The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 1:1,
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Our bibles begin with a very simple and profound statement: God created the heavens and the earth. As I say, simple, and straightforward. "In the beginning" is a phrase which carries with it the concept of time. At the beginning of time God created all there is. The chapter moves through units of time as it reveals to us the progression of God's creative activities, "There was evening, and there was morning-the first day", and so on until we read that by the seventh day God had finished his creative works. Six twenty-four-hour days of the creative acts of God. He rested on the seventh.
How do we know this is a truthful account? We know it is because God is the One who has told us. Peter says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21. God is the only one who could possibly tell us how the creation of all things took place, and he has done so.
However, the world, in its rejection of its Creator, has challenged this truthful report. All kinds of ideas have been floated as to how to account for our existence. The problem for the world is that it exists and can't account for that fact and reject God at the same time. Consequently, it offers up all kinds of ideas that include eons of time marking how long it takes to get something from nothing. The challenge for them is they exist and cannot account for that fact if God doesn't exist. If they can successfully challenge the book of Genesis, then nothing else in the Bible matters. Genesis lays the foundation for everything else we read in its pages.
At the heart of it all is the echo of Satan convincing Eve to rebel against God, "Did God really say..." (Genesis 3:1).
The world crafts its best contradictions to God and what baffles me is that some of the best theologically educated people, who supposedly talk for the church, accept the premises the world offers up and attempt to synthesize what the world says with what we are told in Genesis.
I am entirely convinced we have to look no further than 1 Corinthians 16:13, "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." It takes more than a seminary degree to be firm, courageous and strong. You have to go elsewhere to grow a spine.
Our bibles begin with a very simple and profound statement: God created the heavens and the earth. As I say, simple, and straightforward. "In the beginning" is a phrase which carries with it the concept of time. At the beginning of time God created all there is. The chapter moves through units of time as it reveals to us the progression of God's creative activities, "There was evening, and there was morning-the first day", and so on until we read that by the seventh day God had finished his creative works. Six twenty-four-hour days of the creative acts of God. He rested on the seventh.
How do we know this is a truthful account? We know it is because God is the One who has told us. Peter says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:20-21. God is the only one who could possibly tell us how the creation of all things took place, and he has done so.
However, the world, in its rejection of its Creator, has challenged this truthful report. All kinds of ideas have been floated as to how to account for our existence. The problem for the world is that it exists and can't account for that fact and reject God at the same time. Consequently, it offers up all kinds of ideas that include eons of time marking how long it takes to get something from nothing. The challenge for them is they exist and cannot account for that fact if God doesn't exist. If they can successfully challenge the book of Genesis, then nothing else in the Bible matters. Genesis lays the foundation for everything else we read in its pages.
At the heart of it all is the echo of Satan convincing Eve to rebel against God, "Did God really say..." (Genesis 3:1).
The world crafts its best contradictions to God and what baffles me is that some of the best theologically educated people, who supposedly talk for the church, accept the premises the world offers up and attempt to synthesize what the world says with what we are told in Genesis.
I am entirely convinced we have to look no further than 1 Corinthians 16:13, "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." It takes more than a seminary degree to be firm, courageous and strong. You have to go elsewhere to grow a spine.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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