Know God In The Beginning

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day” (Genesis 1:1-5, NIV).

If it is your first time in a group of people, what character or good quality of yours that you would like first to project or promote? Or, what is your particular character that you would like others to notice at once?

Is it your physical appearance?

Just your simplicity?

Now, how did God presented Himself in the very beginning?

So, this time, let us try what we could also ….. KNOW GOD IN THE BEGINNING… as we deal with our text (Genesis 1:1-5).

Again, what do you think God would like us to know about Him in the very beginning?

The book of Genesis is not an ordinary historical narrative. Modern histories focus only on the activities of the people, but the book includes within its scope the activities of God.

Genesis, as included in the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch, was unanimously believed both by Christians and Jews that it was compiled and written by Moses. He wrote it in the Wilderness of Sinai about 15th century BC.

“…Moses wrote and compiled Genesis to encourage the early Israelites while they were preparing to enter the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. The content of Genesis would have been especially significant to them…”

And I would say that in the initial verses of the Book, Moses reminded them just Who is this God, who will bring them to their destination.

We, in our time, who received the promise that we will be in His Kingdom, ought to really know and remember always the same God, who brought triumphantly the Israelites in the promised land.

So, what could we learn about God in the opening words of the Scripture?

First, He is the Eternal Creator (verses 1-2).

We read in verses 1-2, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Notice the first few words, “In the beginning God…” Never the author hinted the he would attempt to prove the existence of God. Rather, he declared without any hesitation that there is God.

And if we will make a word study of the word “beginning,” we’ll realize that in the transliteration of the Hebrew “reshith” – it is not limited in the meaning of “beginning,” but could also be translated, “chief,” “choice part,” “absolute chief thing,” etc. Thus, instead of questioning the existence of God, we need to realize that He is the main thing.

But considering the common understanding of the word beginning in the text, the passage does not declare that is He just the Creator. He is the Eternal Creator. “Eternal” does not just mean, “everlasting,” but also “having no beginning and no end.”

“In the beginning God…” the author indicated “that at the beginning of recorded time, God was already in existence. From duration stretching backward without limit to duration stretching forward without limit, from eternal ages to eternal ages, God was and is forever.”

Let’s continue to read the passage, “…God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

It is also noteworthy that this this Eternal Creator was introduced as an Active God. He was not presented as an Eternal God who is just sitting, resting, lying down, or doing nothing. He is at work. In fact, He creates, He is hovering, He is really on the move.

The tendency of human beings is to brush aside this eternal creative power of God. We may take it lightly, but God does not. What do we read in Romans 1:18?

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…”

What is this suppression? Let’s proceed to verses 19-21: “… since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”