Read: Genesis 1:1-25 (key verse: Genesis 1:1)
Reflect: Yesterday
we started to examine the question of what we believe about God. Is God
someone who is personal to you, or an impersonal force? Is God a part
of the world order, or does He exist independent of it? Why do my
beliefs about God matter?
The Dong, as mentioned in yesterday’s
devotion, traditionally hold an animistic worldview: the world they
experience is animated by indwelling spirits with the power to influence
their lives for good or ill. The Dong’s worldview leads them to worship
the many spirits believed to be present in natural forces, and to fear
the possibility of offending those spirits. Animism was a dominant
worldview shaping many of the known cultures during the time of Genesis,
and remains common in many cultures today. Many other people today
believe God is simply a concept coming out of one’s own thinking and
imagination. God cannot exist apart from a person’s thoughts, and God’s
nature is dependent on what that person wants or needs from a God of
their own thinking. Still others would argue that there is no God; the
only true reality is the material world with which they are in contact.
God does not factor in any way into their decisions and actions in life.
Genesis 1 presents a very different
image of God from the beliefs described above. We see a description of
one God, a Creator God, who existed before everything else and in fact
created everything else. The writer of Genesis saw the cultures around
him worshipping such natural forces as the sun, waters, earth, plants,
and animals. This chapter tells us that those cultures were not
worshipping actual gods, as they believed, but simply objects created by
the One True God who preceded them and thought them into being. God is
not the product of someone else’s thinking; instead, the entire material
world is the product of God’s thinking.
If I want to get to know somebody as
he/she really is, I cannot simply go with my own ideas about what that
person ought to be like. If I do not spend time paying close attention
to that person to see what he/she reveals about him/herself, I am simply
engaging in speculation. The same is true if I want to really
understand who God is and whether that has any relevance for my life.
The Bible reveals God as not just part of the material world, but
Creator of and authority over that material world. If that is true, then
knowing God is of paramount importance if my life is to reach its full
potential. And the best way to get to know God is to learn what He has
revealed about Himself, which I do by studying what the Bible has to say
about Him.
Taking it Further: Who
is God, and what does that mean for me? How important is God to my
choices and daily life? What do I believe is the meaning of my life? On
what am I basing my worldview/beliefs about God, the world, and the
meaning of life?
