The Attributes of God for Kids: Eternal (Forever)
What is God? Who is God? How can I know God? What does God do? Do those questions sound familiar? Kids have a lot of questions about God (and quite honestly, grown-ups do too).
Theologians (people who study God and His Word) use the Attributes of God to help us understand more about God. The attributes are a theological category that teaches us about God’s very unique nature, the things that make Him and Him alone God.
Talking to Kids About the Attributes of God
As you begin to teach your kids about the attributes of God, you can describe attributes this way: We all have attributes! They are ways we can describe ourselves. You may be fast, or tall, or short, or a twin. You may be athletic, creative, or kind. But you may be able to describe other people that way too! When we talk about God, He has attributes that belong ONLY to Him. They are the things that make Him God.
God’s Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes
There are actually two types of attributes we talk about when it comes to God: communicable attributes and incommunicable attributes. God’s communicable attributes are the attributes that God has that we can also have as people! Some examples of this: God is kind, loving, and wise. Humans can also be kind, loving, and wise. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to imitate God; His communicable attributes show us how to imitate Him.
In this Minno blog series, we will be taking a look at God’s incommunicable attributes, the ones that are completely unique to God. These are attributes that only describe God, nothing and no one else. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at six attributes of God and helping you frame these ideas for kids.
Why Learn the Attributes of God?
Why learn the attributes? God is beyond our understanding, and yet through His Word, He has given us the ability to learn about Him and to know Him. Kids are concrete thinkers, and so when we start talking about how God is “all-knowing” and “all-present” they may have trouble grasping those BIG concepts.
And yet, it’s important that kids understand who God is as they build a resilient faith. So we’ll be digging in using kid-friendly language and ideas for teaching your kids about our wonderful, incredible God! The beauty of teaching kids about God and faith is that we can learn right alongside them. So lean in and open your heart to what God wants to teach you about who He is!
Ready? Let’s go!
Attribute: Eternal (God is Forever)
Key Verse:
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV)
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Define It:
Eternal (Eee-tur-nal)
Lasting or existing forever; without end or beginning.
Know It:
God is eternal, which means that He always was, always is, and always will be. He has no beginning nor end. He has always been exactly the same. And He will exist forever!
Talk About It:
Ask your kids what their very first memory is. Share a memory of yours from as far back as you remember! Now ask your kids if they can imagine what the future is like. Then talk about how even if we can imagine the future, only God knows it. Isn’t it so amazing that God is truly timeless?
Imagine your life on a timeline. When were you born? Now think back 2000 years ago to when Jesus lived. Then think about what 14 generations before that would have been, when King David was alive. And then hundreds of years before that, Abraham! But even as far back as that, God was even before. There was never, ever a time when God didn’t exist! And zooming all the way into the future, there will never, ever be a time when God doesn’t exist.
Think about what it means that God has existed and will exist forever, and how He invites us to live forever with Him! When Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God put eternity into our hearts, it means that He created us with the longing to live with Him forever. John 3:16 tells us that God sent His only son, Jesus, into the world so that we can have eternal life forever with God. Isn’t that amazing?
Pray:
Spend a few minutes thanking God for His eternal nature. Praise Him for being the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end! Thank Him for inviting us to spend eternity with Him.
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Read more posts in the Attributes of God for Kids Series
