Genesis - The Beginning of Creation, the Story of Creation

Genesis - The Wonder of the Universe and Creation

Genesis Chapter 1:1

Genesis is a remarkable book of the bible because it explains the very existence of man.  I don't think I really read too much into Genesis as a child.  I accepted the creation of our Earth as just a simple task for God.  Sure, it is remarkable that God created Earth, all the living creatures, and vegetation. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" seemed to be just that to me.  As an adult I looked at the wonder of creation in a more literal sense.  

When I was researching the bible for a story that I was writing I wasn't exactly looking for inspiration when I started to read the bible.  I think when I was reading I was just looking for holes in the story more or less.  Then when I was reading the bible, through Genesis and on, that I realized that the miracle of creation is truly a miraculous thing.  I was always a big proponent of science.  I believe in evolution and the big bang.  I believed in only things that I could prove through science.  It is a wonder to me that one of the biggest and most widely accepted theory in science, the big bang theory (not the awful CBS Show with a laugh track), had the most scientifically accepted theory on the creation of the cosmos.  The theory is that all of creation, all of our being, came from a huge explosion that would originate all life as we know it.  Isn't it funny that this widely accepted theory has no explanation as to what the catalyst would have been for the original big bang,  That no matter how accepted this theory is we have to take the idea that it happened, and that we have to accept it as it is... with faith.  

That concept made me think a lot about the big bang theory, and what that catalyst was.  I think that it would be a grand notion that the origin of our universe was indeed by our God, and that he created all of our existence in one large bang.  Just a snap of his God's fingers he could have created our existence.  

In the bible it says that it took him seven days to create the universe... but a chain reaction has to start somewhere.

I know that by no means I am the first person to have this theory dawn on them.  I think that the miracle of creation is no small feat.  I think that the wonder of creation is better than the alternative, that somehow micro-organisms evolved into what we call life today.  I have absolute faith in God that creation as it stands today is of God's ultimate design, and the fact that life is as complex as it is is a complete testament to the wonder of his love.

I will delve into each verse of the bible more and more, taking a few blog posts to get through creation, and each successive post the pace should pick up more and more after that.  I think that creation is a pretty big deal, and has a lot to do with my testimony, and faith in God.

Abraham, the Father of Israel (Genesis Chapter 12:1-9)

Abraham, the Father of Israel

Genesis Chapter 12:1-9

One of the interesting aspects of the story of Abraham is that in the beginning of his story he was called Abram.  It is implied that in the beginning of Abram's story he had already been asked by God to leave his family and home in the land of Ur to move to Haran (and then eventually to Canaan).

God had established a covenant with Abram, telling him that he would found a great nation.  Not only would Abram's nation be blessed but all of his descendants would bless the other nations of the world.

God's promises is evident in Genesis 12:2-3
Genesis 12
2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 
3And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

God took the Abram from the city of Ur, whose location is not certain, and made those promises to him, to make a him great and he would be the father of the great land of Israel.  God did not tell Abram his plan or where Abram was to go, but simply to get out of Haran and head south.

A large part of Abram's journey was to experience many dangers and uncertainty to show his future people what it means to be one of God's chosen people.  At the age of 75 Abram left the majority of his family, besides his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, behind.  He was by promised  God that his offspring would inherit the land, and so he built an alter to the Lord who appeared to him.

Genesis 12:7-8

7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to theLORD who had appeared to him. 

8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched histent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.

Then Abram continued on toward Negev for our next entry.