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The Origin of God

Where did God come from? This is something I've always wondered about. When I look at creation, from the astronomical to the cellular level, it's impossible for me to think that such beauty and complexity is the product of mere chance. But that still leaves one question unanswered: Who made God?

No one made God. He has no origin. That, after all, is an important part of what it means to be God. The historic creeds and confessions of the Church acknowledge this truth by declaring that God is eternal. The following excerpt from The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) is a good example:

There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty … (Chapter II, Section 1, “Of God, and of the Holy Trinity”)

This doctrine of God’s eternity is firmly rooted and grounded in Scripture. We don’t have space here for an exhaustive study, but a few brief biblical quotations should serve to prove the point:

    • “In the beginning,” writes the author of Genesis, ” God created …” (Genesis 1:1). In other words, at the moment when everything else had its origin, God the Creator was already present and active.

 

    • “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations,” sings Moses in Psalm 90:1-2. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” This phrase, from everlasting to everlasting, is a biblical way of saying that God had no beginning and will have no end.

 

    • “Since the creation of the world,” writes Paul in Romans 1:20, “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.” It’s significant that Paul uses the Greek word aidios to express the idea of “eternity” here. In contrast to the more common adjective aionios, “age-long,” aidios describes something which has always been and always will be.

 

  • “With the Lord,” declares the apostle Peter, “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Peter 3:8). This does not mean simply that God has existed “for a long, long time,” but rather that His existence transcends the boundaries, limitations, and definitions of time.

All of this is summed up and powerfully expressed in the name God gives Himself in Exodus 3:14 – ” I AM.” Significantly, Jesus also claims this name as His own in John 8:58. Theologian Louis Berkhof comments:

Our life is divided into a past, present, and future, but there is no such division in the life of God. He is the eternal “I am.” His eternity may be defined as that perfection of God whereby He is elevated above all temporal limits and all succession of moments and possesses the whole of His existence in one indivisible present. (Systematic Theology, p. 60)

If God is eternal, we have to conclude that He is also the Unmade Maker. No one can make God, for it is God who made all things and existed before all things.

Think of it this way. If you could somehow find out “who made God,” your discovery would only prove that God is not God. If Someone Else made Him, then that Person, and not the one you’ve been worshipping all along, must be the real God. This in turn would only push the whole discussion back a step. Once you discovered who it was that made God, you’d be faced with the challenge of finding out who made Him. And so on and so forth. Ad infinitum. Better to begin with the assumption that any “God” worthy of the title must pre-date and take priority over any other being you can possibly imagine or conceive.

We realize that it’s not easy to wrap your brain around a subject like this. If you think it might be helpful to discuss it at greater length, call us. Focus on the Family has a staff of pastoral counselors who would love to speak with you over the phone.

 

Resources
If a title is currently unavailable through Focus on the Family, we encourage you to use another retailer.

The Case for Faith

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist

Referrals
LeeStrobel.com

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