In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 (NKJV)
In the beginning God created the sky and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV)
In the beginning, when God created the universe. Genesis 1:1 (GNT)
In the beginning God made from nothing the heavens and
the earth. Genesis 1:1 (NLV)
There was nothing.
It was the beginning.
Not just the beginning of the Bible but the beginning of
everything.
There was nothing.
There was no light, no sun, no water, no sky. There were
no bricks to build houses, no seeds to plant trees; no dirt, no ground. The seasons
didn’t exist. Absolute nothingness.
God existed.
And out of nothing, He created. From absolute desolation,
He made our world, our galaxy, and our universe. He created, from scratch, the
heaven we long for. With no tools and no materials, He created life.
The Good News translation tells it as if it was no big deal:
“Oh, remember in the beginning when God created the universe?” – wait, what?!
That statement is deserving of a little more ceremony and celebration! God
started with nothing and yet He made everything. Poof! Right out of thin air!
The very first sentence in the Bible; the first thing
ever recorded for all of humankind to read and know for eternity, is that God can
take nothing, and turn it into something.
“Then the LORD
God formed man of dust from the ground,
and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became
a living being.”
– Genesis 2:7 (NASB)
God created human life, in all of its perfection and intricacy,
and He created it from nothing. He didn’t have a manual. He created Adam using
only Himself as the blueprint. Using nothing but the dust on the ground He had
just created, God made Adam. He breathed His own breath into this mound of dirt
and it became a living human being. If this were a movie, you’d turn it off
here – it sounds ridiculous!
“So the LORD
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon
the man, and he
slept; then He took one of his ribs
and closed up
the flesh at that place.”
– Genesis 2:21 (NASB)
God took from Adam that which He had just created from
nothing. He took a rib. A rib that He had made from a speck of ground dust.
Ground dust which He had just created from nothing. And from this rib, this
tiny piece of bone, the LORD God created a woman. He created Eve, with all of
her unique feminine differences, and He made her perfectly, from a piece of
bone, made from dirt.
Our bodies, which are still medical mysteries, were
created from absolutely nothing, and yet they are designed with such precision
and perfection. Our hearts beat perfectly so that the blood can flow through
our bodies. Blood! Where did that come from?! Our brains, which are still the
most powerful and enigmatic computer known to man, are so amazingly complex
that even the best brain surgeons in the world still don’t understand them
completely. We still don’t know how to access and use our brains to their full
potential, but God knew how to create them, all those years ago!
Can you imagine, tomorrow, someone creating the best
computer or software in the world, that the universe has or will ever know, and
creating it with no tools and no materials, other than some dust he just found
right there on the floor? God did that!
If God can create everything that you see when you look
around, and He can start with absolutely nothing, what can He do when He has something
to start from? Imagine the possibilities! God can create a man from dust, and
then create a woman from that man. He can look around an empty void and declare
that there be light, and water, and earth. He can fill the planet with countless
animals, each one unique.
If God can do this, with nothing to start with, imagine
what He can do with a store room full of materials to choose from! Imagine what
He could do with a room full of willing participants! Imagine what He could do
with your body, your life, your brains!
If we can believe that God can do and has done these
things, why then do we still struggle to accept that He can work in our lives?
Why do we not believe that God can and does still perform miracles? Why do we
not have faith in His power when we have seen the works He has made; we can see
the beauty of the world He has created, right in front of our very eyes. When
you stop and take a moment to notice and appreciate what it is that you’re actually
seeing: that flower you just plucked from the meadow, with its petals so
perfect; or that butterfly flitting around you with its impeccable symmetry; a
labouring woman, her body dilating and contracting exactly where and when it
needs to, in order to deliver a brand new human being into the world.
Everything you see has been designed to perfection. Everything
you see started as nothing. Take a moment to notice and try to fathom just how
great and powerful our God is.
“Ah Lord God!
Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth
by Your great
power and by Your outstretched arm!
Nothing is too
difficult for You!”
-
Jeremiah 32:17 (NASB)
That same God that we call to in our need, our Father who
loves us more than we could ever hope to imagine. If He can do all things and
create all things, surely, He can deal with whatever our worries our problems
are. Even though, to you, they might seem as big as the earth, God is bigger!
He can handle it! What can our God not do?
Give your worries to the Lord and watch as He turns them
into something amazing!
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