In the beginning, that is, before anything material existed. Before there was an earth, or a Milky Way galaxy, or space, or a universe. Before there were incremental measurements of time that came and went and made history. Before there was a year, a month, a day, an hour, a minute, or a second. In the beginning, that is, before anything else existed, there was only God!
The Triune, Self-existing, Self-sufficient, Almighty God, and He alone, existed in the realm of “in the beginning.” And what a glorious existence it was! Perfect harmony, unity, love, and relationship shared between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Then something amazing and awesome occurred! God, in his perfect Triune existence, decided to share the overflowing joy and love that eternally flows between The Three, and by grace His abounding glory was made visible and perceivable by other beings!
Creation happened, and its beginning ended the period of eternity known as “the beginning.” No long period of developmental stages. No cooperation between Creator and creation. No accidental chance occurrence. No big, loud noise of atomic eruption. Just a word. That’s all it took. He just said, “Let there be light,” and suddenly and wonderfully the first something came into being out of nothing! And with that, “in the beginning” came to an end.
So why did God create when He already existed in the most perfect, fulfilling relationship? He did so as an extension of His glory in order to share His glory. In other words, He did so by His grace and for His glory! And it all began, “In the beginning.”
Thank-you Bro. Will for the challenge and encouragement to read the Word together! I'm excited! Here's the tidbit that I picked up from Gen. 3. In v. 5 the serpent promises that Adam's and Eve's eyes will be opened, that they will be like God. In verse 7 their eyes are opened, but what did they gain? Only the awareness that they are naked. That's it. So much for Satan's promises. Good warning about the emptiness of what can sound so good, so appealing to my pride. Second thought: Eve was not very careful to remember the command that God had given them word for word, was she? She added a bit to it, and maybe didn't think it was that important to get God's words exactly correct? A second warning. So much here in these first 4 chapters!
ReplyDeleteChapter three is such a powerful chapter with so many lessons! You mentioned Eve adding some to God's commands, I thought this may be the first appearance of "legalism!" Enjoy your reading!
ReplyDelete