In the beginning God created...

By Steve Johnson

A self evident statement is one that should be obvious to the average person. In the declaration of independence, Thomas Jefferson famously wrote 'We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men were created equal. It is a statement quoted more times that almost any other. One of profound moral importance and yet simple enough be apparent to any thinking person and should be clear to a moral being. An explanation could be made and may be beneficial but one shouldn't be necessary. It is, as Jefferson said, self evident.

In the bible, the greatest group of historical documents in history, we find the introduction 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth'. What a remarkable statement. No attempt is made to justify the statement or attempt to prove it. The statement stands alone as one that is supposed to be taken as self evident. Sadly we find that many question this vital moral truth. It is not my aim to go through the well worn debates about evolution and whether such a being as 'God' even exists. Such debates find their fuel in the utterly absurd and intellectually bankrupt premise that everything can and did create itself, that incredible order came from utter chaos and that vast mind boggling amounts of information were brought together without any intelligent mind behind it. Atheistic evolution runs cross grain to logic, true science and even basic morality.

Rather, I want to consider some the moral benefits of living in the understanding that God created all things. Consider Thomas Jefferson's self evident truth. If we were to reject this then we open up to the idea that one life is of intrinsically higher value than another. Racial supremacy and every form of bigotry is now on the table as a viable option and the mistreatment, oppression and cruelty of individuals and humanity generally can now be, potentially, justified. Once we have accepted the fact that all human beings are created equal, not in talent or usefulness or wealth but in the fact that every one of us is a priceless creation of God made in His image, we have the foundations of a value system that esteems and protects humanity rather than exploits and destroys it.

Do you know your true value? We can measure value in economic terms. How much are you worth to your employer for example. We can measure value in democratic terms. How many people value you and how much? Or to put it another way, if you were to die today, how many people would attend your funeral. We can measure value in terms of fame or achievement or the level of influence you have in the world. Where, I have to wonder, do these measures leave the elderly, the poor, the disabled, the unborn, the socially dysfunctional, the homeless, the unskilled, the unpopular, the unwanted. No, your true value lies not in any of these fallible human measurements but in the measure that God Himself measures with. You were made in the image of God.

Consider this remarkable statement that you are the pinnacle of God's creation. It means firstly that you are priceless, Secondly that every human being is equal to you in this respect because the same can also be said of them. As a finite value can no longer be put on any human being we can no longer make comparative value judgements. We are all priceless. This then begs the question, what are you giving your life for? After all what is actually equal to your value? Your job, money, pleasure, building an empire or name for yourself, power, prosperity or popularity. All are insufficient for the person who knows their true value. Our only conclusion is to seek our purpose in the one who gives us our value and that is the God who made us all. Ask yourself this question, Honestly now, what is the most important thing in your life. Or to put it another way, what is it you give yourself to and live for? This will define {or expose} your real value system. When we life for the one who put us here in the first place, then and only then do we really begin to live as we were created to. Then and only then do we really begin to grasp what life is really all about.

We were made in the image of God and we were made to reflect Him.

So what does this look like. Well we live for God when He is at the centre of everything we do, He is our chief influence and motivation. Our chief desire is to please Him and reflect His moral character. This should be the conclusion when we hold to the self evident truth that God created all things including us. Let me take this even further. The very earth you walk on and live on was created by God. His creation holds you up. The heat of the sun which is vital to sustain life on earth was created by God. The very breath you breathe was created by God. Every cell in your body was designed by God and the very beat of your heart beats to the design God made for it. What an awesome, life transforming perspective. Every step I take is upheld by God. Every breath I take was enabled by God. Every beat of my heart beats to the rhythm of Gods creative, life giving power. Simply by considering His creative power and genius I find as the scripture has said He is not far from any of us and In Him we live and move and have our being. I find the scripture of the song of heaven to be true which says The whole earth is filled with His glory. I find a higher value to life than I could possibly find anywhere else and I come to the only rational conclusion that my purpose in life is to live for His purposes and for His glory and not my own. True satisfaction, joy and fulfilment in life can only come through this and all other ways are cheap imitations doomed to ultimate failure. Live with God at the centre of your life is to be in sync with the ultimate and foundational reality. To live with ourselves or anything else at the centre is to life in a falsehood, a state of fantasy, out of sync with God and the universe which He made.

I also have to conclude that if I am made in the image of the eternal God then I myself will exist for eternity. We all will. The idea that a human life, precious, immeasurable in worth and value would simply fade in to non existence doesn't even come into the equation. What does arise in my mind is the question, if this life is not all these is then what happens to us when we die? Such a question should lead us to the one who created us all in the first place. After all it was His purpose for which we were created. At this point people begin to ask questions about heaven and hell. Hell is described as being eternal separation from God yet most people don't believe they will go there. Hell ,they say is only for the really bad people and by bad they inevitably {and conveniently} those worse than themselves. Heaven and hell are based on God's standards, not our own. How is it that a human being who lives as if God didn't exists thinks that he or she will spend eternity in fellowship with him? It is a contradiction in terms. All things were created by God and for God and made to reflect Him. As human beings we are in a powerful {and dangerous} position. We can actually choose to live for God and His glory or choose to reject Him. This rejection may not be obvious at first but can be observed in a person's general ambivalence to God and a decision to live for themselves {or anything other than God}. Yes, many of us want to live independently of the one who is the reason for our very existence yet think we will be in heaven {which is defined as eternal fellowship with God}.

My conclusion has to be that a God who created something so precious as a human life did not create us to sent us to hell but that hell is a decision we make while on this earth. We CHOOSE separation from God. We CHOOSE rebellion AGAINST His purpose for our lives. The good news is that we can choose to repent {That is to turn from this independent fallacy and turn to the one who made us all and to whom we are all ultimately accountable}. That is the reason why God sent His Son Jesus. Jesus is the one man who truly lived for His Fathers glory. He is the only man who led a sinless life. The bible says we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that there is a wage for this. It is death. The eternal separation from God. Jesus, however has paid the price for our sin by dying in our place. He has paid for every act of rebellion and independent living we have ever been involved in. Furthermore, because Jesus himself never sinned death had no legal claim on him. He rose from the dead and is able to give eternal life to all who put their trust in him. Jesus came to bring us back to our first and true purpose in life. To bring us back to the self evident truth of our true value. Made in the image of God and called to reflect the moral character of God in our thoughts words and deeds. Jesus exampled the people we were created to be. It is through Jesus, through faith in him that God begins to return us from the hellish delusion of secularism {That is independence from God} and back to the only thing that reflects our true value. Being in relationship with and in alignment with the God who created everything you are, you walk on, you breathe and the very beat of your heart. Through Jesus we can be born again. We begin to really live. Live as God always intended. Living in the reality of the self evident truth that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and that we were made in His image.

When I consider the self evident truth that God created all things and that they were created for His purpose and pleasure then everything else begins to fall into place.