In the beginning was God. God is a spiritual being and is not bound by space or time. In this sense he is completely different and unknowable by us as humans. Yet God is a person and like us in many ways.
For instance God is community. He defines it. He exists in three persons at the same time and each of those person thrills to magnifying and glorifying the other persons. Each person has a specific role in the Godhead. Each completely different from the others and yet each absolutely in unison with the others.
God did not need to create anything. He was fully fulfilled in himself. Yet he wanted to create and so he chose to be a Creator. As our Story begins, God has just begun his work moving our Universe toward what it is today. The angels were watching expectantly and praising God with all their hearts because, well, he is just amazing.
Lucifer of course would have none of this. He wanted his own glory and so he rebelled and took with him many other angels. This is of course evil because it is opposition to what is good, right and perfect – everything God is.
Satan defines evil.
Sometime after Satan had been banished from God’s side, God began creating. The Earth at this point was totally dark without any form and was empty, except that it was covered with water. Into the void God brought our current physical reality. He made light. He made the outer space and the sky. He made dry ground and separated it from the water. He made plants and vegetables and trees, time and seasons, creatures of the sea and the air, and a large variety of creatures that roamed on the ground. All of these things God made with his voice. He spoke and it became reality.
But then God did something completely different. He said to himself, “Let’s make a special creature in our image, a creature that will demonstrate our glory and tell our story, a being that will fellowship directly with us. To this being we’ll give the wisdom and intelligence to rule over everything else we’ve made.”
Having made this pronouncement, God got down on the ground. He took the dust of the earth in his own hands and formed a man. Like the animals, the man had a physical body with the sense of smell and taste, sight, hearing and touch, but God also gave the man intelligence, a will and emotions. Best of all, God gave the man a spiritual soul through which he could commune directly with God. So, God breathed into the man the breath of life. He called the man Adam and he placed the man in a beautiful garden called Eden. Adam had everything he needed to live the best kind of life surrounded by all God had made. There were all kinds of trees and plants in the garden that easily produced food so that Adam would always have everything he needed. With all of this, God gave Adam the responsibility to take care of the garden and all of his creatures. While Adam took great joy in tending the garden and caring for the creation, he sensed something was still missing. All the creatures he observed had mates but he was the only one of his kind. God enjoyed community within the fellowship of his three persons and the animals each had a mate, but Adam, as a human, was alone. As Adam discovered this, God revealed that he was not finished creating. He had designed Adam to reflect many of God’s amazing attributes but he had not given him everything. For humanity to truly be like God, Adam would have to relate intimately with another, one who was perfectly like him and yet distinctively different at the same time. As God had envisioned it, the two God-like creatures would have to relate in perfect harmony in order to fully display the glory of God.
So God put Adam to sleep and took one of his ribs and from the rib he formed another creation that was perfectly suited for the man. And when the man woke up God introduced Adam to the new creation.
Adam was absolutely thrilled when he saw his very own counterpart. She was called woman because she came out of man, but Adam gave her the name, Eve. Like Adam, Eve was created in God’s image. She reflected God as Adam did but also portrayed aspects of God Adam did not. She was like Adam in basic form and intellect and yet, in many physical and emotional ways, she was very different. She corresponded perfectly to Adam and yet functioned differently. Together they were perfect. They were given the ability together, not alone, to create new humans who also would bear and reflect God’s image. And God instructed the man and the woman to freely reproduce and fill the earth. The man and woman were physically and emotionally naked. Like the persons of God, they lived entirely for each other. They had no desire to pay attention to self. For this reason, their lives intertwined in perfect harmony making them one in every way. They were filled with perfect peace and joy. They experienced no shame because they were completely exposed and had nothing to hide. Their lives revolved completely around each other and together their lives revolved completely around God. Thus humanity was at perfect peace with God and perfect peace with itself. The man and the woman loved each other deeply and fully and they loved and worshiped God. Everything was perfect; just the way it was suppose to be.
This Story is a compilation. The details are found in these six Bible passages; Genesis 1-3, Psalm 8, Job 38, Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, Revelation 12
Introduction to The Story – Before There Was Time
Before there was humanity and before there was time, before anything of
Story 1 – Perfect Peace
In the beginning was God. God is a spiritual being and is not bound by space
Story 2: The Rise Of Self
God placed the man and woman in the beautiful garden, Eden. They enjoyed harmony with each
Story 3: Murder, Chaos & Destruction
The human’s betrayal of God in the Garden of Eden had led God to quickly eject
Story 4: A Merciful New Start
Seth’s family and Cain’s family lived very different lives. Seth’s offspring were raised to have a
Story 5: A Family for God
After the flood had receded, God instructed Noah and his family to go and fill the
Story 6: A Family Preserved
Favoritism Creates Enemies As the twin boys grew, Esau became Isaac’s dream son – strong, courageous
Story 7: A Nation for God
Long before Jacob came with his family to Egypt, he met God in a time of
Story 7A – The gods of Egypt
These are some of the major gods the Egyptians revered and all the signs Yahweh brought
Story 8: A New Betrayal
At midnight, YHWH struck down all the firstborn of Egypt. No Egyptian household escaped the plague.
Story 9: Faithlessness and Judgment
Just before giving Moses the tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai, YHWH instituted a weekly day