What is meant by God is eternal?

As the eternal God, God is the author of time, and His existence cannot be measured by time. The past, present, and future are possessed by God in one indivisible present.

Time as we know it is marked by the succession of events. With God that succession does not exist. God is above time in that sense. Man can be said to be above time in a very finite sense (i.e., he can aspire, remember, etc.), but God is above time in an actual sense.

Genesis 21:33—God is the “God of the Ages,” the el ’olam.

Exodus 3:14—God names himself “I AM,” giving some indication of his being a living person, but also of his relationship to time—he exists in an eternal now (cf. esp. John 8:58).

Psalm 90:2—Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

1 Corinthians 2:7—God’s decree extends “before time began” (πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων).

Revelation 1:8; 4:8—“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”