In the Beginning, God

As I open my eyes and look to the heavens about me, I am more persuaded in a Creator God.  There is much that I do not understand but of this I am sure, and I am not alone in this opinion.

Frank Borman was commander of the first space crew to travel beyond the Earth's orbit. Looking down on the earth from 250,000 miles away, Borman radioed back a message, quoting Genesis 1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." As he later explained, "I had an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us-that there was a God, that there was indeed a beginning."

The late James Irwin, who walked on the moon in 1971, later became an evangelical minister. He often described the lunar mission as a revelation. In his words, "I felt the power of God as I'd never felt it before."

Charles Duke, who followed Irwin to the moon, later became active in missionary work. As he explained, "I make speeches about walking ON the moon and walking WITH the Son." Guy Gardner is a veteran astronaut who speaks in churches on the reality of God.

^{(from - BreakPoint Commentary - November 5, 1998 - (c) 1998 Prison Fellowship Ministries)}

“In the beginning, God …”  I am a former science teacher and am now a retired pastor. In my studies there is one all compassing truth which both haunts and helps me in understanding the enigmas of creation and evolution.  I hold my Bible in one hand and my science book in the other; I prepare my sermon with eyes toward heaven but hear the echoes of the science channel in the background.  There is a truth that gives both motor and compass to my journey.  I have simplified this “controversy” for myself, and I reveal this truth to the reader of this hub.

The more I know, the more I know that there is more that I don’t know than I do know!

What a mouthful; but let me apply this to our understanding of creation and evolution.

“In the beginning, God …”  This is basic; all that moves has to come from somewhere and something .  Observation, the pillar of all science, depends upon it.  From the present expanding universe, to the life cycles of the stars, to the formation, implosion and evaporation of black holes, all the way to the “Big Bang,” there is some beginning place, some coordinate in space-time to mark and complete the words, “In the beginning.”

I am not against scientists trying to reach this point through observation, but I do not understand why so many have to close their eyes toward a Creator.  What else can you place on the other side of the words, “In the beginning?”  I have always (and still do) loved and studied science.  However, the more I know, the more I know that there is more that I don’t know than I do know!

I am also a pastor, and herein it is also true that there is more I do not know than I do know.  I have more than a novice understanding of most of the argued doctrines of the Christian churches.  I also know that many are not serving Christ today because of similar inconsistencies among those deemed, “religious.”

“In the beginning, “God …”  This is basic; all who believe have to have Someone somewhere in space-time to believe in!  Faith, the pillar of all spirituality, depends upon it.

Therefore, herein is the woven rope to which I cling.  “In the beginning, God,” I cleave to this; the Bible makes no error.  I do not understand all of Genesis, but I accept as my starting point, God.  Before all things, God:  Before all time, God.  Before any evolution, God.   Before any, “Big Bang,” God.  There must needs be an Antecedent to man and matter.  He is God. There must needs be a Light Giver; He is God.  The story of life necessitates an Author; He is God.  God is the One who strikes the first spark of light and life; He is God.

I admit my ignorance. Maybe this makes me wise (maybe foolish).  I admit that I believe in the literal Genesis, but I do not know how much metaphor is used in its writing.  Most of my friends tell me that the six days of creation represents thousands of years.  Maybe so.  There is more that I don’t know than I do know. 

This I know, “In the beginning, “God.”    A God who could author light from dark nothing, could easily spark adult life from a mound of dirt and plant aged coal and oil into virgin earth with the words, “let there be.”

Now, before some of you write me off as a poor fool overtaken in some Neanderthal delusion, let me ask you what would you put after the words, “In the beginning?”

There is no God. All of the wonders around us are accidental. No almighty hand made a thousand billion stars. They made themselves. No power keeps them on their steady course. The earth spins itself to keep the oceans from falling off toward the sun. Infants teach themselves to cry when they are hungry or hurt. A small flower invented itself so that we could extract digitalis for sick hearts.

The earth gave itself day and night, tilted itself so that we get seasons. Without the magnetic poles man would be unable to navigate the trackless oceans of water and air, but they just grew there.

How about the sugar thermostat in the pancreas? It maintains a level of sugar in the blood sufficient for energy. Without it, all of us would fall into a coma and die.

Why does snow sit on mountain-tops waiting for the warm spring sun to melt it at just the right time for the young crops in farms below to drink? A very lovely accident.

The human heart will beat for 70 or 80 years without faltering. How does it get sufficient rest between beats? A kidney will filter poison from the blood, and leave good things alone. How does it know one from the other?

Who gave the human tongue flexibility to form words, and a brain to understand them, but denied it to all animals?

Who showed a womb how to take the love of two persons and keep splitting a tiny ovum until, in time, a baby would have the proper number of fingers, eyes and ears and hair in the right places, and come into the world when it is strong enough to sustain life?

_{There is no God? - (above taken from ...-- 1966 by Jim Bishop, Miami Herald, July 27, 1987.)}