Genesis 1: In the beginning God

Preliminary Notes: In order to prepare for this first post, I suggest that you read through Genesis chapter 1. It is the premier chapter of the Bible and, in my opinion, nothing else in the Bible makes the remotest sense if you have not read this chapter and thought through it, deeply. Second, I want to be clear that while my writing is informed by 30+ years of reading, studying, teaching, and preaching the Bible (supplemented with a four year degree from an accredited Bible college) I am not writing a scholarly treatise or commentary. I am simply writing as a lay-person who opens up the book and reads and waits for the Holy Spirit to inform me. So while I think there is one objective to the Scripture, namely Jesus' revelation, I think this also means that on different days the Spirit may reveal different things and thus the takeaway on that day may be different than the day before. Anyhow, to the work...

I imagine myself opening this giant book for the first time, this Bible. Maybe this is a library containing many books; maybe it is a single book where each 'book' represents a chapter. I kind of like that way of looking at things.

Here I am, then, reading a single book or a library and when I open it to the first page I see this: "In the beginning God..." That's there--in English. I can see it. This book tells me that all that is has not always been: in the beginning. I don't know when the beginning was. Frankly, I don't care. We can speculate all we want and try to science up an explanation, but it, this, we, I have not always been. There was a point when it started. Someone started it. Someone who has been there all along created a point when time began, created space for all this to exist and be. History is reckoned then according to this point. 

I don't know what means, to be honest. It makes no difference if it was 10,000 years ago or 10,000,000 years ago all I know is that this book tells me there was a beginning. I wonder if there will be an end? Did something get started that has no end? Did something get started that has an end? What does it mean that there was a starting point? What was going on before this starting point? Why did it get started in the first place? It's all rather disturbing which is why, I think, four words into our English Bible we first encounter the word God. This is our beginning, but it is not God's. 

"In the beginning God..." 

This is the first thing I see, I read, when I open up this big book, this big library. I see there was a beginning, that something happened in the beginning, and that God started all this. These four words carry a lot of weight--in fact, I think they carry the weight of the rest of the book(s)--49 more chapters in Genesis and 65 more books in total. As I said, everything is riding on these four words. That's a lot to carry. 

In my next post, I'll explore the main character a little more in depth. For now, think about these four words ("In the beginning God...") and what they might mean practically for your life. 

• What does it mean that there was a beginning? 
• How does knowing there's a beginning affect your life?  
• How does knowing there's a God before the beginning change your perspective on living your life each day? The choices you make? 

I suppose there are other things to think about, but take your time. I'm in no hurry. 

jerry