A God For Everyone

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1
Hebrew:
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ
Transliterated: B'reseet bara Elohim et ha-samayim ve-it ha-erets
Roughly translated: In the beginning/at the start, He created [God] the skies/heavens and the ground/earth.


What this verse does:

1.  It establishes the source/authority of all things.
1. "In the beginning" is used quite often in scripture to signify the beginning of a King's reign.
2. It also, in this verse, establishes who was there and who WASN'T there at the start of things.
2. It gives us the first image of God's skill.
1. The word for create comes from Phoenician words for skilled craftsman. Fashioning tools and weapons.
2. The first action of God in scripture is to fashion all existing things.
3. It establishes both the domain and the canvas for God.
1. The word for skies/heavens is a derivative of the word for water. This stands in contrast with the word for ground/dirt/earth.
2. Also skies represents air and that which we breath. Thus, God's domain is established in all the realms of existence: Earth, Water, and Air.
4. It presents us with a God who is for everyone.
1. The word Elohim is not the name God used in his dealings with Israel, Yhwh.
2. Elohim is the general word for God used in all the religions of the middle east.
3. This verse starts at the point most could agree on.

This was the very first verse I ever memorized, and it still remains one of the most powerful verses in my life. I think the source of so many of our problems is that we view ourselves as the center of the universe, the be-all end-all of our own lives. This verse establishes that there is something and someone higher than us, with authority over us, and with skills to create and mold us into what he sees fit. It reminds us that we are accountable to a higher power.

Fittingly, this verse opens the Bible and invites us to, even if only for a moment, turn our eyes to our Creator.