February 20 , 2011 Where and why . ..?( In the Beginning . ..) 1 . Genesis 1 . 1 : " In the beginning God created the heaven and theearth . " 1 . Question about the meaning of life Where we ' ve come from and where are we going ? What is the meaning of life ? Weneed the answers to these questions so that we may have a full - filled life . On the Internet I found a slide show about the meaning of life : Your life ? A dream job ? A dream car ? A dream wedding ? A dream house ? A dreamvacation ? A dream sports ? ... An accident . And your death ! Nothing remains . Nothing you can take with you . And now ? All in vain ? In a few years it ' s all just dust and ashes ! Pointless ! Why all this ! ? To find the meaning of our lives , first we should answer the question where wecame from . Since the era of humanity began , people have a question of meaning . The answersof men to this question are very different depending on the person and culture . Some believe that the universe is created suddenly . In the past , some peoplebelieved that the universe was created by the result of the war between thegods . Today , some scientists argue that the universe was created by a Big Bang . The Big Bang theory says , space and time were created with Big Bang suddenly . These scientists believe that it is meaningless to ask for the meaning of theuniverse and our lives . A thousand years ago the Israelites presented the same question of the originof the universe , as they suffered in Egypt by the mistreatment of Pharaoh . And Hewho had created the world answered them through Moses . Even today , God asks all who think that they are wise , " Where were youwhen I laid the earth ? " ( Job 38 : 4 ) . We were not there when God createdheaven and earth . Even Charles Darwin , the founder of the theory of evolutionwas not there . Only God was alone . Therefore , only God knows about the creationof the universe and can tell us about his creation . So God tells us through theBible about his creation . And in the first chapter of the Bible we can get toknow his story of creation . The first book of the Bible called " Genesis " or " the first bookof 5 Books of Moses . " The first word of this book is " In thebeginning ", in Hebrew בְּרֵשִׁית " Bereshit " ( 1 : 1 ) , in Greek " Genesis ". Therefore , the first book of the Bible is Genesis . And " Genesis " means beginning or origin . This title is a appropriate title for this book , because this book describes the beginning of the universe , all living and man , the beginning of the story , the people of God and the work of redemption . God shows us in this chapter , where we came from , what the meaning of life we ​​ have and for whom / what we should live . And after all , God indicates that hewill bless all people on earth through the Christ ( 12 : 3 ) . The Genesis reports us a source of divine blessing . Or : It describes the mightypower of God . This blessing current starts from God , flows into the world historyand come back to God . 2 . In the beginning . .. The Bible begins , of course , with the creation of God : " In the beginningGod created the heaven and the earth . " This statement refutes the opinion that there is no God . This also contradictsthe assertion that there are many gods . This statement also denies the opinionthat all beings and all events in the world are just random results . " In the beginning God created . .." - This introductory word ofGenesis gives us some truths about God . First , God is the first and eternal Being . Before the creation of the universe , God was already there . Before there wastime , God was already there . Before heaven and earth came , God was alreadythere . Before there was life , God was there . " In the beginning God created . .." - You should not be understood thisword as discussion material . Rather , we should accept this word as thepreaching of God ' s truth . This word calls us to faith in God who isall - powerful , majestic , infinite and supernatural . Second , God is the Subject . The word God ( Heb אלהים Elohim ) is grammatically subject of all the activitiesthat are described in this chapter : " God created . ..", " God said . ..", " God called . ..", " God made . ..", " God saw . .. " and " God blessed them . .. " This teaches us that God is the creator and sovereign ruler of the universe . Wetend to look at everything out of I - centric view . That is why we always talk : " I . .. I . .. I . .." Because of our I - centric mindset we recognizeneither the divine rule nor his wonderful world . As a result , we are mindedpetty and negative , and we suffer from anxiety and despair . But if we take the truth in mind that God is the subject of all creatures inthis universe and all events , we will get the spiritual order and a firmconfidence . All chaotic thoughts will disappear and we are rigged with new spiritualpower . We will have confidence . And we are filled with awe and gratitude andpraise God , as the song of Ludwig von Beethoven " The Glory of God innature . "" The heavens declare the eternal honor , Your sound planted his name on . It boasts the world ; praise him , the seas , Give ear , O man , her divine word . " 3 . God created . .. The Hebrew word for " create " is " bara ", meaning to createsomething entirely new from the Nothing . We can do nothing without material . Wecan only change given material or form to a new form . Also , neither angels norSatan can create something . But God can create out of nothing very new . We often hear it said : " In the beginning there were amino acid " or " In the beginning there was the Big Bang . " Yet the Bible says : " In the beginning God created the heaven and theearth . " All raw materials such as hydrogen , oxygen or nitrogen were not createdby accident . And all living things did not occur by chance . And not a singlehuman being is born by chance . God ' s Word proclaimed in Genesis 1 . 1 , that Godcreated everything with his wonderful will . Because God created everything willingly , everything or every person has a great meaning of existence , because God isgood and He has created everything and everyone with good plan very well . We should accept God as the Subject of our existence and of all things andconfess this . So everything is created by God . In a forest , you see a tree well , but you can see the entire forest poor . Weoften find ourselves in a similar situation like a man in a forest . Weunderstand the importance of our everyday problems well . And we strive with allour might to solve such a problem , but we often lose the overall look . That iswhy we are often disoriented when we get some trouble . First we should get theoverall look . Then we can find solutions to our current problems better . So , first we should get to know God , the Creator . After that we should look atour problems from the perspective of God . This is the biblical solution to theproblems . The all - powerful , good God created everything and directs everythingaccording to His perfect good will . That is why we are to bear in mind theanswer to the question " Where do we come from ? What is the meaning oflife ? Where are we going ? ". Because Hebrews 11 : 3 says : " Through faith we understand that the worldswere created by the word of God , so that everything you see is created . " Or Rom 4 : 1 : "... Abraham , our forefather according to the flesh ? For ifAbraham was justified by works , he has something to boast about , but not beforeGod . For what does the scripture say ? Abraham belived God , and it was reckenedto him as rightousness . ” ConclusionIn the beginning God created the heaven and the earth . From this verse we can learntwo practical lessons . First , we should make God the Subject of our language and our thinking . Theperversity of the world consists precisely in the fact that people consider themselvesas the subject of their actions and language . As long as our language and ourthinking is I - centric , we can not be relieved of this perversity . But Genesis 1 : 1 proclaims that God is the Subjet of all creatures and allactions . We should accept this truth humbly and gratefully and make God the Subjectof our language and our thinking . Instead of " I am . ..", " I call . .." " I see . .." and so speak , we should say " God draws . ..", " God says . ..", " God calls . .." " God does . .." " God does . .." " God bless . .." etc . If we make God the Subject of our language and our thinking , we will see Hisglory and His blessing . Of course we need a bit of effort and perseveranceuntil we get used to it proper to make God the Subject of our language and ourthinking . But this is really a blessing . Second , our speech and our thought should not be negative , but we should trustin God and speak positively and thank him . However , it may happen that while we make God the Subject of our language , but wedistrust God . We complain , for example , " God , why have you allowed me thissuffering ? " Or , " Why did you let me pass this misfortune ? " etc . Of course , we should not condemn us because we sue from and to God . Rather , weshould learn to trust God . God is absolutely good and for us . That is themessage of the Bible . That is why God did not spare his Son , but gave him forthe atonement of our sins . Believe God ' s omnipotence and goodness - that is the message of the Bible . Weare to believe in God , praise him and live for his glory . Believe in God , praise Him and live for him - this is the right worship of God . We should change the subject of our language . We are not " I " make thesubject of our language , but " God ". We are trusting God and give Himglory . Amen ! * This is a automatic translation of the German sermon .