In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was barren, with no form of life; it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness. But the Spirit of God was moving over the water. Genesis 1:1-2 (CEV)
The first two verses of what I know as The Bible, God’s Word. “In the beginning” is there to help my understanding. For God, there was no “beginning” because He has always been. So in my finite mind this phrase means that when God created time, this was the beginning.
From this moment of beginning, God created all the beauty of the heavens and the earth. It was a place for His children to live. When I stand and look at Niagara Falls, look at the waves that roll and splash into the sugar white sands near my home, or gaze at majestic mountains that rise with indescribable strength, I catch a glimpse into what God created from the beginning. Into this time and place came Adam, the first man that God created and called good (Genesis 1:31).
God created each and every one of us. He did not replicate me from another child but from His own image and likeness. People may say that I “look like” my biological father and that my granddaughter “looks like” me but all three of us are individual children to our Father. He created me and thus opened the book that would record each day of my life. He wrote my name – and then turned the pen over to me to write the choices that would map my life. That was a risky liberty, what I now call free will. It would have been much simpler and more safe for God to keep the pen in His hand but it would not have been love. Love can only truly exist when it is free to be given.
God continued to give His love. He gave Himself. He sent Himself to live a fully human life. He became the flesh He had created. He had hands and feet. He had laughter and tears. Most importantly, this Emmanuel had choices just like me. He stood at crossroads – actually He knelt at the crossroads – and wept as He asked Creator God to allow Him to pass on the crucifixion. And then bowed His head in submission, choosing to walk obediently up that hill to the Cross.
I too had the opportunity to choose death of myself so that I would have eternal life. In July 1995 I made the choice to live the rest of my life God’s Way. I began to follow Emmanuel’s footsteps to my own cross and take it up every day. It is a conscious choice every day, sometimes even more than once a day to let go and place the pen back in the Father’s hand to write my story.
When I was a little girl I read Cinderella and Snow White and loved the words “And they lived happily ever after.” I wantd the story book ending. It does not come with the right Prince or with gold at the end of a rainbow. It is only with the Creator God who has always been and created me at His perfect time and with His perfect plan that my life becomes Forever After. No enemy can defeat me because Emmanuel has defeated the Enemy and Death. No weapon can be formed to destroy me because I have God’s Spirit, the same one that hovered over the waters before they were formed. His Spirit brings all that I need to live each day. His wisdom, comfort, strength, grace and mercy are only the beginning of the abundance that He has for me that defeats anything that attempts to influence my choices and derail the life that my Creator desires for me. I have my Mighty Gracious LORD. I have forever after.
Majesty and Glory of Your Name written by Tom Fettke & sung by the Mark Thallander Foundation Festival Chorus
