In the Beginning

Day Five                        In the Beginning          Genesis 1:1 – 2:3

No one, with even a shred of Bible knowledge, can read the opening words of John’s Gospel without being reminded of the first words of Genesis – the first book of the Bible. Genesis begins with a magnificent affirmation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” There is no debate, no theologizing. The statement is bold and uncompromising: “In the beginning… God.” It is not intended as a scientific explanation but as an affirmation of faith – before anything came into being, there was God. He is the originator of all things. No other cause precedes Him. Out of nothing, God created our world. Every star owes its origin to His grand design. Every heart beat reflects His glory. He spoke, and a world was made. We don’t need to argue about the nuts and bolts in order to affirm that life itself is derived from the will of God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We owe everything to Him.

The opening words of John’s Gospel also make us catch our breath in wonder. He has the audacity to draw a parallel between the creation of the world and the coming of a child. “In the beginning,” he writes, but instead of directing our attention to God, John makes us kneel before the Word made flesh. In Genesis, the climax is the creation of human beings; in John, the climax is the arrival of a human being, a child named Jesus.

There is something awe-inspiring in this thought. For thousands of years, people around the world have turned, instinctively, to the God of creation. They have known Him imperfectly and worshipped Him by many names. They have fallen on their faces before the wonder and mystery of life. It is a theme that runs through many religions. Whatever our other beliefs, as human beings we understand that we owe our existence to the power that stands beyond the universe. We call that power “God.” But then John does something quite remarkable. He puts the coming of Christ on the same level. He gives Jesus the same respect. He equates what happened in Bethlehem with the creation of the world.

Can you see this? If Christ is who He claims to be, and John is right, then He is so much more than a prophet. No other religious leader in the history of the world rises even close to His level. As John would later write, in Revelation, Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end. We must not get caught up in the nuts and bolts of exactly how He works the miracle of salvation. Our responsibility is, first and foremost, to worship.

Lord God, when I see the wonder of creation, I fall in adoration at Your feet. You have made an amazing world; its beauty is simply staggering. I worship You. And when I see the wonder of re-creation, how in Jesus You took what was broken and made it whole and new, my wonder is without limits. How can I do anything less than kneel before the manger where humanity was clothed with eternity, where the Word became flesh? Amen.