Genesis 1:1-9; 14-15; 20; 24; 26-29 (NIV)

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.  And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 

The Greatest Story Ever Told

  So what was or is the greatest story ever told? Well, as a storyteller myself, I’m all about the story. I love stories. I even make up stories. It’s something I’ve done my entire life. As a kid, my storytelling was especially exasperating to my mother. It became a game to see just how great a story I could tell. Ultimately it led to my passion for writing and my passion for oral storytelling.

  In 1965 an American epic came to the big screen. The Greatest Story Ever Told received five Academy Award nominations despite its box office disappointment. It only earned $15.5 million with a $20 million budget. First appeared in New York on February 15, 1965. The critics went apoplectic over it. Needless to say, their responses were quite polarized. If you’re unfamiliar with the film, it retells a Biblical account of Jesus taking the viewer from the Nativity all the way through to the Ascension.

Photo by pippen on Unsplash

  As a bit of trivia, it’s interesting to know that The Greatest Story Ever Told originated in 1947 as a radio series. Then in 1949, it was adapted into a novel. And in May of 1954 20^th Century Fox acquired the film rights to the novel. After that, the project was abandoned. It started up again in 1960 with the screenwriting and by August 1, 1963 filming ended. It finally premiered on February 15, 1965.

  I put all this out there because in our scripture we read:

And God said, “Let there be”—and it was so.

What’s so very cool about that opening line is that God is still writing this story today and we are the main characters. I submit that’s really the greatest story ever told.

  Every story begins with a great opening line. Let’s look at a few pretty amazing opening lines.

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1. A Tale of Two Cities – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
2. Moby Dick – “Call me Ishmael.”
3. Pride & Prejudice – “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
4. Huck Finn – “You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter.”
5. The Invisible Man – “I am an invisible man.”

  All exceptionally good. This, however, is the best opening line: In the beginning God…

God is the author of this story. Take a look at how God just goes:

BAM! Moon; BAM! Sun; BAM! Earth; BAM! Trees; BAM! Animals.

All God needs to do is say… “let there be….

And it’s so.

  As a king names his subjects God names each creation.

  Here we are…in the beginning. In the first chapter of Genesis, we read about the most extraordinary event in all of history. The most extraordinary event of the entire universe—creation. It’s truly a great opening line as it represents the greatest of all possible miracles. Our scripture relays an account of how God made everything that exists. He made all this with a full purpose in mind.

  What would life be without a controversy? There is much of this nonscience surrounding the first chapter of Genesis. Why? Because of what is not detailed. Some wonder why other events in the Bible provide great even minute details. But here we are in the first two chapters of Genesis involving the creation and the subject of the creation is written about only briefly which causes many disagreements and debates.

  Questions that come from these debates are: Did God really create the universe in just six days each day being twenty-four hours? Or did it take Him longer? Do we take these two chapters as literal or symbolic? Was this truly the very beginning of everything? It comes to this in my mind. How do the answers to any of these questions change anything? Any answer to these questions still solidifies the fact that God indeed created everything. For me the how and when He created is undeniable.

Only God can create something/everything out of nothing.

With creation complete God sat back and said, “It is good.” Hang on to that word “good” because it doesn’t say “perfect” as there’s a different word for “perfect” in Hebrew. Had the word “perfect” been the meaning we would be reading “perfect” in the Bible.

The scriptures are God’s Word. Breathed out by God.

Therefore I submit God fully intends for us to know Him as the Creator of all things.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

And that’s what I learned in Church……see ya next time!