In the beginning God...

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

'In the beginning God' - the first 4 words of the Bible. Very cool. It tells us much that we need to know about Him in the first 4 words. God is first. He is before us. He is ahead of us. We can never take Him by surprise or get ahead of Him because He always precedes us. He has always been. He is the source of creation. Only He was in the beginning.

The concept of 'beginning' and God's infinite being really challenges our human understanding, and therefore, our faith. Our faith is, perhaps, most heavily challenged when we are faced with what we do not fully understand. For some it is the concept of a three-part God. For some, untimely death, birth defects, illness, disease, change. For some, it is that we do not earn salvation, but that it is freely given. The Bible is full of truths about God that are difficult for us to comprehend. The concept of a God who has always been, who has no beginning and no end, is a challenge for us to understand and believe because our world is finite. Our reality is full of definite beginnings and endings, and we tend to believe in and understand concepts based on our experiences.

How then, do I make the leap from this finite reality surrounding me to a belief in an infinite God? Also based on experiences. My own personal experiences with God have formed a foundation that leads me to such a belief. Through experience I know that He is the God He says He is. I know that He is truth. He is faithful. He places utmost importance on His Word. His word is truth, and therefore I can, and must, wholly believe His Word if I am to believe in Him.

I think I've got more to share on this, but for now, I'll leave it at that. It's enough for me today to meditate on the expansiveness of God. He's so much more than we are humanly able to comprehend, but it is amazing when we really think about who He is and we finally begin to see Him for even just a bit of all that He really is.