4 Words That Impact Everything

The Bible begins with four powerful words that affect everything:

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God. . .”

This is Act 1 of the Bible. Act 1 is about God. Every act of the Big Story is mainly about God (instead of being mainly about us), but four acts are about both God and us. Act 1 is unique. Act 1 is exclusively about God.

We often insist on living as if we are the beginning, the origin, the primary character. We live life under the banner of “In the beginning, me.” But the Bible doesn’t begin with “In the beginning, Justin” or “In the beginning, [insert your name here].” It boldly states, “In the beginning, God.” 

If life were about you we couldn’t call it the "Big Story.” We’d have to call it the "Small Story.” And that wouldn’t be a very interesting story. I hope you have an interesting life. I hope that when you die people remember you for a few years. But, by and large, you’re just not that interesting. You’re a small, little person in a massive universe that doesn’t really notice you. You need a story, and a God, that can make sense of your little life in this big universe. Actually, contrary to how most people think, the more you can see that God is big and you are small—that life is about him, not you—the more happy you’ll be. But I’m getting ahead of myself here…

For now just get this: The start of this story isn’t “In the beginning, me.” It’s “In the beginning, God.”

In the beginning, God.

In the beginning, God.

In the beginning, God.

Drill that into your thinking.

-From pages 27-28 of my book, The Big Story.