The opening words of the Bible place our relationship with God in the proper perspective. God is the source and origin of all existence. He created. Without His creative act, there would be nothing (Jn 1:3). All things come from Him and belong to Him. We own nothing. We can claim nothing—not our possessions, accomplishments, or even our lives. He is our Lord and Master. With this understanding, we will humbly surrender ourselves to His sovereign will. We will give Him all the credit and the right of ownership. That is why at the thought of God’s absolute sovereignty, Paul exclaimed, “Who has first given to Him / And it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen†(Rom 11:35-36).
These opening words also set the temporality of the universe against the eternity of God. It contrasts our finitude to God’s infinity. Even before the beginning, God was. God always has been, and will always be. To God, all creation exists in a tiny speck of time in the boundless span of eternity. As the psalmist puts it, “For a thousand years in Your sight / Are like yesterday when it is past, / And like a watch in the night†(Ps 90:4).
Just as the universe has a beginning, it will also end one day:
Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You will endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same… (Ps 102:25-28) In the eternal perspective, nothing under heaven or on earth really matters. Only God matters. The heavens and the earth will all pass away in a twinkling of an eye. But if in this temporal space and time we can come to know our Creator, then we have found meaning to our existence.
Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, I surrender myself to your control, for you are my Maker and Master. Remind me that life is temporal, and help me to see life everyday from your eternal perspective.
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