Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The general theory of relativity, science’s prevailing model for describing the origin of the universe, describes an initial singularity, which contained all the mass, energy, space and time of the universe, compressed into an infinitely dense, small point. Then, at the moment of creation (the beginning of space and time) that initial singularity, expanded exponentially. Everything in the universe, from the farthest star, to the recliner I am sitting in, came from that initial singularity.
I have always thought that this description of the origin of the universe had an elegant symmetry with Genesis 1:1, where, we are told that out of nothing, God created everything. That initial singularity, was God Himself, which means the entire universe came out of Him and that He is necessarily both above all and in all. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Col. 1:17).
I tend to think that God exists in all things, but according to today’s passage, it is more accurate to say that all things exist in God. If I look at a map of the universe, I can say God exists everywhere in the map, but it would be more appropriate to say that the map, paper and ink exist in God.
Why is this important? It means that God is above and before all and that I must live that way. In my practical reality, I tend to put myself first, the world second and God, a distant third. I know God is important, but frankly, His creation seems more real.
From the beginning of the Bible though, we are told that we cannot take God too seriously. To live as we were meant to live, we must continuously hold God above all. It is only in allowing God to be above all, that the rest of our world falls into its proper place. It is only when we realize that everything exists in God, that we can begin to have the intimate, all-encompassing relationship which He intended. In the beginning, God . . .
Authors Note: Since I started in 2016, this blog has been a walk-through of the New Testament. I have now worked through the New Testament and have been reworking some of the entries, but the time has come to move on to . . . The Old Testament. I am a little nervous about this. When I started this project, I had already read through the New Testament a couple of times in preparation for it and thus, already had many thoughts on what it had to say about my faith, life and addiction. The Old Testament however, seems less familiar. I have been putting the transition off for a while, but New Year’s Day seemed the appropriate time to begin, so, here goes.
One additional note: As I am always a work in progress, so is the blog. I have, for some time, been thinking of a name change for the blog. If any of you have any ideas or objections, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts!