In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
" + "These are some of the most memorized verses from the Bible. If people know anything about the scriptures, they know that they teach that God created the heavens and the earth. In fact, the centerpiece of any extant theology is, on some level, that the universe and all that is the product of a living deity. No one from any particular religion will deny that the universe and all that there is comes from some super-human source, a higher power, if you will.
" + "While Christianity agrees with these other theologies on this question, it stands alone among them, posing a different view of the creator and the purpose of all creation. Most other religious traditions, especially polytheist varieties, explain that creation is the result of the deity's accident, desire to play, or some other reason that to us may seem childish. But since the Bible has ever been in writing, it is clear that this was never the rationale of our Lord. God did not create everything because God wanted to play around a bit. God did not make humans because he wanted to make another being jealous. He did not choose to make anything because it is just some sort of crap shoot. God created the world and all that is in it because the Lord has wisdom within himself. It was not out of foolishness or pride; it was because God desired to reflect himself. When we see the earth, the mountains, the seas, everything, and how small we are in all these things, we are reminded of the unfathomable wisdom and greatness of our God.
" + "Thus, all that we see is supposed to give us a message many of us find hard to believe. Generally, the things we see, remind us of how much we cannot believe the Lord. The pain, the heartaches, the sufferings, all of these things make us believe that God is not around, that God is not there for us. Yet, the scripture above reminds us that in the beginning God "created" the context in which all things exist. If God created the context, why do we believe that God is unable to control the outcome of the things within the context of our existence? God was there when there was a nothing. This is very difficult for us to believe. But at some point, nothing was around, and God made everything. He existed before there was a "beginning." In fact, he created the "beginning" and the "beginning" is defined by his actions. We have nothing to fear about the things we see. And further, if God was there when there was nothing, how can we believe the "somethings" we see can make God a nothing. The things we experience do not erase our God, they show us the control that God has over them. For they only exist because of and for his will.
" + "As we reflect on this week, let us remember that the things that happen to us during this week happen within the confines of the week that God created. The beginning of this week was a day established by God. If God has the power to begin the week itself, then God has power to control and correct the things that come after the beginning. "In the beginning, God" began his work on the world and all things in it. It did not happen on a day that God entered. It did not happen during a time that God just happened upon in his life. No, my brothers and sisters, the beginning is marked by the wisdom and knowledge of God. When God decided that there would be a heaven and earth, that's when there was a beginning. Not any time before this point. We are to be thankful and grateful because we see and know our God this way. The world does not know this, and this is why they do not worship him. But we are called to worship because of our knowledge of the matchless power of our God. Let us remember the wisdom, power and strength of the Lord as we continue in him. God bless.
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