I must come to God by faith and not sight. (Genesis 1, 1; 31)

January 1, 2011

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! (Genesis 1, 1; 31)

It is appropriate that we begin the New Year "in the beginning."These are the opening words of the author of Genesis, presumed to be Moses. They are also the first words written in the Gospel of John in the New Testament when he recounts the Creation. It goes on to identify God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth and that the work of his hand is good. The word used for good in the Hebrew text is "tobe" which means excellent, rich, and valuable. Until a person is convinced that God is the Creator it will be difficult to receive God as being good. David becomes a witness to Creator God when he pens the following in Psalm 19: "The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done." A tension develops in our Post Modern Age when today's audience takes the Creation account and tries to develop an argument of how things came into being. The Bible states that God spoke the world into existence. The Latin phrase for this is ex nihilo or it was created from nothing. In God's economy, his word is everything. Even Jesus is identifed as the "word who became flesh to dwell among us." As one can see, it is necessary to come to God by faith in order to know him.

Daily Prayer: Father, teach me to trust you so that I may know you. The world does not know you because they cannot see you. By your spirit, guilde me into all truth so that I may understand. Amen.