In the Beginning

I’m starting a Bible study on the book of Genesis, so I’m going to post some thoughts as I make my way through the book.

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

First, there was a beginning to everything.  Scientists are still debating this, although it appears that most are leaning toward there being a beginning.  Regardless, the One who was there provides a detailed record of what happened.  There was a beginning.

Second, the Bible never tries to prove the existence of God.  He is simply assumed to be there.  Those who deny His existence are classified as fools.  (Psalm 14:1)  When we look around at the immense complexity in the universe, one understands why.  This couldn’t have just happened by random chance.  The human genome has about 3 billion base pairs.  Interestingly, the amoeba polychaos dubium, a single-celled creature, has roughly 670 billion base pairs!  That’s more than 200 times larger than the human genome.  Our universe is filled with complexity which speaks of an all-powerful God.

Third, God is transcendent to His creation.  “In the beginning God” communicates the fact that God was there before the beginning.  He exists, by definition, separate from the beginning.  Therefore, He is not bound by time, physical dimensions, or anything else He created.

Fourth, God created the universe out of nothing.  He needed no preexisting materials.  One of the difficulties in modern physics is accounting for how things came into being.  The answer is that God did it.  Since God is God, this is not a problem for Him.

Fifth, “the heaven” refers to all that is outside of the Earth and is a summary statement to what is revealed about this in later verses.  The “earth” is where we live–where God created life, including that of mankind.  It is where sin entered and mankind fell.  (Genesis 3)  It is where a Savior came to rescue mankind from sin.  (Matthew 1:21)  It is where Israel will have land as an “everlasting possession”.  (Genesis 17:8; 48:4)  It is what will be remade with the heavens by God to be “new” again.  (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:10-13)

God created.  He created everything.  He did so “in the beginning” and will remake it sometime in the future for all of eternity.