October 18-19: Who Created God? and Where did God come from?

The Big Idea: Unlike people, God had no creator, he has no beginning and he will have no end.

Who created God? No one did
Then, where did he come from? He has always existed

In groups, look at passages:

• Acts 17:24-25 and Acts 17:29
• Colossians 1:15-16
• Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:26-28
• Psalm 90:1-4
• John 1:1-3

and answer:
1. What does this tell us about the age of God?
2. What does this tell us about who created God?
3. What does this tell us about how God is different from humans?

1. Without something at the beginning, absolutely nothing real could exist.
If we take something made, and ask - "what made this?" and then continue back...there has to be something at the beginning. That "beginning thing" is God.

So >>> God is not created.

2. Because nothing made God, he was never born and doesn't get any older
We call that "infinite"...which is different from being "old"

Infinite is the biggest number, bigger than any other. You can always add 1 to any number to get a bigger number. But not infinity. Infinity + 1 is still infinity. So, it's not correct to say that God is old, he is just infinite.

So >>> God is eternal.

3. Because God is eternal and not created, he holds a special place above (and outside of) the universe.

Ex: think of a special event you've attended (Harvest Party, Christmas Party, birthday party). While you're having fun and not knowing what will come next, someone knows. Someone set it all up, is in charge schedule and safety, hosting, decorating...someone is the organizer.

In the same way >> God is the maker (the organizer, the host) of the world:

• Gets to choose when it starts and ends
• Things that surprise us are not surprises to him
• Just as you thank the host of the party when you leave, God - who had no beginning, nothing before him - deserves all our thanks

Ex: In China - skies are normally smoggy. But, after a good soaking rain, the air cleared off. It made me thankful...but for what? Thankful to whom? I realized this could be applied to anything good...great athletic performances at the Olympics, acts of kindness...instead of being thankful "for that", we can train ourselves to be thankful "to God" because he is the source & the beginning of all that exists.

Caution: sometimes we stop short of thankfulness to God by simply being thankful only that we have certain things. This is coveting - loving something in a selfish way. True thankfulness takes our love for whatever it is - a possession, another person, a favorite activity - and follows it back to its source, which is God.