Before there was humanity and before there was time, before anything of substance existed on our planet, there were four things that did existence; God, angels, evil and a formless place that would one day be the Earth.

There was God. He had always existed because God is eternal. He has in himself eternal life.  He never began and will never end. Whether or not we admit it, we all know God. We all know he exists. He is easily seen and, to some extent, understood by observing everything that now exists in our world. In the beautiful sunrise, in the majestic mountain, in the raging storm or sea, in the stillness of a walk through a forest, in the tiny fingers and toes of a new born baby, his fingerprints are there, his voice, be it ever so still and small, speaks, and he says, “Here I am.”

Before time there were also angels.  Angels were not eternal. At some point, long before the Earth existed they were created by God.  They were created for God. They are his servants. His messengers. In some ways they are like humans but they are far more majestic, brilliant in light, power and substance well beyond our ability to comprehend. Any time a human has seen an angel in its natural state they have nearly died from fear.

Before time there was evil. Yes, evil! We know this because long before there was humanity and time, there was a cosmic treason against God perpetrated by the angel known as Lucifer. He was the most beautiful of all angels and for reasons we cannot understand, he turned to evil. Now evil is summed up most easily by saying it is anything that stands in opposition to God. It is turning a deaf ear to God, turning to worship something, anything beside God.  Evil is not believing that God is good, right and perfect. Lucifer began for some reason to believe more in his own glory and wisdom than God’s.  And so he embraced evil and stood arrogantly against God. Lucifer was banishing quickly by God, sent away from God’s intimate presence, his goodness, his light and his favor.  Lucifer became knows as The Enemy, which is the meaning of the new name God gave him, Satan. God cast Satan and a full 1/3 of the angels who desired to follow Satan’s leadership away from his presence and into the Earth. God won’t dwell with evil.

Yes, God sent Satan into the Earth. We don’t know how long the Earth existed before time began, but we do know that when God began to turn the Earth into the beautiful place it is – the place that is perfectly suitable for human existence – it existed as a place of nothingness described as “a void.” God sent Satan and his demons into the void of the pre-creation Earth and for sometime Satan roamed about the place, though it was nothing but void.

So this is the beginning of our story – actually, God’s story.

Voices demand that we don’t believe in the existence of God and that we were created by him.  The commotion created by our pursuit of financial gain, sexual pleasure, and political power is deafening. Despite the unbelief and noise, God still speaks. And for anyone who listens, he makes himself known.  This Story is for those who want to hear him, for those who want to listen and learn what he is saying. For those who have an ear, this is his story, the Story of God.