JDL - Direction Seventeen - The message, the authority, the absolute from Genesis 1

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 (ESV))

The best way to begin is with God. Here in Genesis 1:1 we are told by God Himself that in the beginning He was there. No one else was there; only He was there. Now, there have been many who have tried to speculate what it was like in the beginning, and they do this speculating based on what they see in the world today as if the world today is exactly the same as it was when God created the world which we know it is not. Yet, no one knows what the world was like at the time of creation, and apart from what God tells us, no one can know.

Interestingly enough, the devil works as hard as he can when and where he pleases. One of the devil’s greatest victories has been to work to convince people that God is not real. Thus, if there is no god, then how did we get here? The answer would then have to be through some sort of naturalistic way, some sort of accident. Thus, the theory, the unproven, and often times contradictory theory of evolution was born. Evolution seeks to explain a world without any god. One of the many problems of this theory is that there is no proof. Another problem is seen in what this theory has done to the many societies which teach and believe it. If the theory of evolution were true, then that would mean there is no ultimate authority, there is no ultimate truth, there is no one to whom anyone must be accountable and we are not to be blamed for anything we do. As a matter of fact, according to evolution, there is no such thing as right or wrong. And just stating these facts sounds like a lot of people believe this in our world today.

Of course, the question should always be asked of anyone trying to explain what happened at the beginning of the world, “Were you there?” And when the answer is given, “No, but neither were you.” We might rightly respond, “No, I was not there either, but I know someone who was there, and He told me how it happened. And I believe Him.”

One of the interesting things about leading a Jesus-directed life is that we do not have the luxury of picking and choosing the parts of Jesus’ directing we want. If the Bible only “contains” the Word of God, then that leaves it open to abuse. You might like one part, and I might like another. You might discard one part, and I another, and then nothing is left. If the Bible merely “contains” the Word of God, then we might as well throw it all out.

Because the Bible is the Word of God, we believe all of it even if we do not like some of it. We must understand that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John can be true only if Genesis is true. If Genesis is not true, then none of the Bible is true. If Genesis is not true, then there is no fall into sin, and no fall into sin means no need for a Savior. No need for a Savior leads Jesus to be a phoney and a fake.

Thus, we see the importance of all of Holy Scripture. We believe the Bible from Genesis One, from creation, from the fall into sin and the need for a Savior. We believe the Bible from God’s promise to mend what was broken, His creation’s perfect relationship with Himself. It is because of the events of Genesis that we need the events of the rest of the Bible. It is because of the events of Genesis that we need the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

When it comes to the Word of God, it is either all or nothing. If any part is not true, then it is all suspect and all not true. Thus, when we begin we always begin with Genesis. We begin where our Lord begins. We begin by letting Him tell us what it was like in the beginning, how all things were created, by Him and out of nothing. We let Him tell us of our fall into sin which brought sin and death into our world. We let Him tell us of His solution, the giving of His Son and His Son’s life for ours. Yes, a Jesus-directed life always begins at the beginning. In the beginning God!

Think About
Would you believe it if someone told you that a house was built by a tornado blowing through a lumber yard? Or would you believe someone who told you that over millions of years the various parts of your car came together and became your car? Why would you believe that your body, which is far more complex than a house or a car, came together by accident? The theory of evolution must be believed, and so it is indeed a religion.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for tell me how You created this wonderful, marvelous, complex world, including me. Forgive me when I doubt Your Word. Help me to stand firm in the faith You have given me and especially help me to understand and explain this world through Your Word. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.