IN THE BEGINNING . . .
“In the beginning God created heaven and earth . . .”
(Gen 1:1)
Before the beginning there existed only eternity for that which exists outside of eternity exists in time and all that exists in time has both a beginning and an ending. Outside of time in eternity there is God the Creator who alone is the eternal one. “In the beginning” refers to the beginning of creation. God, alone is eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful and is a perfect Mind. A man has to choose between believing this only possibility or the impossibility that the world created itself, because the world is a creation not a creator. If we accept creation as being existent we must also recognize the Creator who in the beginning created heaven and earth.
The world could not create itself, is not the creation of many creators and was not created by evil powers. The world comes from God therefore we should rejoice and be gladdened, because we know that God is good and the Lover of man. The world is divine in its origin and for this reason its end will be in God. This realization causes us to realize that God is a great intelligence possessing all knowledge, this we know because He endowed each of us with such a supreme intellect and memory.
We know that God called forth the existence of the heavens and the earth with the land and sea, lakes and rivers, the sun, moon and stars, and so many other things that he formed for our sake. It is astounding to our minds knowing that all that exists in heaven and earth were called forth by God/ But when He created man, He did call Him but He personally form man in His own image. So the greatest creature of God which is man was created above all being as the highest of creatures. Even higher than this is man’s unique destination, which is to become the image and likeness of God. With this in mind, we must act accordingly and struggle to become God’s image and likeness and thus be found worthy to live with Him in eternal life. Failing to understand our destination to become His image and likeness can be detrimental to our souls.
“In the beginning . . .” This establishes the starting point and there is a necessary ending point. We all have a starting point of infancy, unable to speak or to walk. and we slowly grow into toddlers and eventually into full grown men and woman. If we are not at this present time living a double life then its time to awaken and start living a genuine spiritual life. Usually our lives last for about fifty to a hundred years generallywithout foreknowledge of the day of our final demise, where we will face judgment.
I believe that there are only a small number of people who realize what we are writing here and that they have the most important thing there is to live for, to become the image and likeness of God. This is the highest of all calling that exists. There is no one greater and higher than God, and the highest calling of mankind is to become His image and likeness. As for those who have not yet begun, today is always a good time to start and when you do your whole life will change for the better.
The Orthodox Church is the central point of the means of our reaching our destination. The Church’s most important book, the New Testament,called also the Bible, is the source of much teaching that we need, the Gospels and Epistles contained therin ought to be read and re-read over and over for they are rich in content of necessary things.
God is good, kind, sweet, full of compassion, merciful and greatly forbearing. He abounds with great love for all mankind. How much he loves us can be seen by creation. His love for us is far beyond the brilliance of the sun. His kindness is brighter tha the brightest moon. His compassions are more munerous than the stars of the heavens. How much He loves us is also seen by the wonderful fact, that He bestowed the greatest honor possible on the human race – forming man in His own image!
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