“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” ~Genesis 1:1 (CSB)
——————————
The creation narrative is one I’ve known well since I was a child. I imagine many Christians would say the same. We know the story: God creates the heavens and the earth, separates the land from the waters, fills the world with plants and animals, and finally creates humanity in His image. It is an extraordinary account of God’s power and authority, and because it is located in the opening pages of Scripture, I naturally assumed it was the obvious place to begin one’s study of Christianity, especially in an Old Testament or Christian Theology course. What better place to start than the beginning?
Except, I’m in both of those classes right now, and neither one of them began with creation. How weird.
When I first looked at the syllabi for these courses, I was confused. Why were we going to wait four or five weeks into the semester before discussing the very first events recorded in Scripture, or, more specifically, in all of human history? I obviously didn’t question my professors, but I did find myself wishing we would go “in order.” I understood their reasoning, I guess. Before diving into the meat of Scripture, we needed to establish the basic introductory context that would help us understand what we were reading. However, now six weeks into the semester, having studied the events of creation in my Old Testament class and the doctrine of creation in my theology course, I realize my previous assertion was built upon a poor premise. Creation, in fact, is not the first item in the “order” of Scripture.
Reread Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
In the beginning, God…
Everything in existence begins with God. God is the beginning. Unfortunately, I think too often I emphasize the wrong clause of Genesis 1:1 and think that the highlight of that story is the creation being made, not the Creator who made it. While this may be unintentional, the habit can be detrimental. Even the simple assumption that creation is the first thing Scripture demonstrates how easily we can become so focused on what God has done that we forget He Himself is the true object of our study and devotion.
My point is this: creation is not the center of the story. Rather, this passage emphasizes God. As one author noted, “God revealed his word to us so we may obtain knowledge of him” (Akin, 5). What God makes and what He does are wonderful and worth studying, but they are no more astounding than the Lord Himself. His act of creating is but an outpouring of His character and being. This distinction is particularly important for me as a seminary student. I could easily become fascinated with theological subjects like the doctrine of creation, soteriology, church history, philosophy, or any other related topic, and forget that all of these subjects only exist to help me know who the Lord is. Anyone can learn facts about God without actually growing in their intimate knowledge of Him, and I am not immune to that temptation. How unfortunately ironic is the thought that I could spend years studying theology and still miss the very God theology is meant to help me know.
Thankfully, the Lord has graciously brought this habit to my attention as a warning. He knows the leanings of my heart, and He is good to provide help in my areas of weakness. Rather than allowing me to remain unaware of the ways I may shift my attention from the Creator to His creation, the Holy Spirit used my studies to expose that tendency and redirect my gaze toward Him. Neither of those classes began with the study of creation; they began with the study of God Himself. When I may think I know what I should study, He is gracious to remind me who I should be learning about.
In light of this realization, “What better place to start than the beginning?” may be the wrong question to ask when one approaches any type of theological study. I believe a more accurate question is, “Where does the beginning actually begin?” And, as previously mentioned, Scripture gives us the exact answer in the very first verse: “In the beginning, God.”
Before creation, before humanity, before history, before the church, before any and every doctrine I could ever study in seminary or ordinary life, God is.
Works Cited
Daniel L. Akin, Kenneth D. Keathley, and Keith Whitfield, eds., A Theology for the Church, 2nd ed., revised and expanded (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2026).
All Scripture references are from the Christian Standard Bible.
