‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ Genesis 1:1 niv
On reflection of last weeks blog I was thinking about stories and how from a young age we love a good story. I remember as a child I would love to read to my younger sisters and the book I used to choose to read was Billy Goats Gruff. As with most fairy stories these are pretty weird for kids to read especially at bedtime.
I think initially I liked it because my Dad was called Billy but I also loved how the goats would attempt to get across the bridge to the other side to eat the nice green grass not knowing if they would be caught by the Troll.
On reflection I wonder whether the goats were really interested in getting to the other side or they just wanted to taunt the Troll.
It’s a bit like us on this journey of life we can think of God as someone who just wants to catch us out and tell us off for doing something wrong; or stop us from doing something we love doing or deny us from enjoying the good things in life. Sometimes we can try and taunt God into action by questioning his goodness or doubting his existence.
Well as with all good stories there is a beginning and without understanding the beginning, the middle and the end don’t make sense. In fact, the beginning of God’s own true story begins with the most contested and criticised statement he could ever make.
In the beginning God…..Who is this God we ask, what gives anyone the right to make such an absolute statement, how can we believe this when science proves we are our own destiny.
I think many of these questions/statements are a means to avoid the truth that we as humanity are not only answerable to but also dependant on God. The God who ‘created the heavens and earth’.
How many people since the time of the enlightenment have tried to disarm or destroy the foundation of Christianity. How many people who feel let down by the church then spend a lifetime trying to undermine God’s kingdom and demand that we reign on our own thrones.
This isn’t new, this isn’t because of woke culture, it isn’t because humanity is more intelligent than they were before, it isn’t because we have figured everything out. This determination to demand our own right to make our own way in life happened right at the beginning of mankind and continues throughout each generation. Sin follows humanity from generation to generation because it is at the heart of who we are without God’s intervention.
What humanity really needs is to understand not everything revolves around us, we are not the beginning of the beginning, and we are not the sustainers of everything.
I love how God begins the bible because it shows us that he knows us better than we could ever know ourselves. God knew this controversial statement will get to the heart of humanity and expose the sin within whether we are willing to admit it to ourselves or not.
God created his kingdom for our benefit, and we just threw it back in his face. But that’s not the end of the story because God loves his created beings so much that he was willing to do what it takes to rescue us from ourselves.
To send his Son to be our Saviour.
But to understand the Saviour we need to understand and accept the beginning of the story……
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’ John 1:1 niv
Living His Word 