In the beginning
The opening text of the Bible is profound. The first ten words are "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." I would like to reflect a moment or two with you about these words.
I am awed by the grandeur of these simple words. No one was there in the beginning except God and this same God, who created all things by merely speaking them into existence, communicated this truth for our benefit.
God graciously pulled back the curtain of time so that people like you and I can understand the answers to some fundamental questions about life.
Most people have an innate desire to understand "How did everything get here?" God tells us how everything got here in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis.
There is a distinct orderliness in how the narrative of scripture describes creation. The phrase "and God said" is found 10 times in Genesis chapter 1. He literally spoke all things into existence. To me, this speaks volumes about who God is and His ability to do exactly what He promises to do in the Bible. He spoke and the creation was completed.
First, God said "Let there be light: and there was light. The words are indicating that there was a point where there was no light and then suddenly there was.
Next, God separated the forms of water into vapor (clouds) and solid (seas) with an open expanse between them. After this, God made the dry land to appear.
Later in the text, plant life was created and it is of interest to note that all forms of plant life reproduced "after their kind" or "after his kind." These phrases are found 10 times in Genesis 1.
The created things that you and I observe and hopefully enjoy each day that demonstrate this reality. We have a beautiful, towering oak tree in our front yard. It produces copious amounts of acorns each fall and since the squirrels bury many of them for food to eat during the winter months, I see new sprouts in our lawn and sometimes in our mulch shooting up.
My neighbor, Chuck, retired from working in forestry and he pointed out that this is how a nursery would plant uniform rows of seedling oak trees for future sale to landscapers. One thing is certain. The acorns produce trees after their kind. An acorn from an oak tree will not produce a fruit tree, or a walnut tree or an evergreen tree. It will always produce another oak tree.
God is so vast, that He spoke all things into existence. He set the sun, moon and stars and all the billions of planetary systems into their places. He established the laws of physics so that the universe would function in a stable, predictable fashion.
Have you ever considered the precision all around us every day in the universe that God created? We know that certain comets, like Halley's, will appear every 75 years. We know that there are 24 hours in a day and that there are different seasons, especially in northeast Ohio, that bring changes in the weather, and we plan things accordingly.
There is also a rhythm of life that God has built into everything. I am retired and the rhythm of my life has changed dramatically since I am not a participant in daily work regimen. I must confess, I enjoy not having to arise at 5:30 AM!
Arguably the wisest man that lived was king Solomon. He wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: "
The king goes on to describe a time for many things in life such as being born, dying, weeping, laughing, planting, harvesting, and so on. God established all of these predictable patterns of life, and this allows you and me to plan to do what needs to be done at the appropriate time.
This is a simple reality of life. God does indeed have a purpose in everything that He does. The first ten words recorded in the Bible have a purpose too. The words are calling us to respond to what God has revealed.
If God is the source of all creation then what does this mean to you or to me? It certainly means that all material things that we are able to enjoy are made from what God provided in His creation. We should therefore, have grateful hearts toward God as creator of it all.
I am asking you to simply think about these truths with me and we will dig deeper into the creation of man in the next post. I thank you for taking time to read this post and I look forward to sharing the Bible with each and everyone of you.
Bob
I am awed by the grandeur of these simple words. No one was there in the beginning except God and this same God, who created all things by merely speaking them into existence, communicated this truth for our benefit.
God graciously pulled back the curtain of time so that people like you and I can understand the answers to some fundamental questions about life.
Most people have an innate desire to understand "How did everything get here?" God tells us how everything got here in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis.
There is a distinct orderliness in how the narrative of scripture describes creation. The phrase "and God said" is found 10 times in Genesis chapter 1. He literally spoke all things into existence. To me, this speaks volumes about who God is and His ability to do exactly what He promises to do in the Bible. He spoke and the creation was completed.
First, God said "Let there be light: and there was light. The words are indicating that there was a point where there was no light and then suddenly there was.
Next, God separated the forms of water into vapor (clouds) and solid (seas) with an open expanse between them. After this, God made the dry land to appear.
Later in the text, plant life was created and it is of interest to note that all forms of plant life reproduced "after their kind" or "after his kind." These phrases are found 10 times in Genesis 1.
The created things that you and I observe and hopefully enjoy each day that demonstrate this reality. We have a beautiful, towering oak tree in our front yard. It produces copious amounts of acorns each fall and since the squirrels bury many of them for food to eat during the winter months, I see new sprouts in our lawn and sometimes in our mulch shooting up.
My neighbor, Chuck, retired from working in forestry and he pointed out that this is how a nursery would plant uniform rows of seedling oak trees for future sale to landscapers. One thing is certain. The acorns produce trees after their kind. An acorn from an oak tree will not produce a fruit tree, or a walnut tree or an evergreen tree. It will always produce another oak tree.
God is so vast, that He spoke all things into existence. He set the sun, moon and stars and all the billions of planetary systems into their places. He established the laws of physics so that the universe would function in a stable, predictable fashion.
Have you ever considered the precision all around us every day in the universe that God created? We know that certain comets, like Halley's, will appear every 75 years. We know that there are 24 hours in a day and that there are different seasons, especially in northeast Ohio, that bring changes in the weather, and we plan things accordingly.
There is also a rhythm of life that God has built into everything. I am retired and the rhythm of my life has changed dramatically since I am not a participant in daily work regimen. I must confess, I enjoy not having to arise at 5:30 AM!
Arguably the wisest man that lived was king Solomon. He wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: "
The king goes on to describe a time for many things in life such as being born, dying, weeping, laughing, planting, harvesting, and so on. God established all of these predictable patterns of life, and this allows you and me to plan to do what needs to be done at the appropriate time.
This is a simple reality of life. God does indeed have a purpose in everything that He does. The first ten words recorded in the Bible have a purpose too. The words are calling us to respond to what God has revealed.
If God is the source of all creation then what does this mean to you or to me? It certainly means that all material things that we are able to enjoy are made from what God provided in His creation. We should therefore, have grateful hearts toward God as creator of it all.
I am asking you to simply think about these truths with me and we will dig deeper into the creation of man in the next post. I thank you for taking time to read this post and I look forward to sharing the Bible with each and everyone of you.
Bob
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