The Beginning

Like all good stories, the Bible starts right at the beginning: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." There is more packed into those few words than you can imagine. This Sunday, we are talking about Genesis 1, the creation account. It is so packed, so loaded and over-the-top, yet so practical, that it really does tell us how we "fit" into the universe we see around us. It also tells us about the nature of the One who created.

It is remarkable: in around 900 words we find out about God, nature, and who we are as human beings. That blows me away. I think in terms of 1000 words when I write newsletters. I have 1000 words to make a point as poetically, artistically, and rationally as I know how. I sweat, brood, cut, edit and always feel like there are things left off when I am finished. And that is just one point of observation I have made and tried to squeeze meaning out of!

Here is what's so remarkable about the creation account: it's brevity, applicability to all cultures over millennia of time, and it's power to give us a way to relate to all there is around us. As one writer put it: "Genesis 1 achieves a radical and comprehensive affirmation of monotheism versus every kind of false religion (polytheism, idolatry, animism, pantheism and syncretism); superstition (astrology and magic); and philosophy (materialism, ethical dualism, naturalism and nihilism). That is a remarkable achievement for so short an account (about 900 words) written in everyday language and understood by people in a variety of cultures for more than three thousand years. " (George Hummel, Director of Faculty Ministries, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, “Interpreting Genesis One")

I can't wait to unpack this Sunday!

Blessings,

Jim