By Dave Breese

There is a universally applicable statement which cannot be ignored. It was given to us to apply to all cases of all things at all times in all circumstances. It is the simple, profound and universal truth that is found in the first verse of the Word of God. That statement is, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Proper attention to this statement and proper application of its principle to the circumstances of life has made a vital difference in the lives of millions and could make a decisive difference in the lives of all who live. The truth that everything was originated by God brings great understanding when believed. Conversely, it is fatal to ignore.

There is no realm of thought, no study, no discipline that can be anything but a failure which ignores the first principle, “In the beginning God.” The world of science, for instance, could have saved itself billions of dollars and millions of man hours in totally futile research if it had learned at the beginning that God created it all. Instead, the world of so-called science has desperately labored for 100 years to obscure, cover, deny the priority of God in all things. Instead, it has invented a huge package of nonsense called, “the evolutionary process,” as a substitute for God. Strangely, the scientist who demands measureable, provable accuracy in other things has nevertheless built his cosmology on a collection of the most absurd notions imaginable. The truth that man was made in the image of God fills the mind of the secular scientist with horror. What will become of such a mind?

In the realm of philosophy it is the same. The majority of philosophers are atheists. Consequently, they have labored long to discover some kind of a first principle on which they can anchor their thinking. There is, of course, no first principle except God Himself. Therefore, modern thought is forever frantically flapping its wings, attempting—like a hummingbird—to stay in some fixed position in mid-air. Philosophy is no longer the love of wisdom; it is perverted affection for the delusionary. The philosophers who educate our children in today’s world are humanists, existentialists, secularists. The light that is in them has become darkness.

Philosophy has been totally unable to add any ethical content to modern thought and action. Indeed, via Freud, Kierkegaard, Keynes and others, it has turned our generation into a vast milieu where rational thought and proper understanding is lost. Our generation is now reaping a fearful harvest from the fatal irrationality that has been preached to us by the so-called intellectuals.

Provably, therefore, the Bible properly describes the nature of atheism when it says, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God” (Psa. 14:1). It then predicts such people will do abominable works. To embrace atheism is to move into the fever swamps of unreality where insanity holds sway.

Tragically, insanity does hold sway today. In the world of business, government, education, philosophy, where can we find even the mention of God? In His absence, the elements of our modern life are attempting to build themselves on untruth after untruth, on strong delusion in every realm of life.

Can we, therefore, predict the consequences of these things? Indeed we can, for the Scripture says, “Evil men and seducers shall become worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (II Tim. 3:13). In fact, what more perfect description can be rendered of our time than Paul’s description, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thess. 2:11,12). Any system of thought, any cause, any program, any process that does not begin with God is finally delusion. Such delusion prevails in the secular culture of our time.

The vast mistake of omitting God as the first principle of life is seen in the normal events of life as well. Approximately two million couples each year in America stand at an altar and are united in holy matrimony. They promise to love, honor and cherish “until death do us part.” Tragically, one million of those marriages end up in divorce. Why is this the case? It is the case because in the majority of times, such marriages did not begin with God. Leaving God out of that most sacred of unions is to miss the great mucilage which holds marriages together, namely God.

Many a young man goes to the university and then moves out into an anticipated professional life of success and popularity. How many of these lives end in disappointment, depression and even disaster? Too many aspiring young people end up failures in life. Why? The answer is that God was not there at the beginning. Lives can even appear to be successful, but alas, that success is but a charade without God at the beginning and in the center of things.

We, therefore, insist that a slogan that is appropriate at all times in life is, “in all beginnings—God.” God made us all in the first place. In Him we live and move and have our being. We cannot reason, breathe or take a step without His personal empowerment. The very ability to think, to plan, to feel, to love, to hate, to labor comes from God. Without Him we can do nothing whatsoever. He is before all things and by Him all things consist. When He is for us, nothing whatsoever can be against us. It is His blessing, therefore, that makes rich and, most of all, it is His love, His forgiveness, His cleansing, His empowerment that will bring us through a wonderful life and into the glory of heaven. The man is therefore a fool who attempts to live his life with significance, unless he begins with God and walks with Him every day.

Yes, in the beginning God made the heavens and the earth. Finally, He will wrap it all up like a used coat and it will be cast away. Ultimate reality of life is not, therefore, in anything that is in the world. Rather, ultimate reality resides in the One who made the worlds in the first place and who walks with us in that world. His plan is hence prior to all things. Our labor to fulfill that plan is the essence of life.

In everything, therefore, we must never forget, “in all beginnings—God.”