Okay, I will admit, the idea of going through the Bible one or two verses at a time is a daunting one. There are several Bible scholars who have done just that and I am in awe of the work they have put into it. But I am nowhere near a Bible scholar. I just love the Lord and want to get closer to him. I don’t know all this stuff. I have several different Bible study tools I use, books and websites I read and discussions in my small group that I use to formulate my thoughts. I take all that together and come up with this, the thoughts I blog. The leader of my small group says that I’m very knowledgeable, especially when it comes to the New Testament. God must be using me to speak to him because I don’t feel very knowledgeable at all. That’s why I have this thirst to learn.
Wow! I wrote a full page of thoughts about Genesis 1:6-31 and then God spoke to me. I had to delete all that work and start over because He showed me something I never caught before in this passage. Something I believe I really should have. But this really starts with the first verse and goes through the end of the chapter. Well, maybe I did catch a glimmer before. Let me explain what I mean…
Genesis 1 is the creation story. From the very first verse God uses this passage to reveal to us His attributes. I already wrote about some of this. It looks like it may be time to dig even deeper…
First of all, God is Eternal. Verse 1 says it all, "In the beginning..." God was there in the beginning, He existed before anything else. God created everything, including time. God told Moses, "I am who I am." (Exodus 3:14) "I am" expresses His continuous and unchanging presence. As C H Spurgeon comments, "God was, when nothing else was. He was God when the earth was not a world but chaos. If God Himself were of yesterday, He would not be a suitable refuge for mortals. The eternal existence of God is mentioned here to set forth, by contrast, the brevity of human life." (from his Treasury of David, commenting on Psalm 90:1-2)
This is important because this removes God from time. He is not subject to time, as a matter of fact, time dwells within God, God causes time and time has no effect on God. Therefore, God never changes. That's another of His attributes, to be explored later.
This makes my brain hurt. As a human I cannot comprehend eternality. But because of God's pleasure I get to experience it. I am so grateful God is eternal, His eternality lays the foundation for several of His other attributes. Attributes which I depend upon. Atttributes which I use as building blocks for my faith in Him.
First of all, God is Eternal. Verse 1 says it all, "In the beginning..." God was there in the beginning, He existed before anything else. God created everything, including time. God told Moses, "I am who I am." (Exodus 3:14) "I am" expresses His continuous and unchanging presence. As C H Spurgeon comments, "God was, when nothing else was. He was God when the earth was not a world but chaos. If God Himself were of yesterday, He would not be a suitable refuge for mortals. The eternal existence of God is mentioned here to set forth, by contrast, the brevity of human life." (from his Treasury of David, commenting on Psalm 90:1-2)
This is important because this removes God from time. He is not subject to time, as a matter of fact, time dwells within God, God causes time and time has no effect on God. Therefore, God never changes. That's another of His attributes, to be explored later.
This makes my brain hurt. As a human I cannot comprehend eternality. But because of God's pleasure I get to experience it. I am so grateful God is eternal, His eternality lays the foundation for several of His other attributes. Attributes which I depend upon. Atttributes which I use as building blocks for my faith in Him.
Some people just can't wrap their heads around that God existed before anything existed. He just was.
ReplyDeleteAmen. Great post, we serve an everlasting God!
ReplyDeleteYes
ReplyDeleteGod just IS!!!