We must understand that God Almighty exist outside of time. Time came out of Him; time is a creation of God. It is literally a marker for the mortality of man and was a way for us to number our days. The psalmist said, “So teach us to number out days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Teach me to understand that I have only got certain amount of time to do what I have to do; therefore, I cannot afford to waste my time. “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”(Ephesians 5:16) But God does not live in time. God lives outside of time, and because God lives outside of time, the only time God has is now. God has no past; He is eternal. Therefore, He does not hear what you said in your past, because He does not have one. So, when you speak, the only time God can hear you is now, because all He has is now. Therefore, if you are saying “He will,” from God’s viewpoint, you are contradicting His “is-ness” because He has no future either. You cannot pray in the past or the future, so every time you pray, it is now; it is! That is why Jesus said in Mark 11:23, “…whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believe that those things he says will be done he will have whatever he says.”
Understand this revelation – the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not the beginning of the New Covenant; they are the fulfillment of the Old. The New Testament does not start with Matthew; the New Testament starts with Acts, because the New Covenant was not enforced until the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. When the death, burial, and resurrection occurred, then the New Covenant began. The last supper is called “last” because it is the last supper of the Old Covenant – it was the last Passover meal. It was not the last meal Jesus had with His disciples. He has fish and bread on the beach a few days after the resurrection (see John 21:9-12).
Every miracle that Jesus performed was under the Old Covenant, where the price for the things being requested had not been paid in full. It was like going to pick up something you had put on the layaway but had not paid the balance for. Under the Old Covenant, people were coming to pick up things that had not been fully paid for. They had to come and say, “Lord, if You will speak.” In Matthew 8:*, the centurion said, “Lord…only speak a word, and my servant will be healed” (emphasis added). They spoke in the future because they were dealing with a covenant not paid for. That was Old Covenant. But because what we have received is a “New Covenant,” we must take what we see in the Old Covenant (as people approach Jesus) and apply it to our New Covenant.
“Examine yourselves to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – Unless indeed you are disqualified.But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5-6). This is one of the Scriptures that God led me to when He spoke to me about taking the “Faith Exam.” He said, “You need to check yourself out and make sure you are in faith.” You need to make sure you know what faith is and make sure you are in it; without faith, you cannot please God, and without faith you are not going to have the God-Kind of life.
In other words, if you are redeemed, you are not disqualified. But Paul says, “Understand that your examination of yourself – to see whether you are in the faith or not – must take into account that Christ is now in you.” You have got to take the New Testament exam, not the Old Covenant exam. If you take the exam with the information of the Old Covenant only, you will fail. Examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith; and as you are examining yourself, understand that your examination is based on the fact that Christ is in you. That means that now, in this covenant, you are not alone when you come to God to ask.
Notes to Remember
"God exists outside time. Time is a creation of God."
