In The Beginning

In The Beginning . . .

In his book, “12 Choices: Life-Changing Decisions You Must Make,” Wilson
Adams makes an observation about how the book of Genesis begins:
Isn’t it interesting how the Bible begins? One might expect Scripture to
lead off with a detailed explanation about God, His nature, and a
definitive apologetic as to why you should believe in Him. It doesn’t.
The Bible begins with an assumption: assuming that rational people will
grasp the obvious: a Supreme Being superior to man did all this!
Brother Adams’ point becomes all the more relevant when we compare the
opening words of Genesis with the opening words of the gospel of the apostle
John. They both start with “in the beginning,” but that is where the similarity
ends. Genesis assumes that God exists, and that the reader has some
understanding of who God is. John does no such thing when introducing Jesus
as the Christ. John spends the first eighteen verses talking about the nature of
Christ, who He is, where He came from, and what He did for us.
The reason for the difference between these two introductions is that they are
intended for two different purposes. The “creation of the world” narrative is
written to explain to us how God created the heavens and the earth, in order to
kick off the story of humanity. No explanation of who God is was considered
necessary by the Genesis writer. Conversely, the “creation of the Messiah”
narrative is written with no such luxury - the apostle John is writing to convince
the reader of who Jesus is, “His nature, and a definitive apologetic as to why you
should believe in Him.” The assumption in both cases is that the reader is aware
of God, but needs to be made aware of Jesus.
So, What?
“So, what’s your point?” I hear you say. The point is that, when discussing things
of a spiritual nature, you have to start from common ground. The Genesis writer
starts with the assumption that God exists, and proceeds from there. The apostle
starts with the assumption that God exists, the Old Testament exists, and the
reader is familiar with it, but he does not assume that the reader understands
that Jesus is the Messiah, nor does the reader fully understand what that means.
When discussing, yay, even arguing, spiritual matters, there is no point in trying
to argue the finer points of faith vs. works if the person with whom you are
arguing is an atheist. If that is the case, you can’t even start with the Bible, as he
or she would reject the Bible as just a work of man.
Foundation Is Key
"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will
be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and
the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house;
and it fell - and great was its fall." (Mat 7:26-27)
Every builder will tell you that the foundation of a house is its most important
piece. Yet, when looking to buy a house, the foundation is usually the last thing
we think about. Why? Because it’s not very interesting. We’re more concerned
with floorplans and square footage and kitchen size and number of bathrooms
and ambiance and décor and on and on and on. But the foundation? Not so
much, even though all that other stuff rests upon the boring ol’ foundation.
The same principles apply to spiritual matters. It doesn’t matter how elaborate

the logic or how learned the individual, if the foundation is sand, the house will
fall - and great will be its fall.
Find that common ground. Establish a solid foundation. Then, build upon that
foundation, piece by piece, until your friend must accept the fact that Jesus is
Lord!

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

-Edward Motex
- Phil Parker

______
Don’t Give Up

Have you ever felt like nothing you have tried to do succeeded – when the
ambitions you once had now seem unattainable? Was that feeling made worse by
someone telling you they always thought you would fail? Were you tempted to
say, “That’s it – I give up!”
Consider the following five individuals:
1. called a “slow learner” and “uneducable”
2. considered “dull” and and flunked the sixth grade
3. said to be “too stupid to learn”
4. told that he had no artistic talent, even though he loved to draw
5. rated “mediocre” in his study of chemistry
You’ve probably heard of each of them:
1. Albert Einstein
2. Winston Churchill
3. Thomas Edison
4. Walt Disney
5. Louis Pasteur
Henry Ford has been quoted as saying, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again,
more intelligently.” It’s not easy, but that’s the attitude we need to have.



You can’t teach what you don’t know,
you can’t lead where you don’t go.

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