Read an Excerpt
Let's Begin
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Genesis 1:1
Close your eyes and think of nothing. It is virtually impossible to capture "nothing." Within moments, your senses will give in, overloaded and overcome by a cavalcade of sounds, smells, flavors, sensations, and experiences that abound all around. Do you hear that bird outside, or the hum of an appliance? Do you smell the spices from your last meal, or of a candle that burns? Are thoughts of a project at work sneaking in, or are you surprised to be suddenly making a list of what you need at the store?
It is so hard to comprehend that there was a time when there was nothing. The Bible begins with an introduction to that time. Genesis 1 welcomes you to the time when there was nothing...except God.
The words "In the beginning God" announce that before there was anything, God existed. At "the beginning," God was there. And it was God who -- within the Bible's first ten words -- caused creation to explode everywhere in an obedient response to the voice of God. From nothing, God commanded that the heavens and the earth exist.
And it was so.
Bara, the Hebrew word for "created," is used elsewhere in the Old Testament to show that God's creative actions are unique and unprecedented. Nowhere is this more evident than in this example of the spoken word of the Creator; out of nothing sprang forth something. The heavens were born above and around the formless and dark earth. Again, God spoke and light immediately burst forth universally, separating from the dark. Then, in the parade of creation, outmarched the waters of the seas, green plants to cover thelands, and animals of every stripe and breed. At the height of it all, God made humans, a man and a woman.
At each stage of creation, God assessed the work he had accomplished by the power of his will. He evaluated what he had made and established it as "good." God effectively and efficiently created a home for all people of all time, which, by his own assessment, was excellent for every need and purpose. The man and the woman could and would use everything that God had provided for them. God had made everything for them and all who would come from them.
What a time it must have been.
Take a closer look at the phrase "In the beginning" and see that before God created anything else, he created time.With these first words of Scripture, God not only started working, he also started the clock framing your life's existence.
God has no need for time; he operates completely outside of it. He exists independently of it. The fact that he chose to create time shows that God has a plan. His plan has a beginning and an ending. "In the beginning" was the initiation of that plan. Everything that has happened since was also perfectly planned. When God evaluated each phase of creation as "good," he did so knowing the full history of it.
Time is the tool God devised to complete his plan. Everything he created has a place and a purpose in that plan. Light does not just make the world easier to see; it marks daily progress toward the culmination of the Master Plan. Rain is not a coincidental natural event; it is a necessary, important part of God's good plan. Because everything that exists does so within time toward the completion of God's plan, everything is under control.
Do not overlook the amazing reality that God has remembered you in his plan. If the creation of time -- the capsule within which every other creation follows -- shows that God has a plan, the fact that you live daily within the universal drama of time shows that you are included in his dynamic plan. His "in the beginning" was the initiation of that plan, and there will one day be a completion to it. This is true for the universe, and it is true for you.
You have been part of God's eternal plan, accounted for before time. God remembered you and prepared creation for you -- the air you would breathe, the food you would eat, the friends you would find, and even the rainbow you would see. And don't forget that God keeps his promises.
In a world that says you are a product of cosmic coincidence and that life has no meaning, God says otherwise. He is telling you that he is in control. You can trust him. With Genesis 1, he wants you to know that before the beginning of time, God thought of you. In the busy pace of a hectic life, God is here, and he has made time for you.
Scientific theories have futilely attempted to account for the universe's supernatural beginning with a natural explanation. To this, pastor and theologian Dr. John MacArthur said:
"Genesis 1:1 gives a general and inclusive account of creation.... He [God] is the creator of all things visible and invisible, and 'all things' means everything from various ranks of angels, every form of life from whales and elephants to viruses. Everything, all things include every form of energy, every form of matter, the speed of light, nuclear structure, electromagnetism, gravity, every law by which nature operates was created within the framework of this creation." Saint Augustine of Hippo, in his classic City of God, explains that this reality confounds many:
"It is no wonder that those theorists wander in a circuitous maze finding neither entrance nor exit for they do not know how the human race, and this mortal condition of ours, first started nor with what end it will be brought to a close. They cannot penetrate the 'depth of God,' the deep counsel of which, being himself eternal and without beginning, he started man and time from a beginning, and made man in time, as a newact of creation, and yetwith no sudden change in purpose, but in accordance with his eternal and unchanging plan."
Take a Closer Look © 2007 by GRQ, Inc.
