Happy New Year, 2018!

I’m not normally up at midnight, but since I woke up from the fireworks next door (sorry to disappoint you), I thought I’d begin the new year with a new idea.

Now that I’m actually retired and theoretically should have more time available, I think I’ll write a weekly blog entry based on reading the Bible through in a year, chronologically. I’ve been reading through my Bible in this manner for several years now and find it an extremely interesting way to read the Bible. It enables one to clearly see how God’s story unfolds and how all the parts are connected.

Each Monday, I’ll review a few of the sections I’ve read that week. This one will be rather short, as I’ll just introduce the concept with the words the Bible uses to introduce itself:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)”

Such a simple, yet jam-packed statement! The book of Genesis (and the next four books after it) were written by Moses under the direction of God’s Holy Spirit, specifically to teach the young Jewish nation, Israel, about their God and His desire for them to be in a covenant relationship with Him. They had just finished over 400 years of enslavement in Egypt, a very polytheistic culture (worshipping many gods). They had witnessed many miracles and judgments on Egypt as God brought them out of slavery, and now He was fully revealing His plan for them and their future. They had forgotten much of the fundamentals about Him, so He began by reminding them that He created all things “in the beginning”.

Yes, He confirms that there was a beginning. The earth is not eternal. Neither are the heavens. Only God was from the beginning. He existed before anything else. He existed before time itself. We have learned that space, matter, and time are intricately woven together. These are not just speculations which make for fun science-fiction. They are fundamental laws of physics which demonstrate that before there was something, there was nothing. The origin of the universe is described as The Big Bang. I believe that the remarkable way in which the universe was born (13+ billion years ago!) and developed simply confirms what God already told us: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Specifically, though, God wants His people to understand something fundamental to all of Scripture. It’s as if God is saying, “You want to worship the sun? Well, I made that. You think the Earth is special? Well, I made that, too. You think ____________ about ___________? Yep, I created that.”

No matter what your mind can conceive or notice, don’t forget that God thought it first. The creation is not nearly as important/unique/wonderful as the Creator.

For Further Investigation

• From the Big Bang to Humans – Article from Reasons to Believe
• The Fine Tuning of the Universe Points to a Creator – Podcast from Stand to Reason