The Beginning of Belief

The Beginning of Belief

Genesis 1:1 (English Translation of the Greek Septuagint Bible)
In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.

   When you began to study the Bible, where did you begin?  I was advised by a Pastor and other mature members of a fellowship to study John’s Gospel.  A teacher I had had while a young boy in Sunday school had always told us not to neglect the Old Testament.  I started in Genesis, at the beginning of the story.  And I was confronted with a core truth of the Scriptures right off.  There was no introduction to the story and no explanation of Who and What God was, instead the Holy Spirit chose to begin the story with an established fact.  God is and God was and God was actively doing something – creation.  “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.”  Period.  The period is used to end a sentence, and this is a complete sentence and a complete idea.  Yes, I know there is no punctuation in Ancient Hebrew.  Punctuation is placed for our benefit.  But the period fits here.  This sentence describes the plot of the book and tells you all you really need to know.  God was there and He created everything.  Period.
   The Bible does not make elaborate arguments for the existence of God.  Nowhere in the Scriptures does the Holy Spirit try to prove God exists.  He does, however, tell us how we can know God exists.  The Bible tells us we can know God exists because of what we see in creation.  Psalms 19: 1-4 is a beautiful passage that points this out to us.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
   Paul writes in Romans 1:20,
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
   When I began studying the Bible I came to understand that the Bible is a place where God speaks directly to me.  He has chosen to inspire the writing of this book and preserve it through the ages so I can learn about Him.  Of course, there is much written in the Bible about many subjects, but the Bible as a whole is about God.  It tells the story of God’s great love for us.  God allows us to study Him, but He does not argue for His own existence.  The evidence is visible everywhere to anyone who is honestly looking.
   My wife called me outside the other night to see the bright salmon-colored clouds in the sunset.  The color was so vivid and beautiful.  Thinking back, I can’t remember how many sunsets I’ve seen, but the awesome display of colors still thrills me.  I have never understood how someone can look at a sunset and say it all happened by random chance.  How insulting to God!  I remember a Physics teacher explaining the randomness of a rainbow.  I asked if it was a random series of events, why did they look the same time after time?  God has given us such a beautiful world!
   When you study the Bible, do you see God and His love there?  Don’t study the Bible as just a book, but as the revelation of God to us.

Stephen Cram                            May 27, 2012                                Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8