In the beginning
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. John 1:1-2
Its hard to fathom the beginning when all there was – was God. This problem is compounded with everyone because few if any can remember the day of their birth or the earliest part of their life. Therefore we have to rely on who was at the creation to tell us how mankind began. In this respect, when God says in the beginning it is important to know the beginning to what? The reason being that God speaks of ages whereas men speak of minutes, days and years. What exactly does God mean by – in the beginning.
Often the beginning of anything refers to the very moment of conception when a specific thought enters your mind. On the other hand, unplanned things have a beginning the moment when all of the right conditions are in place. Everyone knows that the good things in life do not happen by chance because good things become goals that require forethought. Providing the right conditions to make happen are always planned out long before the actual event takes place.
When God speaks of the beginning he means that everything has its beginning with God. In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Psalms 102:25 - Hebrews 1:10. God is referring not to his own beginning, but the beginning of the life, as human beings know it. Everything has a beginning and God answers that age-old question of man’s origin and how man came into being.
The earth did not come into being by itself nor did it come into existence per chance that the right atoms collided together millions of years ago. The question of what caused the earth and the life forms to come into existence will be around as long as people do not want to recognize that in the beginning - God created the heavens and the earth.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7
Scientist prefer to gain their knowledge from the study of what causes things to occur in the earthly realm. They base their life and knowledge upon the reaction of the unknown to known things. Science is a religion that limits man thoughts to what man is capable of understanding and as they struggle to expand their knowledge about the origin of the earth god is removed from the equation. Still, the scientific prophets of our age do their best to reveal how things originate through hypothesis and contemplation. They do not always promote truth when they encourage the belief of the big bang theory and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Man is fortunate to have a few scientists that have faith in God and recognize that the earth was a design of intelligence.
Christians have no problem of accepting that God created the heavens and the earth. To them the truth that God’s revelation of creation makes more sense than the theories that men of science have hypothesized and developed. Christians believe that God is eternal without beginning or end and their faith in God tells them some things are just too great for man to understand. However, man has no excuse for he is able in part to understand the power and divine nature of God through the things he has created.
Regardless of where man lives on Earth he feels the heat of the sun and the cool breeze of the evening. He becomes gloomy on days with overcast skies and heads for shelter when it rains. He gazes at the beauty of a rainbow and the vastness of the ocean. From the mountaintop he can trace the path of rivers to the ocean and by looking to the sky at night see the Milky Way Galaxy over 30,000 light years away. Then he notices that every living creature whether man or beast has a mate of another gender, this could not be by chance. When man sums all of these things understanding the current and ever changing scientific explanation amounts to nonsense. It's far easier to choose to believe that everything God created work together to sustain life on earth. The heavens and earth are truly the intelligent design and the handy work of God.
"In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end." Hebrews 1:10-12
The creation is only a part of God’s overall plan and a portion of this creation will wear out like a garment and perish. Most of creation will perish while God remains forever the same. However, not everything in God's creation will perish as God has planned a way for man to be saved from his wrath. God is mindful of man and his fallen state and is at the center of God’s focus. He is working with man to restore his former state with God where he will accept man into his kingdom. Job makes this comment.
You examine him every morning and test him every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? Job 7:18-19
God has a greater plan for his creation – a plan that involves the man of God’s future. God’s creation had the perfect growing conditions for man until Satan convinced Adam and Eve to disobey God. Satan left man in a sinful state and a prisoner under his control.
The state of God’s creation had been corrupted with the intolerable condition of sin and placed man into the slavery of sin. Before sin, man had access to the tree of life and would live forever. For that reason God cursed the environment man lived in and drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Under this curse man found his environment was subjected to frustration in hopes that man would search for redemption and God’s grace.
The beginning speaks of the birth of man and his relationship with God at creation. We learn since the birth of man that all of creation has been frustrated by the poor choice of man. Adam had rebelled against the authority of God and now all men suffer the consequences for their disobedience. God is a God of love and a God desiring a relationship with his creation, but sin had separated man from God. God was prepared for this and planned to do something about this estranged relationship.
God knew that man would stray from the path he wanted man to follow and devised a plan before Adam and Eve set foot on the earth. We know this because of the lamb slain before creation came to redeem and reconcile everyone back to God and from the slavery of sin. We also know it is possible that everyone who existed in the past, present, or future has had their name in the book of life, but many of those names have been blotted out.
God required that the choice to receive the gift of life had to originate with man. Once informed, man had the option to choose the gift of life during the remainder of his or her life. The options to accept God’s gift is still open today which involves the born again experience, the spiritual birth of man's spirit.
In the beginning was the word and the word was God. This Word became flesh, the same Jesus Christ also became the light of men. Any hope for life must include Jesus Christ, for the scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ is life the only way to life. When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord you will receive life but you need to consider that there is more to accepting Jesus Christ as Lord than saying the words. Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord is like buying a loaf of bread that you have to eat for it to benefit your life. Life is a gift that God wants you to use wisely from the moment you receive it.
The born again experience is the beginning of the Christian life – the beginning of the lifelong task of following Jesus wherever he goes. The bible tells us that if anyone is in Christ Jesus – he is a new creation. We have been raised with Christ in a sinless state with all of our past sins forgiven and forgotten. Our eyes have been opened to the spirit realm, but Christianity is a growth process from babes in Christ to mature Christians. Christians still have the choice to sin at any time during their life.
Christians have the desire to become Christ like and find that being Christ like is easier said then done. You are a new creation and like the earth when it was created you are formless and empty and in need of God’s creative skills.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Genesis 1:1-2
When you accept Christ as your Savior he will baptize you into the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will remind you of the things Jesus said and lead you into a deeper walk with God. At this time you must allow God to melt and mold you into the image of Christ.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3
Through him all things were made and this includes the temple that God is dwelling in. Today is the beginning of the rest of our lives, but Christians need to answer this question. Are we responding to the spiritual makeover of our lives? Are we responding to God’s desire by allowing Jesus Christ to make us into a temple that God can dwell in by his spirit?
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