“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
“Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?
These are the first lines from “A Tale of Two Cities”, “Star Wars”, and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Any writer will tell you that the first line, the first paragraph, the first scene, are critical to drawing in the reader, the audience. It’s where the tone is set, characters are introduced, the interest is sparked, or not. Beginnings are important.
Over the next three months we’re going to be exploring who God is. It might feel like that is a long time, but to be honest it seems to me that it is a lifetime’s work, we’re not going to be able to do it all. But we will make a start, we will begin. As we explore we’re going to see how God’s character is consistent throughout the Bible, in Old and New Testaments alike. We’re going to see how God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit work in harmony throughout the history of the people of God recorded in the Bible. We’re going to see how God’s nature and character, who God is, remains consistent and trustworthy, and what that means for us today.
We begin our exploration this morning by focussing on God as creator.
Both our readings today began with the same three words. What were they?
In the beginning….
This is not a coincidence. Nor is it an example of two writers using a traditional opening to start a story. This is not like “Once upon a time….” appearing at the start of fairy stories.
When John wrote his eye witness account of the life and ministry of Jesus, he chose to begin it like this because he wanted his readers to think back to the beginning of the Bible, to the beginning of Genesis, and to see that the Jesus he was going to talk about in the rest of his writing was there at the beginning.
Let’s go a bit further in our Genesis reading.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said….”
The first claim of the scriptures is that God created everything. This is as foundational as it gets. Before anything else the first thing that the Bible says about God is that God created everything. Without that happening, there would be no Bible, because there wouldn’t be anything. There wouldn’t be any of the history it describes, we wouldn’t be here to read it, because there wouldn’t be anything. That’s why it’s first, because everything, and I mean absolutely everything that has been, that is, that will be, depends on it.
Genesis tells us that the Spirit of God was there, hovering, brooding over the formless chaos.
And then God spoke creation into being. God spoke and there was light, there was day and night, there was sky and earth, there was sea and dry land, on and on it goes. All from God’s speaking it into being.
And what is it that God spoke?
What is it that we all speak?
We speak words.
So, is it a stretch to suggest that God spoke The Word.
This is one way of understanding what John wrote, and the link between that and what is written in Genesis.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made that has been made.”
Here John is claiming that “The Word” was intimately involved in the work of creation. He goes as far as to say that without “The Word” nothing would have been made.
So, what or who is “The Word?”
John makes it clear at the end of the reading we’re looking at this morning,
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
There’s only one person who fits that description, and it’s Jesus.
So, taking these two readings together we see that all three persons of the Trinity are there at the beginning – God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Each is involved in the work of creating everything. There are lots of different ways of thinking about the Trinity, none of them says everything, and each is deficient, but this is one that I find helpful.
When we think about speaking, there is the one who speaks, the word that is spoken, and the breath that carries the word.
In the act of creation there is the one who speaks – “God said…” there is the Word that is spoken, and the Breath, the Spirit of God, that carries the word. Each works in coherent harmony with a single purpose and intent, to bring creation into being.
The modern scientific method was originally developed by Christians who, wondering at the majesty of God’s creation, wanted to understand it more deeply, so that they could worship God more fully. In time some came to believe that the explanations provided by science of how creation developed over time left little room for God.
Other scientists, as they delve deeper into the mysteries and beauty of creation are left astounded at the sheer creativity and subtlety of it all, and believe that it points to God. That we can explain, to a certain extent, how things have been created, does little or nothing to answer the question of why or how it all began.
The ancient and consistent claim of the Jewish and Christian faiths that God was there at the beginning of all things, and created everything, continues to be foundational in our understanding of the world, of ourselves, and of God.
Consider a leaf. Imagine one in your hand now. You might find if helpful to close your eyes. What kind of leaf is it? An oak leaf, a beech leaf, a blade of grass? What colour is it? Is it light or dark, glossy? Can you see its veins?
This leaf can help us see how creation speaks to us of its creator God.
Consider the artistry of this leaf, the beauty of it, the creativity of it. Observe its shape, its curves, its variety. This speaks to us of the creativity of God.
Consider the complexity of this leaf. Consider its structures, its cells, its biochemistry that provides energy for the plant to grow. Consider what it would take for you to replicate this leaf – for you to make a leaf. This speaks to us of the majesty, the mastery, of God. The God who created not just this leaf but every kind of leaf. God is so far beyond us in capacity and understanding.
Consider the presence of this leaf. It is here. It is sat in your hand. It is accessible to you. You can see it, and touch it. You can appreciate its beauty. This speaks to us of God’s nearness. God is as near to you as this leaf.
God was there at the beginning of all things, created all things, and the creation sings of God’s glory, if we will just take a moment to stop and listen, to wonder and to be lifted up in the song. It’s true that not all is well in creation, and sometimes the song stutters, but it will not be silenced, and it will be restored in all its splendour when Jesus returns.
While we wait, expectantly and attentively for that return, we are called to care for God’s creation, to steward it well. If we’d read on in our Genesis passage, we’d have discovered that this is one of the first commands that God gave to humanity. Obedience to this command is the beginning of our response of gratitude and wonder to the one who created it all.
I’ve said a number of times that God was there at the beginning of all things, and created all things. That isn’t just a universal truth, it is a personal reality.
God was there at our beginning. God created us.
God was there at your beginning. God created you.
You are not an accident. You are not just the product of millennia of natural selection and genetic lottery. You are an intended individual. Your biological parents may or may not have intended your conception. God intended your creation.
You are part of what God speaks into being through the Word and the power of the Spirit. Whatever else anyone has said about you or over you, the most important Word is the one that was spoken to create you. That is the root of our identity, our purpose, our very life.
As we receive this truth for ourselves we realise that it applies to everyone else as well. Every single person was created by God with intent and love. Those we get on with and those we don’t, those we love and those we hate, those we agree with and those we wish would take a long jump off a short cliff. All created and loved by God. Allowing this truth to shape us and our thoughts and actions is foundational to our obedience to those heart commandments of our faith – love God and love your neighbour.
So, let us wonder at creation, and allow that wonder to inspire and deepen our worship of God: Speaker, Word, Breath. Let us rest in the assurance that we have been created on purpose. Let us commit ourselves to do the works that God has prepared for us to do, in love of others and in service of the creation that it may be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
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