Tuesday,
March 2, 2021
In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The
earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the
surface of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s
command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Hebrews 11:3
I can’t
remember when I first heard it, but the old sermon illustration about the
creation and God’s powerful hand has stuck in my mind for decades. It is about an old-time country preacher
attempting to tell his flock about what God did to bring about everything we
can see. Having stood with Bible opened
to the first chapter of Genesis he read the first two verses of Scripture, and
completed his sermon in three short sentences:
In da’ beginnin’ they weren’t
nuthin’.
An’ God, He reached out his’n hand,
an’ cotched him a bit o’ da’ nuthin.
An’ wit da’ bit o’ nuthin’ God made somethin’…ever’thin’!
I fail
to see how you can improve on that kind of preaching.
There
are certain Scripture verses that stand out in my mind as formative for sound
Christian doctrine of how, and why God created the universe. These not only answer the darkness of our
beginnings, but the purpose for why we exist.
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Colossians 1:15-17
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God….So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John 1:1, 14
The
debate on how the universe started, and how it came to be the kind of place it
is, extends back generations…all of them. The debate began in the Garden of Eden when
the serpent cast doubt in Eve’s mind about whether God really
said to leave the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil alone. That question got to Eve. She tried to defend God and said that the
Lord had said to not even touch it. This
was going beyond what God had told them; God told them that in the day they ate
of that tree’s fruit they would die.
With one simple question Satan muddied the waters of God’s clear
teaching for humans on living a life of faith in God’s way. And we have been stirring that mudhole ever
since![1]
For
Adam and Eve, and for every descendant of theirs, the whole issue has been one
of faith. We humans have a hard time
taking things on faith, believing what we have not seen. Yet, with a God whom no living person has
ever seen, this is the chief requirement – that we take God’s word for our
marching orders. And, despite how small
and insignificant each of us might appear, compared to, let’s say, the
universe, taking God’s existence, sovereignty, and plans for us on faith is, to
put it softly, putting every egg we have in this faith basket.
And
therefore we call it a leap of faith. Believing in God is a choice which He has
given us as one of those eggs in our basket.
You either believe-in, trust-in, and rely-on God…or you don’t. The choice is entirely up to us.
For You Today
If you’ve never taken that “faith-leap” what you’ve
been sensing as the missing piece in your life’s puzzle is the assurance that
there is God, and He’s good, and He loves you.
That’s what’s on the other side of that nervous step of letting-go,
and letting-God. Today can
be that one pivotal moment in your life.
Trust in God.
Choose to place your faith in God’s only Son who died in your
place. He created you, and everything
you can see, and everything beyond your sight.
Trust that he knows your every need.
You’ll find He’s waiting for you with open arms.
[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
[1] Read this account in Genesis 3:1-13
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