Hope Awakening: In The Beginning
Written by Jennifer Andes
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2
“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
Sunsets in South Carolina are my absolute favorite, especially in the fall. Everything seems crisper for some reason. The shades of pink, orange, purple, blue and red stop me in my tracks. Often, I grab my phone to try and capture the beautiful sky but it never looks the same as with my own eyes. Genesis 1 and 2 paint a picture of what God intended for His creation. God’s original intent parallels what we see with our own eyes, and the world we live in mirrors what my picture reveals: a dull version. We live in a sin-stained world, and even what seems breathtaking to us is but a glimpse of God’s intent. Think about your favorite aspect of nature for a minute. And now reflect on the truth that it’s a watered down version of how God actually created it.
As Christians, we believe in the Trinity: one God, three persons. God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three separate entities with three separate roles, but one God. It’s hard to wrap our human minds around it, so it’s something we trust as true. We see all persons of the Trinity in the creation account. God created, the Spirit hovered, and the Word (Jesus) was with Him. I only grasped the importance of this truth in recent years. All that was created was created by Jesus. Nothing was made that didn’t have Jesus’ hands (metaphorically speaking) on it.
Jesus preexisted the plan.
God is omniscient, a fancy word for all-knowing. In the goodness of His creation before the fall, God knew how it would all play out. Before sin enters the picture, God had a plan to redeem us. And Jesus was with Him. Technically, the first time hope awakened was in Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God . . .” Hope existed before creation.
How amazing is our God?
We see a glimpse of the original intent in Genesis 1 and 2, and we see a glimpse of God’s redemption of the whole world in Revelation 21. We live in the in-between, the advent of the final hope of Revelation 21. We can think of our favorite aspects of creation and, as Christians, trustfully expect one day we will see it how God intended. The glorified, sinless, perfected version of it. This hope is ours because Jesus preexisted the plan.
All praise and glory be to Him, forever and ever.
Reflection: Read Genesis 2 and Revelation 21, looking back on God’s intent and looking forward to God’s promise.