Ge. 1: Why not start at the beginning?

Why not start at the beginning...

"In the beginning God..."

So begins the most fascinating book.

In reading through the first chapter of Genesis, there is one way to describe God as He creates something where there was not. This God is just about the most powerful being I could imagine being conceived.

He was there at "the beginning," which is the only way we as people can grasp the concept of an eternal God. So don't try to go past that. It's scary and pointless, like Chemistry class.

With a word, He said, "Light." And light appeared. Something I just used to skip over as a kid. Eh, God says something, and it is done. Immediately. But lately, I've been pondering over this idea. Light never existed before God thought of it. It wasn't like us walking into a dark room, and turning on the light switch. Its like walking into a dark room, and inventing light. How does one go about inventing something we so readily take for granted like light? There was nothing giving off light, no fire, no bulb...just...light. Man.

I'm not going to get into day-age creationism, but scripture says, "there was evening, and there was morning - the first day." Admittedly, this is before the Earth was in orbit around the sun, but I won't die on that hill.

"And God said," is repeated a buncha times in the chapter. He didn't consult a committee. This shows me He is certain of all things.

Evolution is another debate that ensnares well-meaning Bible-thumpers like me. Not so much plant evolution, but it should be noted that in verse 11, God creates vegetation bearing fruit with the seed already in it. According to what I'm reading here, seeds protected by fruit are not the result of millennia of Survival-of-the-Fittest. They are the result of God wanting them to be there. Now. The same can be said for animals. God says all were created according to their kind. Not the result of millennia of of Survival-of-the-Fittest. They are the result of God wanting them to be there. Now. Fish, birds, wild animals, livestock, creatures that move along the blah blah blah, and so on. Now. And this isn't a cobbled-together creation theory among Christian theologians and scientists using external Bible passages to assemble what we think happened, and pass it along in Sunday School. It's all pretty much right there in Chapter 1.

The image of God is something I don't readily grasp. But here we are. Are we an image of God in that we reflect His glory, or are we theomorphs?

Verse 16: God created two great lights - the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night. Foreshadowing....

Toward the end of chapter one, God says we were created to be vegans. Originally. And lets be careful, cruelty-free had nothing to do with it. But, at least we had every green plant for food.

Throughout the chapter, God is quoted as saying "This is good. That is good." What kind of amazing standard is that, to have created something, and said, "Good?" Perfect. Complete.

I wish I could have seen light for the first time in light's existence. How mind blowing would that be? Especially hanging around God, and not really having a good grasp of his omnipotence. I imagine the sky lifting from the ocean like some massive worldwide ocean liner suddenly rocketing out of the depths, when God created sky. The sheer sound and spectacle of such a catastrophic miracle would take my consciousness away, I think. I imagine continent-wide full grown trees suddenly carpeting the land, lakes forming, and the flight of the first birds, taking off with an instinct that flight is nothing new, and completely natural.

What a beautiful miracle, what a perfect entrance for this God.

Questions I have for God (Admittedly limited by my own humanity, and context of my own knowledge):
1. What were you and what were you doing before creation?
2. What made that light?