In the beginning…In the last days

In the beginning…

Many people have proposed ideas regarding how everything came into being, but only one eye-witness account is available to us. That account is known in the folklore of ancient cultures throughout the world, but it is specifically declared to us in the Bible.

Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1 begin with the phrase “in the beginning” and go on to tell us that God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is the great Creator of all things. God literally spoke, and everything came into existence; He did this in six literal days!

Why did God take so long over the creation? He set an order and an ordinance in place during that formative event. Out of nothing, came everything with order and purpose ordained by God. Each day of creation was distinct and purposeful leading toward the high point of the physical realm being the creation of man. In Genesis 1:26 we are told that man was made in the image of God to have dominion over the creatures of the earth. Psalm 8:5-8 says we are made a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honour. We have dominion over the works of God’s hands.

The account of man’s creation is expanded in Genesis 2:4-25; this tells us how God made Adam from the dust of the ground and formed Eve from the body of Adam. God literally breathed life into our first parents and gave to them, and their descendents, souls that would never die.

Finally, on the seventh day, God rested, setting in place a lasting example for mankind to follow. Our remembrance of the Sabbath day (the day of rest) arises from that creation week. God has established the precedent, who are we to dispute His wise decrees?

In Hebrews 11:3 we are reminded that “by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” Similarly in Revelation 4:11 we are told that God is worthy of praise and worship, saying of Him: “you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

If we take the trouble to read through the Bible, we will find numerous times when God is declared to be the Creator. Here are just three examples from the multitude of verses:

• Psalm 8:3-4 says: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?”
• Psalm 102:25 says: “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hand.”
• Colossians 1:16-17 says: “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Do we see our Creator God in the world and universe around us, or has Satan blinded our eyes to the truth? “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)

In the last days…

People wonder what will happen at the end of time, and many predictions have been made based on a limited understanding of the past. None of man’s predictions have any real foundations, but our God who sits outside of time knows the totality of history. He has declared what will be at the end, just as He has revealed what took place in the beginning.

The believers in the ‘Big Bang’ say that the entire universe will collapse back into nothing, meaning that everything disappears into a pointless oblivion. God however declares in 1 Corinthians 15:51 ff. that there will be a last day in which the bodies of the dead will be raised and reunited with their souls to inherit their eternal destinies. Isaiah 34:4 informs us that the creation will be destroyed by fire (restated in 2 Peter 3 – see below), and Revelation 21 tells us that the old heavens and earth will be made anew and we’ll have a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.

The Bible also tells us what will take place in the last days leading up to the end of time. Some of the prophecy is uncomfortable to read, yet some is already being fulfilled:

• 2 Timothy 3:1-7: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self … having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who … always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”
• Romans 1: 20-23: “So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
• Jude 18-21: “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
• 2 Peter 3:3-7: “Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”

There will always be those who deny what God clearly states in His word. Is an oft repeated lie to be believed, or should we hold to the inerrant word of an unchanging God?