In the beginning God

I have often heard “I like to think of god as ......” It gives credence to Joey Lawsin's “In the beginning Man created god, in his own image created he him.”   Twelve-step-programs speak of “god as we understand him.”  But is the god of my understanding God, specifically is it the God of the Bible?  And if not, what gives me the right to decide what He is like?  Can I choose reality, can I choose what is true,  and what is not true?  Can I decide that water is not wet?  All this of course,  begs the questions “Does God exist,” and “If He does, is He the God of the Bible?”

As a child I always knew that God existed, I think that most of us do. But He is rather inconvenient when you want to do what you want to do  (Romans 1:18-20). And I came to believe that my earlier knowledge was naive. It's called rationalization and denial! It was a long and difficult journey to find my way back. And a big part of that,  was the realization over and over,  that the Bible knows me through and through.  In other words,   I came to believe that the God of the Bible is God,  because He was leading me more and more into reality,  reality not as I wanted it to be, but as it actually is. In terms of the analogy I discovered that water really is wet!

Jesus told us that we have an enemy whose agenda is to kill steal and destroy. He has a lot of influence, can you see it? But, and there is a “but,” Jesus came to bring life in all its fullness (John:10:10). We are His sheep if we follow Him (John 10:4, 27).  And my experience is,  that the closer I follow Him the closer I get to that fullness of life! It wasn't alway so. There’s was a way that seemed right to me,  but it lead to destruction (Proverbs 13:12). My way seemed right, that is until I suffered the consequences of my poor choices (Galatians 6:7).

These pictures of course, are analogies with spiritual applications. Another picture describes the Bible as the bread of life, it tells that  I cannot not live (the abundant life),  by bread alone (by the material things of life), but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).  I remember a preacher telling us that if we are wondering if a loaf of bread is indeed bread,  we should look at it, smell it, feel it, but the untimely test would be to eat it!  As new born babes we should desire the sincere milk of the Word, and then go on from there to maturity (1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 5:14).


Lord Jesus, You tell us,  that if we want to know if what You taught is true, we just need to obey what You tell us, that is the proof is in the pudding (John 7:17). You are telling us that in the same way unrighteousness suppresses truth (Romans 1:8), so doing righteousness confirms it. It’s not easy Lord, but it’s not rocket science! Thank You for Your promise that when we totally surrender You not only change our desires, but You also give us the wherewithal (the grace) to do Your will. Thank You too, that if we continue in Your Word,  we will know the truth, and the truth will progressively set us free (John 8:31, 32). It’s all  testable Lord  in Your precious Name  Amen