Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The most important thing we can do in this life is to become who we already are (let that sink in for a minute).
Sadly, most people have no idea who they are or why they are here on this little blue ball we call earth, and so they spend most of their life trying to become something, often something they’re not.
The very first sentence in the Bible starts us out with one of the most fundamental truths about who we are – we are created. We are created by an all knowing, all powerful, benevolent, wise, loving, gracious, and holy God.
Genesis 1:1 doesn’t bore us with arguments about where God came from, it simply presumes his existence. Nor does it try to regale us with tales of mankind’s creation as part of a great cosmic war as other ancient cosmologies do. Genesis 1:1 simply states that God created everything, the heavens and the earth. This phrase is what’s called a merism. A merism is a figure of speech that expresses a truth about a whole by naming its two extremes. So “heavens and earth” = everything in creation. Including us.
The implications of this truth are enormous and almost endless. Implications like:
We don’t belong to ourselves. We are the subjects of our Creator.
We were made on purpose, therefore, we exist for a reason.
We are given our identity and purpose; we don’t determine these things for ourselves.
Why do so many people today feel so lost and directionless? Do you ever feel lost or directionless? Well maybe Genesis 1:1 is a good place to start over. Start with God. To know ourselves we must first know him. Why? Because, as the Apostle Paul said, “In him we live and move and have our being.”
Starting with God means starting at the beginning. Actually, it means starting before the beginning. Before there was a beginning there was already a God. An unknown God that was about to make himself known. How? Through his creation. The Bible says that everything that exists pre-existed IN God. Everything comes from God, through God, and is for God.
Romans 11:36. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
But God himself had no beginning. He is. He was. He will be. This is literally the defining name of God. Yahweh. The great I Am. I am who I am and I will be who I will be.
Exodus 3:14. God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”
You see only God is “I Am.” Only he is self-defined. Only he is transcendent above all others. Everything else (including us) flows from him. We have to be defined and given meaning, identity, and purpose from outside of ourselves – from God.
And that is who we are. It is who you are – the created overflow of God’s love.
Questions: Do you ever feel lost and directionless? How might focusing on God as creator help you to re-claim your identity and purpose?
To Live is Christ 