By Martin Morrison
The atheist Bertrand Russell is reputed to have said, that without God, there can be no point in discussing the purpose of life. How obviously true! If there is no God, there is absolutely no point in any discussions or even living itself. Another atheist, the German Friedrich Nietzsche hugely influential in the “death of God” movement, lived out Russell’s point by spending the last years of his life in total seclusion, before a complete loss of mental health which lead to his early death at age 56. Nietzsche was a huge influence on Adolf Hitler and interestingly Richard Wagner, which explains why I have never enjoyed Wagner’s music in the slightest!
In our last devotion, we started looking at Genesis 1, and in particular what Genesis 1 teaches us about God. The first thing we learnt about God in Genesis 1, is that God simply is. We saw that the Bible does not begin with a long list of arguments to prove the existence of God. It simply begins, “In the beginning God”, Genesis 1:1. Fundamental to the Christian faith is the self-existence of God. God has no beginning and no end. God has always existed. There never has been a time when God did not exist.
The second thing we can learn about God in Genesis 1, is that God made everything that is non-God. The word God dominates Genesis 1, just as he dominates creation. The word God is mentioned thirty-five times in this one chapter, initiating, speaking, working, creating, blessing. God is the subject of all the action in Genesis 1.
I’m told that the second law of thermodynamics is that matter cannot be created or destroyed. We can use it, transfer it, displace it or move it, but we cannot create or destroy matter or energy. Yet God, who is the author of the laws of nature defies that very principle and creates out of nothing. “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light”, Genesis 1:3. I am an employer, a husband and a father. I speak and nothing happens! God speaks and light comes into being! It is beyond our ability to conceive such great power. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host”, Psalm 33:6.
If God made everything that is not God, it affirms the biblical principle that there is a clear distinction between Creator and creation. The two are separate and not to be confused. Pantheism which is at the root of Hinduism and all New Age spirituality, teaches that we are all God. You are God. I am God. Everything is God. There is no creator/creature distinction.
Neil Donald Walsh, a pantheist, was asked, “Are we all gods? Or are we all part of God, or are we collectively God? Yes to all of the above”, he answered. It’s the same as the Hindu priest who wrote, “Kneel to your own self. Worship and honour your own being. God dwells within you as You”. It’s the same as all the new age spirituality books which tell us that the key to life is discovering the divine within yourself, the scared spark trapped in your body. It’s the theme of the book, The Secret Code. It’s the unspoken theme of all our atheistic friends who speak in reverential awe and worship when speaking of nature. Haven’t you noticed! Remember how G K Chesterton taught us, that, “Nature worship inevitably produces things that are against nature”.
The Christian faith says nonsense, the key to reality will never be found in creation or another creature, or even some divine spark within yourself. No, it’s found outside of yourself. It’s found in the Creator. The Bible teaches that there is a clear distinction between God and his creation, God and his creatures. God made everything that is non-God and is distinct from his handiwork.
The third thing we learn about God in Genesis 1, is that God is a personal, talking God. Throughout Genesis 1 and the rest of the Bible, God is seen as a personal, talking God. Genesis 1:3, “And God said, let there be light”. “And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters”… and it was so”, Genesis 1:6 – 7. What that tells us, is that God is not just a distant reality, a sovereign creator and uncaused cause. No, he is a creator God, a personal God, in fact a speaking God.
The concept of a speaking God is not illogical or unreasonable or irrational at all. If we the creatures can speak, communicate, write, share the most intimate details of our lives with others, then it is not illogical for our creator to do the same and more! If the creature can speak, well then surely the creator can speak! Perfectly logical!
The fourth thing we learn about God in Genesis 1, is not only that God created everything, both large and small, but that he created in an orderly and purposeful way. God did not create arbitrarily or on a whim. Nor is he haphazard. He creates an orderly world, in which we can live orderly, purposeful lives.
The prophet Isaiah says, “The Lord who created the heavens, he is God; who formed the earth and made it, he established it; he did not create it to be empty, he formed it to be inhabited”, Isaiah 45:18. The word empty in Isaiah is the same word empty used in Genesis 1:2. And when God sees that his world is habitable, God is pleased. He looks at his world and says that it is good. In fact, it is very good.
As those living after the death and resurrection of Jesus, it is important to remember what Paul teaches us about Jesus in Colossians, “For by him all things were created – all things were created by him and for him”, Colossians 1:15 – 16. So once again we remember the wise men who, “.. fell down and worshiped him”, Matthew 2:11. Go and do likewise!