Before the Beginning

There is something peculiar about the beginning of the Bible. It doesn't begin by introducing its principal character. There is no explanation of His origins, no account of where He came from, and no attempt to establish His credentials. The writer simply assumes He is there.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) There He is. God.

Before anything else existed, according to the account, He was already there. The Bible doesn't attempt to explain how that could be. It makes the declaration and proceeds as though the matter were settled. Now, that is quite a beginning for a story! Consider what we are being asked to contemplate.

A Being who has no beginning, who depends upon nothing for His existence, and who possesses the power to bring an entire universe into being. For some, the proposition is so extraordinary that they dismiss it immediately. Others have believed it all their lives without giving much thought to what it actually means.

But suppose, just for the moment, that we take the writer seriously. What would follow? Everything we know exists within time. We measure our lives in years, the age of civilizations in centuries, and the history of the universe in billions of years. We can investigate the past and imagine the future, but we cannot step outside time to examine what preceded it.

Yet the Bible introduces us to a Creator who is not presented as part of the universe He made.

If that is true, then the beginning of the universe cannot be the beginning of His story.

A Remarkable Discovery

Centuries after Genesis was written, several biblical writers made statements that invite us to look back beyond the beginning of creation.

Peter wrote that Jesus Christ, whom he described as a lamb without blemish or spot, was foreknown before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:19–20).

Paul wrote that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). In another letter, he described grace given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began (2 Timothy 1:9).

These are astonishing claims, particularly when we remember where the human story is going. According to the Bible, humanity will turn away from its Creator. The consequences will be terrible, and the need for redemption will become central to everything that follows. As it applies to the human story.

Yet these later writers tell us that God's purpose in Christ preceded the world's creation. The Redeemer was not an afterthought. Think about the implications.

The Creator knew what humanity would do, yet He made us. He knew that the relationship He intended would be broken, yet His purpose already included the One through whom reconciliation would come.

Why?

We could spend a lifetime examining that question. Indeed, much of what follows will help us understand why it matters. But for now, consider this:

the Bible does not present God's love as something that began when humanity needed rescuing. John tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8). Love was not invented in Eden. It belongs to the nature of the One who made Eden.

And if the biblical writers are telling us the truth, then before the first human being opened his eyes, the Creator already knew what His love would cost.

The Other Side

Think back on our ancient scroll. On one side is the story of humanity, a story filled with remarkable accomplishments, terrible failures, suffering, hope, and an extraordinary longing for something we cannot quite identify.

On the other side is God's purpose, reaching back beyond the beginning of the world. The two accounts belong to the same scroll. Neither can be torn away without damaging the whole. The people living within the human story cannot see everything occurring within God's purpose. They make choices, experience consequences, struggle to understand their circumstances, and frequently wonder where God is in the midst of it all.

But the other side has not disappeared simply because they cannot see it. And as we examine the biblical writings, we will encounter moments when the two sides seem almost to touch. Events separated by centuries will begin to reveal unexpected connections. People who never knew one another will participate in a story whose significance reaches far beyond their own lifetimes.

Again and again, we will find ourselves returning to the same Person. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. For now, we have an extraordinary claim before us:

a Creator who existed before the universe and whose purpose in Christ reaches beyond the beginning of time.

What would such a Being create?

And why?

Let There Be Light

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:3)

There is no description of an enormous machine being set into motion, no account of raw materials being gathered, and no explanation of the tremendous power involved. God speaks. And light exists.

Whatever we may think about the scientific questions surrounding creation, the biblical writer is making something unmistakably clear. The universe is not an independent reality that God happened to discover. It owes its existence to Him. Then the account begins describing a world being prepared.

Light and darkness are distinguished. Waters are divided, dry land appears, and vegetation begins to cover the Earth. The heavens receive their lights, the waters teem with living creatures, and animals fill the land. Again and again comes the simple declaration that what God has made is good. There is order. There is provision. There is life. And within the immensity of the heavens, one remarkable little world becomes the setting for a story unlike any other.

The Earth.

A living garden surrounded by the vastness of creation. But the account is building toward something more extraordinary than oceans, mountains, forests, or even the stars themselves. God is preparing to make someone in His own image. Someone who can know Him. Someone who can respond to Him. Someone who will be entrusted with the world He has prepared. And someone who will be given a choice. We have reached the threshold of human history. The first man is about to enter the story, and nothing about his beginning will be ordinary. But before we meet him, remember what we have discovered.

The Creator was already there.

His love was already there.

And His purpose reached beyond anything humanity could possibly foresee.

The story of mankind was about to begin. The story of God's love had no beginning at all.