The Bible Edge
Everyone needs an Edge, Believers can have a Bible Edge
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
The Bible doesn’t begin in such a way as to prove God. It simply states that He is. This verse of the Bible sets the tone for the balance of Scripture. God is mentioned often by various names. A careful study of the Word of God can teach us much about Him no doubt, but His Word begins by simply saying: In the beginning God. This is written in a manner as to promote acceptance of a fact, not the proof of that fact.
This is interesting. It highlights His willingness to be taken at face value. He is either believed or rejected. In fact the entire first sentence of the Bible is either accepted without proof or rejected as folly. There is no grey area here. It is either true or false. Someone may ask then, “Where is the proof of God?” It is in the context of that which His Word proclaims.
If given a glass of water and asked to prove that it only contains water and that no arsenic is also in the fluid of that container, a person would study the contents of the glass. It is the contents of the glass that would prove if the substance is 100% pure water or if it also contains arsenic. A scientist would not need to study the contents of 100 glasses of fluid to learn if one glass is pure water or not.
Likewise, to prove God study that which His Word claims Him to be. Malachi 3:10 even invites us to prove Him: Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Proof of God is twofold. It is primarily a matter of faith. Some accept Genesis 1:1 by faith, they need no other proof than their faith. Yet, as a person begins by faith, that faith is proved over and over by reading, understanding, and experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promises in their lives as proclaimed in His Word.
This is exactly what Hebrews 11:6 teaches: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. It’s simply a matter of faith, faith that is supposed to grow into proof in the lives of those that exercise their simple childlike faith in Him. Now that is a Bible Edge to live by!
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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