The Bible is a single story. It doesn’t appear to be one story. The Bible is a long book, written over 1,500 years and in numerous different genres. But if you look closely enough, you’ll find one cohesive story. It is one single story with unity and a compelling narrative. And we can summarize the Bible’s single storyline in just four sentences…
God made the world.
We rebelled against our ruler.
God reentered the world to redeem us.
And God will remake the world.
Series Preview
Over the next seven weeks, I want to try an experiment with you – something I have never done. I want to give the whole big picture of the Bible in one series. And here’s a series preview. We’ll begin in the beginning with the first several chapters in Genesis. Here we will see how it all began and how it all went wrong. Then we will move to the middle of the Bible and see what Jesus did to make everything right. What God did in Christ to correct the mess of this world. And then… we’ll finish at the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, and see how it’s all going to come together. Throughout the seven weeks together, it will be my aim to unpack those four sentences carefully.
God made the world.
We rebelled against our ruler.
God reentered the world to redeem us.
And God will remake the world.
Let’s go together.
Today, I want us to look at what is happening before anything happens. I want to invite you to climb into a time machine and travel back through history to when there was nothing – nothing but God and God alone. Before any one of 118 elements on the periodic table were created. Before even an atom or molecule came into existence. Look back with me through the annals of time to what God was doing when He was alone. Let’s look not so much for curiosity’s sake or even to fill our minds with high and lofty thoughts that lend themselves to philosophical matters. Let’s look in order that our hearts would be inflamed with a love for God. Today, I want to move you – to move you to worship God.
Today’s Scripture Passage
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2)
“5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. … 21 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, maybe with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:5, 20-26)
1. In the Beginning there was God
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
Only seven words in the original language but 7 words that speak with force and power. In the beginning, God created everything. But I don’t want to focus so much on what God did – the act of creation. Instead, I want you to focus on who God is in the 1st half of verse one: “In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1a). Only four words: “In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1a). It’s no accident that Moses talks about God Himself in the very first verse of the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible. In fact, God’s name is mentioned some 35 times in the first chapter alone. And it is here we learn at least two important truths about God.
1.1 Self-Existent
God was already there. God has no beginning. God was never created and He never came into being. He always was. The Bible is unique for this reason: it doesn’t attempt to tell you how God got His start. There are all kinds of accounts in other religions as well as in philosophy on the origins of God. For example, you’ll read in other ancient religious works of the family tree of gods. Or, you’ll read in other ancient religious works of the friction that arose among the various gods from their clashes of will and their mighty wars. You’ll even see how the various gods governed specific areas of the universe. As if the gods had zip codes they were assigned to. But God has no family tree. God will never take you to His family reunion and introduce you to His father or His mother. God has no father and He has no mother for God has no beginning. God has no beginning and He has no end: “…I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning…” (Isaiah 46:9b-10a) And He has no rivals. Whenever and wherever the beginning was, God was already there. God is Self-Existent.
1.2 Self-Sufficient
Again, look at God before anything else exists: “In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1a).
And we see, God doesn’t need anything or anyone else: “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24-25)
15-year-old Troy Driscoll and his best friend, 17-year-old Josh Long, were lost at sea for 7 days and 6 nights off the coast of Charleston, SC. No food, no water, and just the company of each other - all of this made them wish they were dead. Troy kept asking his friend what he would do with his body if he died. Worried about sharks and the cold, crashing waves in the darkness of night, each worried they would be left alone at sea if their friend died first. When they were finally rescued in the summer of 2005, they were starved, sunburned, and severely dehydrated.
We are so fragile – we human beings. If your supply of oxygen is cut off, then you die. If the sun is blocked off for an extended period of time and we lack its heat, then we die. Our lives are dependent on so many intricate details in life going “just right.” But not God. God goes on just fine if everything in the world goes terribly wrong. He doesn’t need anything in His creation for anything. God does not need us. We could say much more, but we must say this: In the Beginning there is God.
2. In the Beginning there was Love
In verse one you have God: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
And in verse two you have the Spirit of God: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) When the Bible says “the Spirit of God was hovering,” elsewhere the word “hovering” describes an eagle fluttering over its young.
What is implicit in Genesis becomes explicit in John’s Gospel. What is hidden in Genesis is revealed in John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2) The God who was at work creating everything was the Triune God. Within the one Godhead is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? It means at least two very practical things…
2.1 The Priority of Relationships
Had God been there from the beginning and He was alone, there would be nothing or no one for Him to love. But God was not alone. Instead, we see that everything that was created was created by the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Again, what was hidden in Genesis is clearly revealed in John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2) The Bible tells us at least three facts about God.
God is Three Persons
And each person is fully God
There is One God
Scripture is clear that there is one and only one God. The three different persons of the Trinity are one not only in purpose and agreement in what they think, but they are one in essence. They are one in their essential nature: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) And because God is Three Persons, each member of the Godhead experienced love before any human being was created. “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:5)
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:20-23)
If God were alone, then God could not have loved. Why? Because love only happens between people. But God was not alone, God was Three and yet One. God loved with a perfect love before any one human was around.
So love was before creation itself. So love is priority and relationships are a priority. If there is no God, then the reason you and I are here is through violence and power … the strong eating the weak. But power isn’t the ultimate reality. Love is the ultimate reality for love was around before anything else.
Tom and Susan were married 29 years ago this June. Tom travels about 60% of the time for his job in the high-tech industry and Susan has returned to work as a nurse after their 4th child entered high school. When their third child entered college, Tom sought a promotion that was accompanied by a healthy raise. You didn’t have to be particularly close to either parent to hear them complain about the costs of college: “College costs so much and we want to give our kids a debt-free start to life.” They meet themselves coming and going with little space in life for life. Don’t place your career first or your achievements first in your life. Instead, place relationships ahead of all this. By examining God before anything else existed, we see the primacy of relationships. When we look back before creation, not only do we learn the priority of relationships but we learn something else…
2.2 The Nature of Relationships
Secondly, it’s not just talking about the primacy of relationships; this is teaching us about the nature of those relationships. When Jesus Christ says the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were glorifying each other: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24) The word glorified doesn’t just mean to love. To glorify essentially means to honor, or to bow before. Here, before anyone or anything else exists, is the Godhead, finding their joy and happiness in one another. Look all you want but you’ll find no selfishness here. Look under every crack and crevice, but you’ll find no bitterness or rancor here. The fact that God is three Persons yet one God means that there was no loneliness or lack of personal fellowship on God’s part before creation. The three persons of the Trinity have been in perfect love for all eternity. When we travel back in time to when there was nothing but God and God alone, we see not only the priority of relationships but the very nature of relationships.
Your relationships will be strong when you place the needs of others before yourself. Hell is a selfish place. Homes are hell when children and parents are selfish. Work is hell when the boss places his own compensation and needs ahead of everyone else. But heaven is a world of love where the needs of others come before ourselves.
In the Beginning, there is God
In the Beginning, there was Love
… but lastly…
3. In the End there is Worship
Most people, when asked, “Why did God create people?” would answer something to the effect, “God created people in order for love.” Not so. Again, God experienced perfect love before anyone or anything existed. God did not create us because he was lonely. Instead, we find our purpose on life in worship: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:5)
Jesus asks the Father for the glory He possessed prior to coming to earth at Bethlehem. As we read Jesus’ prayer in John 17, we see Jesus near the end of His ministry. In a matter of hours, He’ll be crucified. Jesus sees His impending death and is looking past the crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus sees the whole completed work of His earthly life. Jesus sees past these events to His time when He will ascend back to His Father in heaven (Acts 1). When He returns back to God the Father, Jesus asks to have His glory back as He used to have it before He became a human at Bethlehem.
Believers, worship is the eternal thing you do. Nonbelievers, worship is the thing that separates you from God. There is nothing we so often neglect as worship. There is nothing we do so poorly as worship. If you chose the meekest, kindest, and most loving person on the face of the earth to run the world, and gave Him so little thanks and praise, it would be a matter of weeks before he would lose patience with us. If you chose the meekest, kindest, and most loving of people to endure the outrages which are committed against the God of heaven, it wouldn’t be long before he would lose his patience with all of us. If we are going to understand the single story of the Bible, then we’ll need to come to grips with the power of worship.
Three Facts on Worship
When you feel empty and life is mechanical, remember these three eternal facts.
3.1 You Were Created to Worship
“everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:7)
3.2 Everything God Does is for Worship
“Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!” (Psalm 33:8)
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24)
3.3 In the End All There
The new city of Jerusalem is architecturally designed for worship: “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:22-23) Indeed, right now, everything you do is for one reason and one reason alone: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
We can summarize the Bible’s single story line in just four sentences…
God made the world.
We rebelled against our ruler.
God reentered the world to redeem us.
And God will remake the world.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, before the beginning … It’s amazing. As profound and remote and high and lofty and deep and profound as such matters are, they are profoundly practical. They tell us something about our priorities, how we spend our time. They convict us of our own selfishness in our relationships right now. We thank you, Lord, that doctrine is always practical. We thank you that your truth is always brought home to us in a gracious way because it always comes through the cross.
Your truth lifts us up and comforts us and renews us. We thank you for that. We pray you’d be with us as we travel through the whole story of the Bible, and we ask that you would help us to see self exists to worship you. Help us to understand that in the context of the gospel of Jesus. It’s in his name we pray, amen.
