“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Volumes upon volumes can and have been written about this one verse and its incalculable implications for, well, everything. But while we can get caught up in all the philosophical and theological ruminations following from the realities presented to us by these seven words (in the original Hebrew), we must not forget one of the most, if not the most important lesson: Genesis 1:1 provides the foundation of our worship. It provides the reason for our worship. It reveals the Person we are to worship, exclusively. It provides the basis of our duty to worship. What is it that Genesis 1:1 teaches us about worship that is so profound? Simply this: God is God and we exist because and for Him. It really is that simple.
The Scriptures abound with references to this prerogative of the Creator, “for whom and by whom all things exist” (Heb. 2:10). Two truths stand out, one familiar, the other less so. God as Creator is the reason “all things” exist: “You created all things and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11). Or this: “All things were made through him (Jesus), and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). All things were made through him. Nothing has been made that was not made by him. God as Creator brought all things into existence. “Before” God created (there was no “before” the beginning as time itself was created; but while we cannot accurately use the word “before” in the sense of chronology, we can in terms of logical priority), there was the triune God and there was nothing else. God exists from all eternity. Everything else had a beginning – at one “time” it did not exist.
But there’s another truth in that Hebrews 2:10 passage that must be grasped. Not only is God as Creator the one “by whom all things exist,” He is the one “for whom all things exist.” God created all things with a purpose, and that purpose is ultimately found in the will of the Creator to magnify His glory through all creation. Through the prophet Isaiah, the God of creation said this: “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory” (Isa 43:7). That is it in a nutshell: everything was created by God and for God.
Continue Reading