet getting from now to tomorrow.

Answer 9

God is like an author who writes a book... he has written every page and knows each line... and he can flip to any page in that book whenever he wants... but the plot must still play itself out in a linear fashion.

Answer 10

Liner time, as we know it began at the time of the Big Bang. Before that, we did not have liner time or this is how our top scientist have translated it.
Since Jehovah created the universe and all that is in it, does it not make sense that he is also in control of time? So therefore his purpose for the earth WILL be fulfilled in his time period.

Answer 11

that is brilliant--a plan requires a future, and God has none since he exists outside of the timeline