A Foundation for the Future

As we embark on a New Year, it's important that we know how to have a firm foundation to face the world in which we live. We need to start with a Christian worldview, and to do that we need to start at the very beginning. Genesis 1:1 opens, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This is foundational truth.

God Is Simply Presented
Recognize Him

"In the beginning God..." God is not argued, explained, nor defended. He is simply presented. There is neither an explanation in the Bible for the existence of God nor did the writers try to prove His existence. The Bible is full and complete and has all we need for faith. God must ultimately be accepted by faith.

Whether you believe in God is not a matter of the mind but a matter of the heart. The Bible says in Psalm 53:1, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." When the Bible uses the word fool, it does not mean the man who is mentally deficient; it means the man who is morally deficient. What God is saying is that a man with a wicked heart is the kind of man who denies God. In fact, it does not state the fool has said in his heart there is no God. It literally says, the fool has said in his heart, "No God." Just like you might go through the cafeteria line and say, "No dessert"; the fool says, "No God. I do not want God."

God Is Sovereignly Powerful
Respect Him

"In the beginning God created..." Only God has creative power and only God has originating power. The Hebrew word for create is Bara, and it means "to make something out of absolutely nothing." Hebrews 11:3 says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." God is the One who can make something out of nothing. Man cannot create anything, and man cannot destroy anything. All man can do is to change the form.

If you see a watch, you assume there is a watchmaker. If you see a building, you assume there is an architect. If you see the complex structure of the human body, I hope you don't believe that happened by chance. The evolutionists believe that billions of years plus time plus chance can turn frogs into princes. In school they call that fairytales; in the laboratory they call it science. Man cannot create.

Only God has originating power. One question that stumps the evolutionists: Where did primordial ooze come from? If they say life came from Mars, where did Mars come from? There are two alternatives: a self-existing universe or a self-existing God.

God Is Surely Purposeful
Reverence Him

"In the beginning God created..." When you look at creation, there are two things you can see very easily, one is design and the other is purpose. Look at three reasons why God created everything:

- For His pleasure. The Bible says in Revelation 4:11, speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ, who was God's agent in creation, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."
- For His praise. Psalm 150:6 says, "Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord." God created it all for His pleasure and for His praise
- For His people. Because God was going to create a people, He made a home for them. And when God made it, He stepped back and said that it was good.

God Is Savingly Personal
Receive Him

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The name for God here is the name Elohim, and it speaks of a personal God. The word El means a God who has unlimited power and speaks of strength. Then the last part of Elohim means to swear or to make a covenant. The two words together, strength and covenant, results in a God Who is Almighty and Who always keeps His word. In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

- We have a solemn obligation to God because He created us and the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 12:1, "Remember now thy Creator." We have an obligation to God. We are His because of creation and because of redemption.
- Not only do we have an obligation to God, but God has an obligation to us. The Bible calls Him in 1 Peter 4:19, a faithful Creator. When God brought us into this universe, He did not make us to abandon us.

When you give your heart to God and trust Him as your Lord and Savior, you are fulfilling your obligation to Him. You are saying, "You made me, You redeemed me, and I surrender to You." When He comes into you, to guard you, guide you, protect you, and take care of you, He is fulfilling His obligation to you.

Are you ready to face the issues of this world? I pray these fundamental truths will help you to have a firm foundation.