Who Created God?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3 (NLT)

God was “in the beginning” of all creation and all human time. As Creator, God created the universe, the earth and everything on the earth, and all living creatures. Many people debate the true fact that God created the heavens and the earth. In fact, Genesis 1 is the most challenging and debated thoughts confronting the human mind. Was there a sudden explosion? Or, did the earth just evolve over billions of years as a process? Almost every religion has a story to explain how the earth came into existence. And, most scientists have given an opinion on earth’s origins. Yet, humans may never know all the answers as to how God created the earth. Although humans – no matter how intelligent – may not understand the complexity of just how the earth was created, the Holy Bible states that God is the beginning of all created life. As personal Creator, everything in existence was and is dependent upon God (Colossians 1:15–17). God gives to all earth and humankind “life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25). Life did not happen by chance but by a living and loving God who carefully designed the universe, the earth, and humans.

The true and living God is eternal or timeless – the Great “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, “the Alpha and the Omega . . .  who is and who was and who is to come” (Revelation 1:8; see also Revelation 21:6). God has neither a beginning nor an ending because He existed before time and creation began. He was working “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4), and He sovereignly rules over all human history. The prophet Moses wrote, “Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, You are God”(Psalms 90:2, NLT). The prophet Habakkuk said that God was “from everlasting” and “eternal” (Habakkuk 1:12; Habakkuk 3:6), and the apostle Paul called God “the everlasting [eternal] God” (Romans 16:26; see also 1 Timothy. 1:17).

God is the eternal Lord and Ruler of the past, present, and future (Revelation 4:8; see also Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12-15). Thus, God was not created and He never came into existence. God is eternally present and all around us in the natural world (Romans 1:19-20; see also Psalm 19:1-4; Psalm 29:3-9). He is infinite and knows no limitations in either time or space. God is from everlasting to everlasting (see also Psalm 93:2; Proverbs 8:23). Even more, God is totally self-sufficient and needs nothing more than Himself to exist or to act. Because of God’s sufficiency, God is all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent), everywhere present (omnipresent), transcendent (supreme), and unchanging (ageless). Most important, God is not dead but is truly alive (Psalm 10:4). 

The God of Genesis is the only true God and He has no “rival gods” (see Exodus 15:1; Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 1 Kings 8:60; Psalm 18:31). This one true God exists as three Persons (Trinity):  God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ or the Word) and God the Holy Spirit. The Trinity does not mean that one God demonstrates Himself in three different forms, or that there are three gods. Instead, the facts of the Trinity mean that one God exists in three Persons. Each Person of God is equal in Their attributes and yet individual and distinct in Their offices and ministries. The truth (doctrine) of the Trinity was not often discussed in the Old Testament but clearly revealed in the New Testament by Jesus Christ and His apostles (e.g., see Genesis 1:1-3; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:18-20; John 1:1-14; John 3:34-35).

The Triune God was “In the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:1-14). In the counsels of eternity, the Triune God created the universe, our earth, and humans. The Trinity determined to create a world that included humans made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). According to Ephesians 1:3-14, the plan of human salvation is an act of Trinity: we are chosen by God the Father (Ephesians 1:3-6), purchased by God the Son (Ephesians 1:7-12), and sealed by God the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) for God’s glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). These actions reveal God’s love for humans (John 3:16). All humans need to receive God’s eternal love and forgiveness is faith (acceptance and trust) in the Triune God (John 1:12-18). God wants everyone to love and know Him because He so loves and cares for us without measure and distinction (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Matthew 5:45; John 1:12-18; John 3:16). Although God is the Creator, God is also close to every one of us (Acts 17:27-28). God is sovereign and all powerful, while at the same time He is close, personal, and forgiving to all who humbly and wholehearted seek Him as God. Best of all, we can all personally know the eternal God through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said that eternal life was found in knowing Him and knowing “the only true God” who sent Him (John 17:3). Only a life lived loving and obeying God has real meaning, significance, and eternal purpose (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Then Paul stood before the meeting of the Areopagus and said . . . . “The God who made the whole world and everything in it is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples built by human hands. This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them; He has everything He needs. God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live. God wanted them to look for Him and perhaps search all around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any of us: ‘We live in Him. We walk in Him. We are in Him.’. . . Since we are God’s children, you must not think that God is like something that people imagine or make from gold, silver, or rock.” Acts 17:22, 24-29 (NCV)

References

KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994.

Life Application Study Bible. Carol Streams, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible. New York: Zondervan, 2008.

Grudem, Wayne. Christian Beliefs. Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan, 2005.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1989.