“One-A-Week Challenge” Week 32
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:1 NIV
The simplest, yet most profound statement in all the Bible is this week’s verse. This verse is not about the beginning of God but the foundational statement about creation. God is without beginning or end. He alone is eternal. Moses prayed, ͞Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.͟ (Psalm 90:2 NIV)
The fact that God created everything is certain even for those without belief. It might be good to think of this verse in this way, ͞When the beginning began to begin, God was.͟ The Bible repeatedly declares that God is behind (and in front of) everything! Everything we know had a beginning. The universe, the heavens and the earth, is not eternal. The formation of all things did not just happen by chance. ͞There is a Creator – a Supreme Person, a Supreme Intelligence and Force –who created the universe, and the Creator has given the universe purpose and meaning.͟
Genesis 1:1 is the bedrock of a Christian’s worldview. ͞Whether conscious or subconscious, every person has some type of worldview. A personal worldview is a combination of all you believe to be true, and what you believe becomes the driving force behind every emotion, decision and action. Therefore, it affects your response to every area of life: from philosophy to science, theology and anthropology to economics, law, politics, art and social order everything.͟
Most people have a non biblical worldview and the world itself constantly unleashes it’s demonic arsenal of attacks on a biblical worldview through television, movies, music, media, and academia. The enemy is never silent and is always seductive. All non biblical worldviews appeal to the flesh of humanity. It is very easy for Christians to incorporate the ideas of the flesh into our own personal lives.
John Phillips wrote, ͞The first chapter of Genesis is one of the most God-centered chapters in the Bible. God is mentioned by name thirty-two times in thirty-one verses. Add to that the use of personal pronouns, and He is mentioned no less than forty-three times. Thus, on the very first page of Scripture the Holy Spirit brings us into the presence of God and keeps us there. No wonder Satan hates that chapter! No wonder he has brought up his heavy artillery to discredit it in the minds of men.͟
It was God who created it all. Rest and rejoice in this wonderful proclamation!