Who Created God?
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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” (Genesis 1:1, 2). It’s been said that if we only believe these very first words of the Bible, all else that follows – such as miracles – are not only possible, but probable. God created. But some will ask, who created God? Where did God come from?
Over the early years of humankind, many myths about creation and the gods developed. In the middle east, stories were told of fantastic gods with titillating secrets of love affairs and bloody battles against each other. One such myth said Marduk formed the earth by murdering his mother, who was the monster Tiamat, and he arranged the world out of her dismembered parts. Yikes! Or there was the story of when Cronos attacked his father Uranus and castrated him. Aphrodite arose from the foaming sea when Uranus’ genitals fell into the water. Yeah, stories that were out there.
In the ancient world they had a god for love: Eros. Artemis was the Greek god of the hunt, of vegetation and of chastity and childbirth. There was a huge statue to Artemis in Ephesus, which is referenced as the apostle Paul travels there (Acts 19). Zeus was the sky and thunder god, ruling as king of the gods. Hermes was the god of trade, wealth, sleep, language and travel. On and on it goes with the Greeks. The Romans allowed this worship of multiple gods, and they even called Christian’s “atheists” because they only worshiped one God, oddly enough. It was similar in ancient Egypt at the time of the Exodus with Moses and the Israelites. The 10 plagues were specifically targeted at showing their 10 gods were powerless before the one true God.
But the Bible account of the God who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped, the God of Moses and the Israelites, the God of modern-day Bible believing Christians, stands in stark contrast to all these mythical gods of the past. Those gods warred against each other, they divided up duties (none was God overall), they did strange things, and they were worshiped with graven images made by men. But the God of the Bible was a radical departure from such things. This God did not need a story of his creation. He very pointedly did not want images made for worship of him. He just was. The Psalmist would write, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Paul would write to the Roman church, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. They knew God, but they did not honor God…” (Romans 1:20, 21).
The biblical account of God is matchless in its majestic simplicity! God does not feel the need to justify his being. He is. His creation gives testimony to him, and he asks us of his creation to obey him in faith. The Bible has no notion of the birth of God, no biography of God. It starts with his creation, because viewing it gives evidence of his existence. When in the book of Job the mysteries of life are questioned, God simply tells Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” The God of the Bible is like no other. He gives us instructions about history and how we should respond to him in this book that took 1,500 years to complete with 40 authors, who were inspired to write an account consistent in storyline and message. Amazing! Who created God? Wrong question. How should I, whom he created, respond to him in faith? Pursue the one true God.
Cross Point: If we don’t pursue him? “God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not be done, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God” (Romans 1:28). That’s not what he wants. He is “patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Over the early years of humankind, many myths about creation and the gods developed. In the middle east, stories were told of fantastic gods with titillating secrets of love affairs and bloody battles against each other. One such myth said Marduk formed the earth by murdering his mother, who was the monster Tiamat, and he arranged the world out of her dismembered parts. Yikes! Or there was the story of when Cronos attacked his father Uranus and castrated him. Aphrodite arose from the foaming sea when Uranus’ genitals fell into the water. Yeah, stories that were out there.
In the ancient world they had a god for love: Eros. Artemis was the Greek god of the hunt, of vegetation and of chastity and childbirth. There was a huge statue to Artemis in Ephesus, which is referenced as the apostle Paul travels there (Acts 19). Zeus was the sky and thunder god, ruling as king of the gods. Hermes was the god of trade, wealth, sleep, language and travel. On and on it goes with the Greeks. The Romans allowed this worship of multiple gods, and they even called Christian’s “atheists” because they only worshiped one God, oddly enough. It was similar in ancient Egypt at the time of the Exodus with Moses and the Israelites. The 10 plagues were specifically targeted at showing their 10 gods were powerless before the one true God.
But the Bible account of the God who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped, the God of Moses and the Israelites, the God of modern-day Bible believing Christians, stands in stark contrast to all these mythical gods of the past. Those gods warred against each other, they divided up duties (none was God overall), they did strange things, and they were worshiped with graven images made by men. But the God of the Bible was a radical departure from such things. This God did not need a story of his creation. He very pointedly did not want images made for worship of him. He just was. The Psalmist would write, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Paul would write to the Roman church, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. They knew God, but they did not honor God…” (Romans 1:20, 21).
The biblical account of God is matchless in its majestic simplicity! God does not feel the need to justify his being. He is. His creation gives testimony to him, and he asks us of his creation to obey him in faith. The Bible has no notion of the birth of God, no biography of God. It starts with his creation, because viewing it gives evidence of his existence. When in the book of Job the mysteries of life are questioned, God simply tells Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” The God of the Bible is like no other. He gives us instructions about history and how we should respond to him in this book that took 1,500 years to complete with 40 authors, who were inspired to write an account consistent in storyline and message. Amazing! Who created God? Wrong question. How should I, whom he created, respond to him in faith? Pursue the one true God.
Cross Point: If we don’t pursue him? “God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not be done, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God” (Romans 1:28). That’s not what he wants. He is “patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Posted in Cross Points