In The Beginning

 Let's go back in time. Really back. To the very beginning. All the way back to Genesis 1:1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. We cannot go further back than that. In the beginning. The word beginning means the first time and the origin. 

In the beginning God. Some will question where did God from. What a foolish question. If He is God, and I believe that to be true, there was no beginning with God. God was just there. Self-existent. Meaning nobody need to create God. He was present. Before anything existed, God existed. Eternal in nature. He has always existed. Before there was anything but Him, He masterminded it all. The solar system, galaxies, planets, and the master plan for planet earth. Like an artist who sees his creative art in the mind before it ever makes it to the canvas or chiseled in the stone, God saw it all. When I say it all I do mean everything from the minute to the massive. All of those were nothing but ideas in the mind of God at one time. Then God went to work. 

God created. He made. He produced planets and plants. He fashioned flowers and flamingos. He chose caverns, canyons, and coastlines. He established the boundaries of water, the bottoms of ocean depths, the beautiful blue bonnets, as well as the blue whales gracefully swimming in the deep. He stretched the desert sands, littered the forests with deer, and dotted the oceans with dolphins playfully jumping in and out of the water, and just for fun blessed us with dogs of every shape and kind. Towering trees of different varieties sway in the breezes lifting up branches in unheard chorus of hallelujahs. 

I read recently that Michelangelo spent 18 years to create his famous 18 feet high statue of David. It is by all accounts a masterpiece. He reported that David was always inside. It was his job to let him out. 18 long years he stayed at the task to make such a magnificent statue for people to behold. 

Don't be mistaken. God did not have to do that. He exerted no effort in creating cosmos from chaos. He simply thought it and then spoke it into existence. Who can speak anything into existence. Even kings and bosses cannot do that. They can bark out orders of what they wish to be done and get people on task to make it happen. They cannot just speak the word to create. God can. He simply spoke and created. THERE IS MORE POWER IN THE SPOKEN WORD OF GOD THAN ANY OTHER FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE. Let that truth sink in for a moment. 

The creative genius of God is mind boggling. Just think about color. God invented colors. When is the last time you considered that truth and thanked Him. As I sit and write this, I am wearing a black tee shirt and red shorts. Lying next to me are various translations of the Bible in a stack, some black, brown, and burgundy colors for the covers. Opposite those is my white notepad where I jot down notes. Behind the computer are stacks of books covered with white, yellow, beige, brown, black, and gold jackets. There is an old blue journal covered from page to page with blue ink. All of those colors are a gift from God for us to enjoy. He could just as easily created a world of black and white. As a child, I saw black and white movies and thought there was no color back in old days. I never liked the black and white movies because they didn't really reflect the world I related to. Color is a blessing most of us take for granted. 

Ever had to go into a hardware store to choose a paint color for the walls of a room. The color choices are overwhelming. So many different shades. The creative choices of colors can be customized. In the beginning God gave those colors. What a blessing to live in a world of color. 

Let's move onto to geography. Again, the creative genius of God is displayed in the different areas of planet earth. Consider the majestic mountains. Contemplate the vastness of the oceans. Ruminate about the rivers, rainforests, and giant redwoods. Ponder the prairies, the powdery snow regions, the pure mountain streams, and the wide species of plants. Try to articulate the intricacies of Antartica as well as Alaska. From the Nile to the Mississippi, Oregon to Ontario, Egypt to Europe, North America to Africa, our planet is vastly different. Take a moment and take in the scenery where you live. From the desert plains of west Texas to the swamps of Louisiana, and the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans just the geography of the United States is a wonderland to be explored. God crated all of it. A whole planet of wonders. All just with a spoken word. 

Consider animals. God chose different species with unique features like the giraffe, elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, antelope, alligator, aardvark, bee, bison, cardinal, cobra, cow, eagle, horse, hummingbird, lizard, lion, mountain lion, mosquito, tiger, python, seal, and zebra. All different, unique, and masterminded by God. 

I do not have time to consider the variety of species of plants and animals. Then there are people. Each with a unique genetic code. Each with customized DNA. The human body is so complex I cannot even begin to fathom all the intricacies. 

There is so much truth in Genesis 1:1. I do not have the mental capacity, vocabulary, or the stamina to fully exhaust that one verse. Consider the other 31, 101 verses of the Bible to be explored and unpacked. So much truth. So little time to study, meditate, teach, preach, and write about them. Alas, I'm relegated today to stop with in the beginning. I am thankful for the reminder of how great God is and how little I am. I am just one of about 8 billion other people on the planet. How amazing that He considers me and knows my name. It is my honor to seek Him and proclaim Him as long as I am able. Starting from in the beginning.