In The Beginning...

Note that the Bible doesn't start out "once upon a time."  But we have to commence somewhere!  In the beginning what? That's the million dollar question!  My premise is that God is the genesis of everything that exists and He's the reason for everything, truly being above and beyond.   Athanasius said that "the only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."  This makes sense because the humanist wants to begin with man as the measure of all things and explain everything from there, even explain away God--dethroning Him, exalting man, giving him the glory and robbing God of just worship.

The Bible begins with the phrase "In the beginning God" for a reason:  This is not just a way to begin the Bible or story of man, God and man's relationship with God, but the beginning of all logic and sense as we can know it.  The opening verse shows God taking the initiative in reaching out to man in creation, revelation, and salvation.  God has stepped into the time-space continuum and entered history on our behalf to rescue us!

You have to begin somewhere.  Imagine if there was no beginning!   What if everything was eternal and had always existed--scientists have disproved this, but wouldn't everything be perfect by now?  They say that matter cannot be destroyed or created but only transferred to other forms.  Someday scientists claim there will be a "heat death" of the cosmos when all usable energy is depleted., proving a beginning to the cosmos.   But the Bible says that God created everything out of nothing, ex nihilo in Latin. Humanists want to explain away God and remove Him from life's equation and they don't see Him and His place in the big picture--glory to man in the highest as man makes a name for himself and gives himself all the credit.

Time by definition is the corollary of space and matter and is relative, and if matter and space didn't exist, neither would time.  Time actually had a beginning at the Big Bang because that's when the cosmos began.  God pulled the trigger and started it all into motion and therefore is outside the time-space continuum.  He had no beginning and is, therefore, eternal and cannot have a cause, for He is not the effect of anyone or anything and needs no one for His existence, therefore being self-existent.  There are only three possibilities for the beginning scenario:  In the beginning God; in the beginning matter/energy; in the beginning nothing!  Matter in its natural state is chaotic and without form and must be organized, just as the Bible says:  "the earth was without form and void...."  We must have an intelligent input to get to organized life as we see it today--for we observe intelligence!

Don't jump to the conclusion that everything had a genesis; we cannot say that everything had a beginning because then there would be a time when there was nothing and the axiom goes:  ex nihilo, nihil fit in Latin or out of nothing, nothing comes!  We could have nothing today if everything had a beginning!  And so we conclude that God is that being that had no beginning and started the motion as the initiator.

The issue is whether mind precedes matter or matter precedes or is superior to mind.  The reason is that the logical order is thinker, thought, action, object or creation.  Matter or energy cannot create or organize itself for it is disorganized and needs the missing ingredient of intelligence to develop life and complexities.  How can matter/energy/quanta be self-conscious on its own?  Whence life forms?  What we see today is highly complex forms of matter which would've required an intelligent design or Designer or Intelligent Input. This is referred to as the argument from design.  Thought requires a thinker!  That's where the Bible comes in:  In the beginning, was the Word (Logos or expressed thought in Greek).   Mind did, therefore, precede matter and not vice versa!

Now God has revealed Himself in general revelation so that everyone is without excuse to know of His existence.  The Bible is not unhistorical, unscientific, irrational, unbelievable, incomprehensible, or unverifiable.  If you dehistoricize it you destroy and discredit, for it's the only Scripture-based in fact, truth, and history and has never been disproved in any way.   The resurrection, for instance, is a historical fact, and is the most attested fact in antiquity by various and multiple proofs:  Luke said many infallible proofs.  The point is that the Bible invites you to discover it for yourself and test to see if the Lord is good on your own.  The proof of the pudding is in the eating!   I don't have to prove the Bible, it proves itself, the skeptic can prove it by reading it with an open mind and willing spirit.

We don't commit intellectual suicide to believe in God's explanation of the beginning.  It's actually the inception of all coherent, rational thought.  In the final analysis, where you begin determines where you'll end up; taking God out of the equation only leads to chaos because cosmos minus logos or logic equals chaos or confusion!     Soli Deo Gloria!  

How the Earth Was Made

Maybe you've been intrigued by History's "How the Earth Was Made." Scientists think they have it all figured out! But I'm sorry, you can't take God out of the equation and maintain intellectual integrity--you're really committing mental suicide. Man will be without excuse as Rom 1:20 proclaims. They supposedly believe in the "Big Bang" but not in the "Beginner!" If you heard an explosion, wouldn't you wonder whodunit? Science is very good at telling us "know-how" but not "know-why." If they would stick to their guns on what they observe in nature there would be no conflict. One who believes science and religion cannot coexist or contradict each other doesn't know either science or religion. I can see how you can look at the sad state of affairs of a man socially and wonder if there's a God, but how can you not look up to the heavens and deny Him? Napoleon was once asked if there was a God: (looking to heaven)  "But who made all that?"

"In the beginning God...." God is the logical starting point and orientation point to get our bearings straight. If your philosophy starts anywhere else it will be erroneous. The source of all and instigator of all is God. This is of primary importance, i.e., that we acknowledge that God is the one and only creator--we are merely creatures. The account is not comprehensive, but gives us what we need to know--God believes in a need to know philosophy. The question of "when" is the beginning--the beginning of time and space as we know it--yes the Bible proclaims that time had a beginning and scientists are realizing this also.  It is better to begin with God and explain the universe, than begin with the universe and try to explain God.

The point is that everything in our four-dimensions of the time-space continuum had a beginning. You and I both had beginnings. Every atom had a beginning; nothing could be more obvious. But R. C. Sproul says not to jump to the conclusion that everything had a beginning. That would be "fatal" and contrary to reason, science, logic, and faith. Why? Imagine the total negation of everything--total nothingness! A rule of science and philosophy says: Ex nihilo, nihil fit or "out of nothing, nothing comes." There must be something transcendent or supreme over creation that didn't have a beginning in order for everything to exist in time and space. We all owe our very existence to this Being (the formulation we all refer to as "God").
 
The Bible gives us everything we need to know for our faith to nurture and save us. It answers "why," "what," and "who" and "when." God created the earth by His Word or command (Ps 33:6,9; Heb 11:6). He created it out of nothing by virtue of His essence as Creator-God. Rev 4:11 gives us the reason why God created the heavens and the earth. For the glory of God and that it would elicit worship of the Godhead.   Soli Deo Gloria!