07.01. The God Before Time
The God Before Time
What makes something right or wrong? Is it mans opinion or is there a higher authority? Where did men come from? What gives government its authority? Where did all the heartache in the world come from? Why is it wrong for two men or two women to marry? Does evolution have the answers to the origin of the species? Where did all these religions come from?
We will seek to answer many of these questions as we undertake a series I have called "The Origins." The book of Genesis has been called the book of beginnings. It begins with the words, "In the beginning…" We will find that in God’s word we have a great many origins (beginnings) that are very important today. The word has tried to destroy the anchor of humanity and make us answerable only to ourselves. The psalmist said in Psalms 11:3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
I- The God Before Time:
Where did God come from? The Palmist said, Psalms 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." The Bible does not set out to prove that God exists. It simply states the fact without explanation. Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God…" Much like this is the first verse of the Gospel of John which says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God." John 1:1-2
I think we could very not call this the origin of God but the non-origin. When it says the beginning it does not mean the beginning of God. God has always been and will always be.
II- Uncomprehendible:
Do you remember when you were young, say 3 or 4 years old? It seemed that every adult was old. I realized the other day that my father-in-law was my age now when I married his daughter. It is hard for a child or at times, even a young person, to conceive of an old person ever being a child. Eternity past is even harder for our small minds, small compared to Gods, to visualize. May I submit that it is even harder for us to conceive of the timelessness, vastness, and ancientness of God?
Job 9:10 "Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number."
Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (My underline for emphasis)
May I say that this is the very reason that man cannot by his philosophy, which is based on observations of a mere human, nor by psychology, that studies a fallen creature, can ever come to the knowledge of God and who He is. God to be God must be superior to humanity otherwise He is no God at all. God must be supernatural and not just natural. God must be beyond explanation to be superior to those who are attempting to explain Him, AND HE IS!
III- In Eternity Past:
The right questions may be who and what? Who was there and what were they doing. When we talk about God we are only talking about one God. Not three Gods as some may claim about Christianity. However the one God is three persons within one God. In eternity past there was God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. What were they doing? Some theologians state that God t was planning salvation of men.
1 Peter 1:18-20 says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you…" (My underline for emphasis) We also know that God was not lonely because they were fellowshipping with one another.
IV- Three Great Questions:
I feel the question of God can be narrowed down into three questions.
1- If there is no God why do so called atheist fight so hard to kill Him?
One of the things that atheist are constantly doing is fighting against someone they say does not even exist. I submit they add validity to Him and are in fact acknowledging Him by fighting. Someone has said that what Darwin began by evolution was to de-god the universe.
2- Because there is a God what are you going to do with Him?
There are several possibilities. Such as try to destroy Him, ignore Him, replace Him with self, ask what He would have you do. Men must destroy God in order to not be answerable to Him. When someone destroys God, in their own mind, they in effect have enthroned themselves as the final authority. I submit that neither of these options are acceptable. We are left with the fact that God is and the great question in life is what would He have me to do.
3- How can I know Him?
God since the fall of mankind has been seeking restoration of men back to a right relationship with Him. The main thing He wants is for us to have a relationship with Him. How do we do this.
1 John 2:23 says, "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."
John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."