It's interesting to me. Both Genesis and the Gospel of John begin with the same phrase: "In the beginning ..." Genesis speaks of God creating ... everything. John begins with the existence of "the Word" -- the expression of God -- who was God, who created everything (John 1:3), who was Jesus (John 1:8-14).
It has been said that the most offensive verse in the Bible is, exactly, Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Fairly innocuous, but ... as it turns out, humans are naturally hostile to God (Rom 8:7), so the claim that all that is was made by God and, therefore is owned by God, is an offense. God is offensive, one way or another, to many. But so is "the beginning." Jesus at the beginning. God at the beginning. In Ephesians, Paul tells us, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him" (Eph 1:3-4). That's offensive ... to many Christians. "He chose us in Him 'before the foundation of the world'? Oh, no. We chose Him." In The Revelation we read about "those ... whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world" (Rev 17:8). "Wait ... you're saying those who would be saved were written before any of them existed?" No, not me. The Word. He knew from the outset who would and who would not be saved.
We used to sing, "He's got the whole world in His hands." He does. But He always did. David wrote, "In Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them" (Psa 139:16). Everything. Paul wrote, "From Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Rom 11:36). From, through, and to Him. It's true. We ought to recognize it. It ought to provide comfort to those who love God.
2 comments:
I can't imagine not being a complete nervous wreck if I had no belief in God, but did contemplate my place in the universe. The utter unknown of the next second would drive me insane.
“It has been said that the most offensive verse in the Bible is, exactly, Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Fairly innocuous, …”
It would seem to be innocuous. However, as you point out, Gen. 1:1 proves to be a truly loaded statement of fact. It tells me that everything that exists is His, to do with as He wishes and wills. This includes humans who, while given intellect, reasoning, and a conscience, have no grounds for dictating to God how He is to think and behave towards His own creatures. He--or the specific workings of His plan--is not subject to our approval at any point. We don’t instruct God on what is right and wrong--i.e. “what a loving God would do or not do.” We may not fashion a “new and improved God” with the attributes that we prefer and then charge those who accept God at His true Word as being the gravely mistaken ones. We are not to create another entity from our imaginations and then promote this idol “god” as the real thing to worship and serve. “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4).
P.S. It seems that that charge from Rom. 3:4 comes to my mind very often lately. And now that I think about it, it strikes me as a good theme for a Christian apologetics-oriented weblog, as it reminds us to follow and serve the One True God. Of course, learning what is “true” about God and what is not is the crux of the matter--and the very process that proves many a “man a liar.”
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