Beginnings

Beginnings…we all have had them: your first job was the beginning of your work history and career, your first boyfriend or girlfriend was the beginning of your romantic relationship, and all the other beginnings that have occurred in your lifetime.

Some of your beginnings are forced by you and the others were ordered by God. The ones that are forced by us usually failed miserably. While the ones ordered by God produced fruit. For example, I tried to start a church a couple years ago…tried to do in the city of Irvine and struggled for a while to keep it going. Then I realized that I was trying to produce fruit that God did not want to grow. So, I stopped pushing and realized that if this beginning for this church is going to happen, God was going to be the one to start it. I then let go of the idea of me pastoring a church and moved my attention to other things. I continued to pray for a church to shepherd, but I did not make any moves to start one. [Ad lib rest]

In short, let God be the author of all your beginnings so that you can be joyous in the fruits that come from those beginnings.

I gave you my story of a beginning authored by God, but now let me tell you another beginning authored by God.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

Genesis 1:1-2

In our Scripture we find the beginnings of our known universe. In these two verses we have a short narrative of what was created and by whom. “In the beginning” as used in our scripture speaks of a beginning point of time, a beginning of created things. These verses are some of the most important in Scripture. Why? They are the foundation of all that follows. And it’s a strong foundation. It is such a strong foundation that many try to tear it down, but during their tear-down they find out the truth…that God exists, and that creation did not happen when some speck of matter big banged.

Atheists would like to say that there is no God, and therefore there is no god of creation…but they are wrong, and the science that they hold so dear is what is proving them wrong.

Legendary British philosopher Antony Flew gave up atheism at the age of eighty-one. A noted critic of God’s existence for several decades, Flew wrote books such as The Presumption of Atheism. When asked in 2004 what arguments for God’s existence he found most persuasive, Flew answered: “The most impressive arguments for God’s existence are those that are supported by recent scientific discoveries. . . . I think the argument to Intelligent Design is enormously stronger than when I first met it.

Albert Einstein, scientist, and discoverer of the theory of relativity was an agnostic and thought the idea of a personal god was childish, later in life had this to said: “The more I study science, the more I believe in God.”

Here is something else we need to come to terms with: before time, God already was. There has never been a time when God wasn’t. So, for those who think God is part of His creation? They’re wrong. He was already here before any matter existed. Mormons believe that God is an exalted man…someone who excelled so well that he was able to unconfine himself from this earthly plain and ascend into a heaven that not yet existed. They also believe that they will one day become a god. Scientologist, those of the church of scientology really do not have a concept of God, but believe in something called the eighth dynamic, a point where one reaches to truly understand the concept of a supreme being, but that’s a lot and classes and lot of money before you obtain that level.

What I am getting at here is that man wants to put himself at the beginning of all things, but God clearly said that He was at the beginning. Before anything or anyone else.

So, for those who think matter existed at the beginning? They’re also wrong. God has always been. Also understand this, in the original Hebrew writing the word God in Hebrew is Elohim. Know this, that Elohim is the plural of God, meaning that God was not alone in the beginning. As Christian believers we know that God is a triune God, meaning God in three persons: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but yet one God. So, in the beginning all three were active in the creation process. John 1:1-3 tells us this: