He is before all things…the beginning.

Colossians 1:17-18

It all began before the beginning, before the heavens and the earth, before time. God was. God was before all things—God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. What a puzzle for the mind of finite man. The apostle Paul had searched the secrets of the faith and he was determined to provide the clues to his friends in Colosse. Truth revealed would diminish the creeping heresy of the age.

It surely is an awe-inspiring thing to consider the preexistence of God. In my Womenary* class this spring I made most sense out of the cosmological argument of orderly arrangement: every effect, everything that happens, has a cause. That effect may become a cause in itself; but what caused the cause of the first effect ever—the creation of the heavens and the earth, out of nothing? The primary cause (God) had to preexist; God is the uncaused cause. Let that settle in for a spell.

Not only was God before time; but He also is now in time and forever more. He said so Himself, when Moses asked Him who should he say sent him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt: “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

And if you want to unravel a little more mystery, consider the triune nature of the preexistent God. In the beginning God created (Genesis 1:1), and the Spirit of God was hovering nearby (Genesis 1:2), and by him (Jesus) all things were created (Colossians 1:15). In the Christ Hymn (Colossians 1:15-20), Paul makes it clear that the fullness of God dwelt in the Son Jesus. And John had this to say: He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning, in fact was God (John 1:1-2)—before all things, in the beginning, the uncaused cause.

As for you and for me, transport yourself back to before time and put yourself into God’s mind: He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight (Ephesians 1:4). We were on His mind before all things began.

Ah, sweet mysteries of life, just begging to be solved. God beckons us in.

Nancy P

*Womenary is a seminary level class for women. Check out their website at womenary.com