14 The story of reality – part 1, Creation

“In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth”. These are the first words in the Bible.

God has always existed, but the universe has not. It was brought into being by God, who is greater than his creation and separate from it. It was not a cosmic accident, as atheists are forced to conclude. It is not one with its creator, as believed by followers of Eastern religions.

God made the universe out of nothing, by the power of his word. It was designed for his purpose. It was well made, it was very good. God made the world and placed it in its orbit. He caused the separation of dry land from water. He formed the atmosphere and the seasons. He made the plants and animals, each after their own kind.

God made the first humans in his own image, thus we are very different from the rest of his creatures. God is a spirit, so it was not God’s physical image. We are like God but different from animals in our spiritual and mental abilities.

God made our world, so it is his. God has not left us to our own devices. He loves us and made us with the capacity to love him. Humans are the peak of God’s creation but we don’t have the right to do what we want. We are only managers and we are accountable to God for the way we use or abuse his world.

We are not part of God but we are like God.  We have a moral conscience, and we are able to relate to God in a much greater and more personal way than any other creature. Human life and death is in God’s hands, and we should not usurp his authority.

God gave the first humans free will, because he wanted them to freely choose to follow him. He designed humans to be happiest when they trusted his moral judgements. But something went wrong. The next article describes the fall of humanity.