If you read last week's post (About the Beginning...), this is a continuation of the first chapter, a very rough first draft, of a new book I'm working on. Hope you enjoy the read, and leave a comment if you like.
"In the beginning, God…." God's Story starts out with the central character pegged in a specific time. Our problem is not knowing when the beginning took place within known history, because it was the beginning of history as we know it. And God is always the central character, even when He's not mentioned.
No proof of God's existence is given, and as God's Story in the Bible progresses, no one seems concerned about that. Even those who were rebellious didn't question His existence, they just wanted to go their own way. Ascertaining the veracity of God's existence is a recent concern within human history.
Belief in God requires faith. Faith can be defined in many ways, even from the Bible, but faith is about trust. Faith is relational rather than rational. It connects us with God at the inner core of who we are (our soul), not just in our cerebral cortex (our thought). The Bible puts it this way, "Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him" (Hebrews 11:6 GW). It is a matter of trust, but we'll look at that later.
The place our human race calls home was once "formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water." (Gen 1:2 GW) It was formless and empty until He brought it into existence and gave it life.
God, our central character, is at the beginning of existence as we know it, and brought all that we know into existence. He needed no help from humans, which is a good thing since they didn't exist in the very beginning. He spoke it into existence. "God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. (Gen 1:3 GW)
God was happy with the creation of light and it's purpose, but not finished with creating. He spoke many other things into existence—the heavens, vegetation on the earth, the sun, moon and stars, then swimming and flying creatures, and every other kind of creature known on earth. Yet, one final act of creation remained.
"Let us make humans in our image, in our likeness. So God created humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female." (Gen 1:26, 27 GW). Here was a part of creation distinct from everything else God created. This human creature was similar to God, a physical representation of God within all He created. These humans were to rule over everything on earth.
God gave them some basic instructions, "Be fertile, increase in number, fill the earth, and be it's master." (Gen 1:28 GW) He also told them they could eat from what grew on the earth, as would the rest of the creatures on the earth.
Then God was content with what He created. He rested from His work of creating and declared it good. He also made it clear that the seventh day of every week was special, and to be set aside as a day of rest.
God's Story is a great story, and this is only the beginning!
In the sequence of the book, a post I made earlier (Awareness) would follow this excerpt... thanks for reading.