Genesis 1:1-5: God, Creation, and Faith
Welcome to the beginning!
The simple statement here is quite overwhelming. God made the heavens and the earth. In the Hebrew mind, this meant God made all that is. Nothing exists without him. He is the source of life and all that entails. There is no debate or middle ground on this statement. Either God (a higher being, higher power, ultimate other--something greater that humanity) is personally responsible for the existence of all things, or you do not accept the foundational premise for the whole scripture: that God exists and manages his creation. If you do not believe that God is real, then it makes no sense to believe anything else in the Bible.
Now, you can ask, "Can you prove the existence of God?" I can respond, "Can you disprove it?" Ultimately, we can look at the same evidence and probably provide different rationales and proofs for own beliefs. The bottom line is this: we can neither prove nor disprove God. It takes faith to believe that God does or does not exist because we have neither see God nor seen everything without him. (By "seeing everything without him" I refer to the idea that we cannot scientifically observe every inch of existence and say that we have not seen God. Maybe he is playing hide and seek, or very far away. But you cannot objectively say "God has never been here." It is impossible to measure.) You can try to argue possibilities and probabilities, but either way, we all are people of faith when it comes to believing in the existence or non-existence of God.
The simple statement here is quite overwhelming. God made the heavens and the earth. In the Hebrew mind, this meant God made all that is. Nothing exists without him. He is the source of life and all that entails. There is no debate or middle ground on this statement. Either God (a higher being, higher power, ultimate other--something greater that humanity) is personally responsible for the existence of all things, or you do not accept the foundational premise for the whole scripture: that God exists and manages his creation. If you do not believe that God is real, then it makes no sense to believe anything else in the Bible.
Now, you can ask, "Can you prove the existence of God?" I can respond, "Can you disprove it?" Ultimately, we can look at the same evidence and probably provide different rationales and proofs for own beliefs. The bottom line is this: we can neither prove nor disprove God. It takes faith to believe that God does or does not exist because we have neither see God nor seen everything without him. (By "seeing everything without him" I refer to the idea that we cannot scientifically observe every inch of existence and say that we have not seen God. Maybe he is playing hide and seek, or very far away. But you cannot objectively say "God has never been here." It is impossible to measure.) You can try to argue possibilities and probabilities, but either way, we all are people of faith when it comes to believing in the existence or non-existence of God.
Labels: faith creation, Genesis, God
5 Comments:
Questions
1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
What is meant by God created the heavens? Does this refer to space or heaven, if heaven then why heavens not heaven, is there more than one heaven?
2. God saw that the light was good
God is all knowing, why would God need to see if something is good?
Skillet
Thanks "Skillet." Good questions.
"Heavens" is plural because it is plural in the Hebrew. The Hebrews did not think there were multiple heavens. They probably used the plural noun to describe how big it was. Later, all of the planets, stars, etc were placed in the "heavens." There is no evidence elsewhere in the Old Testament that the Hebrews thought there was more than one heaven.
As far as God seeing the light: I think it is an example of poetic writing. Yes, God is all-knowing, and certainly he knew his creation was good. Perhaps a better understanding is this: "God made the light, and it pleased him greatly." God gets great pleasure from his creation, and he gains great pleasure when people acknowledge him in faith.
This may sound funny--that God can be happy. Yet, if anyone deserves happiness, it is God. He created for his good pleasure. We were made for his glory. If I were to do that, I would be arrogant. If God does it, it is appropriate because he is God and worthy of all glory and praise.
God and pleasure
I have always wondered how God could take pleasure in creating mankind, if he knows how it will end. God gave us free will but he knows what we are going to do; right? If you know what is going to happen form the start to the finish, then why do it.
Skillet
There are several ways to address your thoughts. What I hear you saying is this: if you know the outcome, what is the point going through the motions?
Two thoughts we need to address here. 1) Does God know what we are going to do? 2) Why do it if he knows everything?
First, by definition, God knows everything. This includes reality and possibility. I don't think we should assume that a) just because he knows what will happen means b) that he is causing it to happen (although some do believe that God operates in this manner). He knows all of your choice options, and he also knows the outcomes of every option. This does not mean he necessarily makes you choose one option over another. Know this: he does have a plan--the salvation of those who believe in Him. Our decisions will not thwart his plans for salvation. His is so great and powerful that his desires and glory will happen regardless of what we do. The choice we have is this: we can either choose to be a part of his glory, or we can choose to do our own thing. But our decisions will not stop his big picture plans.
So, why do it? Well, first of all, even if God knows everything, he wants to teach us and love us in the process. So, we go through the process, even if we know the outcome, for our benefit and his glory. God may know what will happen, but we do not. So, every step is an opportunity for growth in the exercise of choosing God (i.e. faith).
The problem with being human is we struggle to chose God. In fact, it is impossible to choose God without help. That is where Jesus comes in. He provides a new chance to please God through his own blood on the cross. He set us free to pursue God and make choices for him.
So, God may know all things. But the process is for us, not God. Life is not a futile exercise of fulfilling God's whims. It is a chance to choose God through Jesus for the purpose of glorifying the Creator. We are not just puppets; we are created beings with the chance to choose God's plan or our own plan. Let's not make the same mistake Adam and Eve did--by choosing our own way and not God's way.
Randy Rogers
AKA the 'fire'
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