Why did God need to take 13.7 billion years?

[Baltazorg]

So far no Christian has given me a good answer. If God is so powerful why did he need to take this long. I don't care what benefits you say this has over creating an instant universe, the question still remains. I am an old earth creationist but this is one of many questions that has bothered me. Please help!

[hughfarey]

What makes you think God needed any time at all?

[Mallz]

I don't understand why there would be discontent over our universe taking 13.7 billion years to form. God decided to create, he chose to do so a certain way.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1.
Our amazing molder let us exist as humans at a perfect time in the age of the universe, and when the Earth is placed in it. Our observations of the skies gives us our ability to see our universe started from a point. That wouldn't have been found out if we were later, or younger in the time of the universe. The way reality formed, and us with it, only magnifies the glory of God. His power, his might, his love.
I don't understand "Why did he need to take this long"? Need to take? Because He established a way of life for this physical realm. And rules and principles that govern our way of life. And His way is so particulate, precise, and planned out that it was like setting up an elaborate dominoes line, and *flick* BIG BANG! and smiles with a nod as it unfolds the way he designed it to be.
I don't understand the bother?

[Baltazorg]

Mallz I know what you are talking about but god could have done it all without taking this long to do, is this so we may learn from his work better?

[Mallz]

I believe it is so we may know Him better by His work, and what it says. All of our reality, all of our sciences, are given us to confirm Him and to explore His nature.
He wants us to test everything. How could we do this if there were no evidence of Him? (How long the human race has been alive, giving us archeology, understanding astronomy as we are placed in the right time and place... I can elaborate more if you wish).

Sure, reality could have formed in the blink of an eye. But that wouldn't express His majestic love.
He wants to share life with us, unfortunately He has restricted the full meaning of communion with us because of His justice..
So as we live in a world governed by satan, I believe he put us in a reality in which if we search for Him, we will find Him.
I think that ties in with how long everything's been around. And the meaning of this reality.

so...
1) Taking this long lets us explore His nature. It shows how deep and true His love is, preparing a place for us that will only last a limited time, but taking billions of years to prepare.
2) The world we live in is one from a Father who wishes us to know Him. We can explore His power through our observations. And confirm accounts of His time as a man.
3) Our Father wants us to know Him through experiences. To understand the nature of a free-willed mind and its implications, its consequences of existing. Our natural and morally evil world lets us 'grow up' how a real loving Father would, by scraping our knees when we fall, scolding us when we become vessels of evil, etc. to the Fatherly attributes. I believe this is expressed by the nature of our reality.

Ok, so couldn't this all happen without taking this long? Perhaps, but I'd argue our reality would be different as we know it so we would still have the ability to search and find God.
Or couldn't this reality be done instantly and still have sufficient evidence to see God?
Is this what is so troublesome? I know your not going to like what I'm going to say next. It is what it is. It is done how it was done. This is how God chose it to be. Yes it could be done differently, but there's no implications on how it was done this time because it wasn't done differently. Maybe finding God and learning about Him this way isn't done as obviously as we'd like. I think there's meaning behind that. OK, I'm going to stop here as I'm starting to go in circles and my mind is about to take off and start rambling on different subjects.

This help in any way?

[Sam1995]

Mallz I know what you are talking about but god could have done it all without taking this long to do, is this so we may learn from his work better?

I could take that statement and apply it to anything. For example, why does God not heal every Christian who prays for miraculous healing? You could very easily turn around and say that God could do this, and you'd be right - He can! However I think the issue here is the final will for man-kind. I totally believe that absolutely everything that God has done, is doing and will do is specifically done in a certain manner which is in accordance with His final will and purpose for man-kind. That's why the universe is the way it is now that we exist on it. That's why some people are healed and some aren't, that's why you exist and are alive on September 11th, 2013 - in order to fulfill His will and purpose for this planet.

Just my raw thoughts!

[Philip]

How about because He's in NO hurry! God controls all and time is rather just another tool for an eternal Being.

And how about this: It's not all about US!

God always had a plan that included us - in fact, He will live amongst us on the New Earth and Heaven - FOREVER. But why would God be in any hurry for ANYTHING? And think about the eternity past - I'm sure that God was tremendously active on who knows how many levels as He fellowshipped within His Trinity. I don't think that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were just sitting around bored, playing checkers. Scripture reveals God to be an active and constantly creative Deity - AND it says that He is unchanging. So, as God was so forever active before the beginning of our universe, it's not as if He were bored and we were the only parts of His future plans. And if you know something is CERTAIN - if God intimately KNEW the future - then to Him, in the distant, pre-universe past, His awareness of all things that have EVER happened in our universe and on our earth were as if they had always existed and were happening back then as well. So what was His hurry to see His plan in REAL-TIME if ALL things were just a real to Him BEFORE our universe even came into existence? God sees ALL, ALL at once - ALWAYS.

We always think that things are all about US. Not even close!

[RickD]

philiptherepublican wrote:
How about because He's in NO hurry! God controls all and time is rather just another tool for an eternal Being.

Sorry Philip, I ain't buyin it. If the bible and Ken Ham say the universe was created in 6 normal days, then that's good enough for me.

[Philip]

Rick, I like the part where God had Adam name all the livestock, every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and THEN if that day wasn't full enough (maybe Adam's deep sleep actually came from exhaustion), He was still worried that Adam might get lonely before it was over.

Hey, a man can survive without his wife for at least a weekend? Right, Rick? Rick?!!!

[neo-x]

Why did God need to take 13.7 billion years?

Because He can and we can't and that's why it looks so damn crazy to us. For a timeless being, time is of no value at all.