the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and earth” (Genesis 1:1). In the beginning of the Bible it is told how God created everything out of nothing. He separated light from darkness, day from night and waters from waters. Then He created plants and different fruit trees, according to their various kinds. God created lights, sun and moon, and every living thing in the waters, birds and other animals, and finally man. God saw that what He had created was good. God made man in his own image. He gave to man the task of cultivating and protecting earth. Everything that exists is created by God. God is the source of everything and without Him nothing exists.

The majority of people in the world believe in God. On the other hand there seems to have always been also those who don’t. According to the Bible the existence of God can be observed and understood through His actions. The creation tells that it has a Creator. Randomness produces sometimes beautiful things, but it is inconceivable that the laws of physics and nature, and matter that follow these laws would have come into being by chance. They must have been designed by infinitely great wisdom. God created matter, laws of nature and life. He said “Let there be light” and light came. God created with His word. What observations in the nature direct your thoughts towards God? According to the Bible a person who doesn’t believe in God is a fool; he doesn’t trust intelligence and observation (Psalm 14:1 and Romans 1:19-22).

God upholds life and order in the world (Hebrews 1:1-3). It is also a gift of God to have peace and order in the society, in which everyone is guaranteed livelihood and a place to live in. On the other hand God allows also destructive forces to work in the world. He allows for us the freedom to do evil. This freedom, which God has given, has limits. The devil was an angel created by God, who in his pride turned against God. However, the power of the devil is limited and will end once. God is almighty. Despite the influence of evil forces the beauty and goodness of God’s creation can be seen everywhere. We can thank God for the green park, sunset at a beach, good food, for our fellow human beings and even for ourselves. That we are now studying this book is also part of God’s good plan.

One way of thinking that has prevailed in Europe for a long time is that an intelligent person doesn’t believe in the existence of God. Belief in worldly possessions and money infiltrates everywhere as the only acceptable way of thinking. Faith has become a private matter, which is not mentioned in public. Europeans may even despise a person who openly believes in God. Do you have experience of this matter? Europe is not after all the kind of stronghold of Christianity you would think, considering the amount of missionaries sent out. This turning away from God is contagious and feels “civilized”. In reality it is only the continuation of the same escape from God that Adam and Eve already started (Genesis 3:8).