The Most Important Words
The Most Important Words
The Bible is fundamental to Christians for it is God’s primary instrument through which He reveals, teaches, rebukes, and instructs His people for their good and His glory. Yet what is the most important phrase in the entire Bible? Most Christians would probably jump straight to familiar verses in the New Testament like John 3:16, Romans 6:23, or Galatians 2:16. All excellent verses and extremely important. However, the most important phrase from Scripture is often overlooked and underappreciated. It is found in the Old Testament, in the first verse of the first book, and it goes like this, “In the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1).
Those first four words in the Bible set the tone for the rest of the text because they reveal fundamental truths about God. Chiefly, they illustrate God’s attributes of eternality, sovereignty, omnipotence, and holiness. When we talk about God’s attributes we are talking about His character, that is to say who God is at His very core and essence, those things that define God. There are many more attributes of God than these four but even the internet is incapable of containing all the pages that could be written on God’s attributes nor is there enough time in a thousands human life spans to write them so these will do for now.
Eternally God
Genesis 1:1, starts with “in the beginning God” which presupposes that there was a time when there was not and yet there was still God. Thus, creation had a starting point and prior to creation God still was. This also means that God sits outside of creation and even time itself because He is the creator of all things. The rest of Genesis 1:1 bears this out “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Therefore, everything in creation to include time itself exists because of God’s creative will.
Moreover, since God is the eternal creator who sits outside of creation and time, neither creation or time have an effect on God. Scripture testifies to this in places like Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God,” and Revelation 1:8, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Many more verses than these speak to God’s eternality. Even the divine name Yahweh which means “I am” that God gave Moses (Exodus 3:14) reveals that God simply is.
Sovereignly God
Since Genesis 1:1 reveals that God is eternal and thus the progenitor of all things, God is also sovereign because this is His creation. Thus, God sets the rules for how His creation functions. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west because God made it so, gravity functions because God willed it, plants breathe carbon dioxide and humans oxygen because God chose to create them that way, etc. Everything that exists, exists according to God’s design and function how He intends it to function.
Not only that but God is the one that sets the rules for how humanity, as the apex of His creation, must live. In some sense these rules are hardwired into the DNA of all people (Romans 1:19-20) which explains why humanity shares a common fundamental set of beliefs regarding what is right and wrong. Sadly, humanity rejects this natural revelation and is therefore condemned to the wrath of God without excuse (Romans 1:18, 21-23). It is only thanks to God’s special revelation as revealed in Scripture that humanity understands its sinfulness and how to be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
All Powerful God
Flowing out of God’s eternality and sovereignty is His omnipotence which means that God is all powerful and can do whatever He wills which is in keeping with His character. He is even called the “Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18). Since God simply is, nothing and no one existed prior to Him. Therefore, nothing and no one forced God to make creation. God simply chose to create. And none of these created entities (stars, moon, gravity, people, angels, demons, etc.) have power over God. God does as He chooses and nothing is too hard for Him to do (Jeremiah 32:17). It also means that God can do more than He already has done (Luke 1:37; Matthew 19:26) so believers can trust God to accomplish that which He has promised.
Holy God
Finally, Genesis 1:1 demonstrates that God is holy. The idea of holiness in the Bible means to be set apart. Texts like Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8 reveal that God is not just holy, He is thrice holy. Meaning that God is the holiest and nothing or no one is more holy than God. Hopefully, by now it is clear why God is the holiest. Only God is eternal, sovereign, and omnipotent. Only God sits on the throne of creation and has never been tainted by sin. These are claims that cannot be made of anything that was made.
God’s holiness also explains why He hates sin. God did not make sin, He cannot even tempt people to sin (James 1:13). Sin is the opposite of God’s character, sin is the perversion and corruption of God’s design. And God does not tolerate sin or those who sin for they profane His holiness so there will come a day when all people will answer for their sins which is why God sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for sin so that those who believe in Jesus could be made right with the thrice holy, eternal, sovereign, omnipotent God.
In our modern age, there is nothing more offensive than the idea that God is eternal, sovereign, omnipotent, and holy. Humanity wants to be in control and despises any message that puts limits on its perceived “rights” and “freewill”. But humanity’s hatred of God is nothing new. It has been there since Adam and Eve fell like a cancer that has metastasized throughout the whole body.
This is why the first four words of Genesis 1:1 are the most important words in all of Scripture. “In the beginning God,” cuts right to the heart of the human condition because they show us the weight and magnitude of our sin by revealing the awesome wonder and splendor of God. A God who always has been and always will be. A God who sovereignly rules creation and who is so powerful that every molecule in existence bends to His will. A God who is so set apart from the filth and perversion of this world that the angelic hosts declare Him as thrice holy.
And yet it is this same eternal, sovereign, omnipotent, holy God who came down. Who stepped out of the holy halls of heaven to put on human form. Who humbled himself and willingly gave up His divine prerogatives to live the perfect life that we should have lived but cannot. To pay the sacrifice for sins not His own. A sacrifice that we owed but could never pay. A sacrifice that cost Him His life so that we could live. The holy for the unholy. The righteous for the unrighteous. This is why “in the beginning God” is so important because it enlarges the grace that was shown by God in the giving of our Lord Jesus Christ so that the unworthy could be made worthy through the blood of Christ. When we begin to plumb the depths of who God is and start to see Him for who He truly is our lives are put in proper perspective and we will join the heavenly host in declaring “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8).