The Words of God

‘In the beginning, God...’ Who wrote these words from Genesis 1:1? The Pentateuch, or first five books of the Bible, is generally attributed to Moses. But Adam preceded Moses by several thousand years; therefore Moses could not have had first hand knowledge of the beginnings of man. The book of Genesis may have been collated by word of mouth, passed from generation to generation and written down by Moses, or more likely, spoken directly to Moses by God Himself.

Whatever the truth, there could have been no human witness to God’s creation of the world, and, assuming it was Moses who wrote the account, it must have been the voice of God who spoke the words: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… God said, "Let there be light" … and separated the light from the darkness… God created man in his own image… breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being… Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and brought her to the man… God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”’ (from Genesis Chapters 1 and 2).

Then came the Fall. Deception was followed by disobedience. The devil gained a foothold, and man’s dominion over the earth was lost. God spoke again to Adam, probably the saddest words ever uttered: ‘Where are you?’ (Genesis 3:9). Adam’s sin had separated him from his intimate relationship with God. And to the woman He said, ‘What is this you have done?’ (Genesis 3:13). ‘So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden’ (Genesis 3:23).

In due time God’s son, Jesus, would come to destroy the work of the evil one (1 John 3:8). He would take upon Himself the sin of mankind and reunite man with God, at the cost of His life. God spoke these prophetic words to Isaiah: ‘He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed… for He bore the sins of many’ (Isaiah 53:4-5, & 12).

And to the apostle John God said: ‘...to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1:12). We can be restored to that intimate relationship we had with God through Adam, if we personally accept Him and all He did for us on the cross. The choice is ours, but the invitation is God’s:‘Come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life’ (Revelation 22:17).

Prayer: Lord, you have the words of eternal life. Help me to walk in the assurance of their truth, today and always, in Jesus’ name. Amen.