Episode Details

Prayer

O God the author of all good, I come to You for the grace another day will require for its duties and events. I step out into a wicked world; I carry about with me an evil heart. I know that without You I can do nothing, that everything with which I shall be concerned, however harmless in itself, may prove an occasion of sin or folly, unless I am kept by Your power. Hold me up and I shall be safe.

Preserve my understanding from subtilty of error, my affections from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession from every form of evil. May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore Your blessing, and in which I cannot invite Your inspection. Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, or prepare me for disappointments. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny You and say, Who is the Lord? or be poor, and steal, and take Your name in vain.

May every creature be made good to me by prayer and Your will. Teach me how to use the world and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men, and especially to my fellow Christians. And to You be the glory.

Reading

Psalm 145 & Romans 11.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”Genesis 1:1.

Meditation

Who is God? Whether you realise it or not, whether you feel it or not, that is the single greatest and most important question you or I could ever ask. It is the question of questions, the question in which every other question finds its meaning and purpose. Who is God? As we have seen, the Pentateuch is a historical narrative – a true story – and, as with any narrative, one meets people and characters as the story unfolds. As we open up the narrative of the Pentateuch, the first question we ask, then, is: Who is this? Who is God? Genesis 1:1 gives us our first introduction.

We have already seen that God is holy, that there is a distinction between God and his creation, and that he is transcendent above his creation in every possible way – that’s what holiness means. But verse one of this magnificent chapter contains far more for us to consider, it is a treasure trove of riches! Another grand revelation that we learn of God here is that God is also incomprehensible.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Now you tell me, can you get your head around the idea that God existed before creation was made? The simple and honest answer is and must be: “No”. What would it mean to exist as a soul without a body? What would it mean to exist before life on earth and the universe itself existed? What would it mean to create the heavens and the earth? Creating a work of art, building a house, carving a sculpture – these things we can grasp, but how does one design and build the human brain from scratch? How does one speak matter into existence?

To say that God is incomprehensible is not to say that we cannot know him. To the extent that he reveals himself we can know him. We can know about him. We can have a relationship with him. No, to say God is incomprehensible is to say that God is so big, so infinitely big, that we cannot and never will be able to, get our heads around him. There will always be more we don’t understand. In the words of RC Sproul: “Theologically speaking, to say God is incomprehensible is not to say that God is utterly unknowable. It is to say that none of us can comprehend God exhaustively.” To quote another one of my mentors: “He is not subject to our scrutiny.” In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Ps 145:3). God is incomprehensible.

Be ye doers of the word…

A natural application that flows from