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:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John 1:1-3
John uses the Greek word logos to describe Jesus "in the beginning," note that this is not the same wording as that used in Genesis 1:1. The wording John uses speaks of a time before creation and time began. So, Jesus existed before time began. Logos means word, but specifically it means the spoken word or a statement. Jesus is God's spoken word, according to John. This is an interesting play on words…Jesus is the Word, and He came to bring the Word.
Some of you may be wondering how I associated the word “Word” or Logos to Jesus. To make this leap we need to consider some facts we learn from John's Gospel and elsewhere in Scripture:
First, we know from scripture that God the Father is Spirit (John 4:24), meaning He doesn't exist in physical form. So, there is no physical substance to God the Father. We, who are the creations cannot experience the Father as He truly is, since we are bound to a physical dimension, yet He is not physical.
Secondly, we know that God's Spirit is likewise invisible (John 3:6-8). He can only be known by observing His work in creation…meaning that we see the work that was done at the beginning…the work done at the beginning is here today, in the flowers, trees, animals, and yes you and me.
On the other hand, Jesus is the member of the Godhead responsible for all physical matter. As John said, all things were made by and through Jesus. Paul says the same thing in Col 1:15-17.
Moreover, Paul teaches in Colossians that Jesus is the "image of the invisible God." Therefore, He is the only Person in the Godhead Who has entered and become a part of the physical creation. Jesus was seen in a physical sense because He is the One Who entered creation and become a part of it…this is where God took on a body and walked the earth living as we live, and His name was Jesus.
Therefore, Jesus is the One within the Trinity who is associated with Creation, both as its source and as an ambassador of the Godhead to that creation. You feel me?
Next, consider how creation itself was established in Genesis 1. Genesis 1 teaches that the world was created by the spoken word of God (note the repeating phrase in Genesis 1, "Then God said..."). So, when God the Father determined to create the universe and everything in it, He "spoke" it into existence. But as John said in verse 3, Jesus was the One who made all things; therefore, we can say that Jesus was God's logos, or spoken Word.
Being the spoken Word, Jesus came to be the beginning of your salvation. Sin came into this world and had its beginnings, through it chaos and degradation of the human body and soul began. God, being the beginnings of all also had a solution for the sin problem at the beginning, and that is Christ Jesus. Jesus would be the beginning of healing for those who choose to accept it, the gift of salvation.
We can begin to understand this partnership (at least to some degree) by drawing an analogy to how our own thoughts and words reach into the physical world. When we desire to command something to happen in the world around us, we must first conceive the idea in our minds. No one can see our thoughts. They are invisible, yet they certainly exist. Without our thoughts, we could purpose to do nothing at all.
For some of us here now may be having a beginning, a beginning of a new understanding of God.
If our thoughts are to become visible in some way, they must move from the invisible realm of our mind and into the physical world. The progression from invisible to visible requires that we transfer our invisible thoughts into a spoken command. The brain communicates our thoughts to our mouth where it becomes logos: spoken words.
Once the spoken word leaves our mouth, it enters the physical world and yields its intended effect. This simple analogy helps explain how God the Father worked with God the Son (i.e., the Word) to establish Creation.
This is John's meaning when he says that Jesus is the Word. He meant that Jesus is the physical manifestation of God the Father, just as a spoken word is the physical manifestation of our inner thoughts. Until Jesus acted and created the universe, there was no physical reality to God's presence. But when God "spoke" (i.e., when Jesus acted), the Creation came into existence. Here is a Scripture from the Book of Hebrews that pretty much sums up what I was saying:
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself [purged [our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Hebrews 1:1-4
So, there you have it, coverage for the leap from the Word to Jesus.
In the beginning God created… in looking at the text as written it does not convey the fact that God created from nothing! In my translation, the word “created” is used throughout the Bible. In every single instance it is always associated with God, with the newness and perfection of that which He created.
The word “created” in Hebrew speaks of something being made from nothing, something that came out of nowhere. All the other authors of the Bible knew that’s what it meant, and that is why it is only used with what God has done. They all knew He created the heavens and earth out of nothing. The point? The Big Bang theory misses a crucial piece. It says the universe exploded from a speck of matter / energy. But where did that 1st speck come from? Genesis says God made it! Whatever was made, God made it. Then again, that is why the big bang is called a theory…something yet to be proven. But God says read the first book of the bible and theory solved.
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Psalm 19:1
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:20-21
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, so now we get to what God created…the heavens and the earth. This is a reference to the entire universe, with the earth thrown in there because it will be the focus of His creative activity. The creation of the heavens speaks of the atmosphere that surrounds the earth, outer space where the stars reside, and even the heaven that you and I will reside in when our time on this planet is over.
Now I used this message to speak about beginnings, the beginnings in your life, the beginning of all creation. And with this message I hope that you will have a beginning in your knowledge and understanding of God. How He has a process to help and heal you from the sin problem, and that is through acceptance in Lord Jesus, who came into creation as the only One who could die for your sins. Hopefully I have enlightened you and given you a moment to pause for thought. If so, then this day is a beginning for you.
