In The Beginning!

Genesis 1: 1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This is a profound statement.  We are being told (creavit – third person singular perfect active indicative form of creo) that God created, made, produced, begat, caused, chose both heaven and earth so that they came into existence solely by His will and power.  We are not pointed to any substantiating evidence nor is any attempt made to persuade us that this proclamation is true.  How is the reader supposed to react to this?  In one of three basic ways, I suppose.

The reader could say: “You know what?  No way.  There is no such possible being that could possibly exist that could possibly poses the power, knowledge, and ability necessary to accomplish such a remarkable feet.”  The honest question put to those taking this track is then:  “Well, the universe – heaven and earth – is here, so how did it get here?”  Used to be, the popular response was:  “It has always been here.  The universe has an infinite past.”  In recent years, The Big Bang theory has risen in fame where these folks claim:  “Billions of years ago, everything that now exists, existed in a point – a singularity with no dimension – where for no discernible reason, it exploded into the universe we now see.”

The reader could say:  “Possible sounds far-fetched but I am willing to listen on.  I mean, I don’t know this God but it is also the case that I don’t know everything.  In fact, I don’t even know half of everything.  This God could exist in the at least half of everything that I don’t know.”

The reader could say:  “Yes.  I know this God!  He is the one who saved me.  I love this, the one true living God, because He first loved me.  His invisible attributes from creation are manifest in the universe He created.”

I would like to take some time to examine the specific, vivid, and chronological Genesis Chapter One account of God’s work in creating the universe.  If you are the first reader, then this process might turn out to be frustrating, painful, or even angering.  Or, it might turn out to be liberating.