Big bang or Big?

     As we continue our journey together, the road we are traveling down for now is, What Do We Believe About God?  We could go in a million different directions with that question and I'm not sure how long we will travel down this road.  But one thing for sure; I get excited contemplating specific things I believe about God.  We will be building the framework that will determine how we respond to God.  My good friend Guy Andrews pointed out the four stakes the Wesleyans use for their discovery of God: 1. Scripture, 2. Reason, 3. Personal experience and 4. Church history.  That covers a broad spectrum of input and certainly gives us plenty to ponder concerning who God is.  Scripture being the GPS, the measuring stick, the balance, the magnifying glass by which we look at all the evidence.  If it does not measure up to the what the Scriptures teach us about God, then it is not reliable information to build a belief about God on. 
     So let's start with some things we know about God, based on Biblical teachings.  Genesis is a great place to start, "In the beginning God created?  Wow, that is a mouthful that explodes with meaning the moment you hear it.  Say it to yourself, listen, just let it soak in.  "IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED".  If there is smoke coming out of your ears, don't worry.  There is more in that phrase than our human minds can handle.  Before there was anything, there was God.  Everything that followed "before there was anything" comes from God, because He was all that was there, "before there was anything".  I think I hear brain sizzle.  He made it all.  You know what He made it out of.  NOTHING!  (more sizzle and some smoke)  "Before there was anything", He was and out of nothing He made everything.  Ouch!  My head hurts. 
     When I let that really soak in, I am in awe of God.  Right off the bat, I try to crawl into His thinking and wonder what was going on in His mind and heart when He began to put it all together.  Darkness to light, water to dry land, quietness to the sounds of life.  All in a matter of days, simply spoken into existence.  That boggles my mind, strips my mental gears.  Not only did He have to make it, but He had to decide how everything related to the other.  So not only was there all this new stuff, but there was order to it.  The moon, the stars, the sun, the planets and life.  It all fit together.  The sun was not too close or too far away.  The moon played with the waves and man splashed around in them.  This is just too cool.
    When you really believe that God did all that, then it is easy to understand why evolutionist have a different explanation.  One must respond to God if they believe He is as Genesis One says.  However, if you don't want to be accountable to a "creator" then simply eliminate Him with another explanation.  How bout a "big bang", then puff a single cell, then you.  "Oh, you look just like your amoeba.  (who care how you spell it?)  A chip off the ole cell."
    That is why Paul hammers home the point that all creation is "through", "by" and "for" Christ.  When we believe that, we must respond.  What is your belief in the creation story?  Big bang or Big God?  It makes all the difference in the world.  Your place in all this is either a shake down or a set up.  I think, He set us up for the most incredible journey imaginable.  JOIN THE JOURNEY!