In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Sunday assemblies at the Fourth Street church of Christ for an active, preschool boy weren’t always the most exciting events. (Profound understatement.) Ours was an autonomous, non-institutional, sectarian congregation, so you can rest assured that almost nothing about the assembly was designed to address and definitely not designed to entertain children. The opposite was most likely the aim. These gatherings were long, boring events for kids like me. In addition, the congregation was very small in number and the building was very small in size so silence among the kiddos truly was golden unless one wanted to endure the wrath of God as administered by parents who loved you and only wanted what was best for you. This is probably a bit of an overstatement but I knew as a boy that my number one goal at every assembly was to make it through the entire gathering without drawing any attention to myself. It seemed a bit repressive at the time; however, 54 years of hindsight, including 3 children and 5 grandchildren has softened my view and allowed me to see how my earthly dad and my heavenly Father were working even in those early years at ‘boring’ church assemblies in the mind of a little boy.
Anyone who can read and who looks at a word composed of familiar letters forming a familiar sequence instantly assumes a higher intelligence at work in the ordering of the letters. For example, when one sees the word ENTER the immediate assumption by normal, rational folks is that some higher intelligence has constructed this word and has posted it for the benefit of others who can read. It truly is obvious. Information points to a higher intelligence. The amazing thing is that the human DNA is composed of over 3.5 billion letters correctly arranged to define life as we know it. John Lennox, professor of mathematics at Oxford, puts it this way.
“We have only to see a few letters of the alphabet spelling our name in the sand to recognize at once the work of an intelligent agent. How much more likely, then is the existence of an intelligent Creator behind human DNA, the colossal biological database that contains no fewer than 3.5 billion ‘letters’ – the longest ‘word’ yet discovered?”
As I was recently teaching a Bible class to college kids at our current church congregation an amazing thought hit me right in the middle of a video we were watching that featured Professor John Lennox. He had pointed out this amazing fact about our perfectly sequenced DNA and then had beautifully tied it to the first chapter of the gospel of John.
John 1.1, In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
Just the fact that God is the source of all information and spoke the universe into existence is amazing enough, however, what spoke deep into my spirit was what I realized in that moment. A memory truly flashed into my mind. You see, being so bored so many years ago at church assembly and with nothing else to do, I had taken my Daddy’s large print, King James Version of the Bible and ‘randomly’ selected John chapter 1 and memorized the first section of it. The passage sparked my imagination as a boy in a profound way and still speaks to the deep places within my soul. The amazing truth that occurred to me while teaching that Sunday was that the God who spoke the universe into existence began to form me for His glory even before I had any idea it was happening. He had led me to this passage of scripture that would inspire and shape my life profoundly. I was overcome with emotion as I shared this with the class. The God of the universe, who spoke worlds into existence with His Word, spoke into my heart as a boy in order to shape me for His purposes. He is truly so big and powerful that we cannot fully comprehend Him; yet, so personal and so close that we can share a relationship with Him. This knowledge of Him transforms prideful, sinful humans into instruments for His glory washed clean and made whole by the blood of the One, Jesus Christ, who Was, Is and continues to be the Word of God.
He didn’t just do this for me. He does this for all who will seek Him. We must remember this as we create experiences for our children and grandchildren. Father God is working to draw them to Himself. He gives all humanity the self-dignity of choosing Him; yet, He does not leave us searching aimlessly. He is active in our lives drawing us to the Truth of His Word. His Information is everywhere and available to everyone.
What else can be said except thank You?
Ventanas 