The best stories have the best beginnings.
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is January 1, 2025 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called In the Beginnings. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
I think that, as human beings, we are wired to enjoy beginnings. God made us this way. We like to go back to the beginning: if you meet someone new at church you might ask, “How did you first hear about our church?” If you have a married couple over dinner, you might ask them, “How did you two meet?” And one of the best questions that Christians ask each other is: “How did you become a Christian?” We like to understand the beginnings of people, circumstances, and yes, the Bible.
I think we like beginnings because when we understand the beginning, it helps to see where we are in the story: how we got here and where we are going. Beginnings have a lot of explanatory power. And we’re going to see that the stories of beginnings in today’s readings explain quite a lot, as well.
Today we embark on the adventure of a lifetime: reading through the Bible in a single year. And we start with beginnings. Our readings for today are Genesis 1, Matthew 1, and Ezra 1. If you decide to read the bonus chapter, you’ll also read Acts 1. Remember that the bonus chapter, the fourth column in the reading plan, takes you through the New Testament and Psalms a second time each year.
Each of these chapters documents significant beginnings for God’s people. You already know how significant Genesis 1 is, as it describes the creation of the world. Matthew chapter 1 is the beginning of the New Testament and through a very carefully crafted genealogy of Jesus, Matthew gives us important insights into the nature of Jesus as the Messiah. (If you would like to learn more about the significance of this genealogy, go check out the episode entitled “Who Are All These People?” from December 16.) And then Ezra chapter 1 describes a fresh start—a new beginning: as Zerubabbel and other Israelites return to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the temple and the rest of the city.
Today I particularly want to talk about Genesis 1, because it is such an important chapter. Let’s think about what we learn about God from this story about the beginning of all things. I’ll read the first five verses of Genesis 1 to get us started.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
I want to point out three things for you to be on the lookout for as you read. First, think about the opening sentence. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. I know this is obvious, but it still deserves our consideration: there was a time when creation did not exist. But there was never a time when God did not exist. He existed before time. He created time and then worked within time. The beginning began because God existed already. He decided to create and… here we are. Genesis 1 teaches us that God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He simply is.
Second, as you read this chapter, notice the awesome power of God. When God speaks, things happen. This is incredible. God’s words are so powerful that he can simply speak into existence plants and planets, crustaceans and constellations, amoebas and oceans. What can you accomplish with your voice? I can’t do much. Maybe I can tell my phone to send a text message to my wife but that hardly counts as creation ex nihilo. Genesis 1 teaches us that God is immeasurably powerful and infinitely creative.
Third, as you read Genesis 1, pay attention to how good God’s creation is. If you are in a place you can do this, try reading Genesis 1 out loud and see if you notice the rhythm of the chapter. Did you notice how each day finishes with this formula: “There was evening and there was morning, the first day… And there was evening and there was morning, the second day…” And so on. And on each of those days, God looks at what he made and there is some declaration of the goodness of what he has made. Count ‘em up, underline them if you have to. Read this section out loud and as you read, notice how many times God says it is good, it will make it pop all the more when you get to the very last verse, verse 31, and it says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
All that God created is good. We experience God’s creation as a shadow of what it once was, because all creation groans under sin. But it is still fundamentally good. So look around you and think about the goodness of God’s creation. Thank God for the warming rays of the rising sun. Praise him for refreshing rain that waters the earth. Consider the character of a God who would give to his creatures such diverse pleasures as steaming coffee, Christmas gifts, and a book with the story of his plan to save sinners from his own wrath.
The beginning of this book tells us so much about what is to come. Here at the beginning of Genesis—the beginning of the entire Bible, we learn that there is a God, that he is immensely powerful and he is unswervingly good.
Write down one or two verses from this chapter that help you think about God’s creative power or his generosity in giving.
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!