Verse of the Day

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

There’s something profound about beginnings. The first word of a book. The first note of a symphony. The first breath of a newborn. But no beginning in all of human history carries the weight and wonder of these ten simple words: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

There’s an old legend about Solomon’s temple that speaks to this truth. When the massive stones were being prepared for the temple, each one was cut to exact specifications at the quarry and sent to the construction site. One particular stone arrived that seemed different from all the others. The builders examined it, turned it over, measured it, but couldn’t figure out where it belonged. Frustrated, they decided it must be a mistake and rolled it down into the valley below.

Months passed. The temple walls rose higher and higher until finally, the builders were ready for the most important stone of all – the chief cornerstone that would hold everything together. They sent word to the quarry: “Send us the cornerstone.” The reply came back: “We sent it to you months ago.” After much confusion, someone remembered the strange stone they had rejected and thrown away. A crew was sent to retrieve it from the valley, and when they brought it back up, it fit perfectly. It was exactly what they needed all along.

This story echoes through Scripture – the stone the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone. And it points us back to Genesis 1:1, which serves as the cornerstone of all reality, all truth, all hope.

Think about what this single verse establishes. It tells us there was a beginning – time itself had a starting point. It tells us God exists independently of His creation – He was there “in the beginning” before anything else. It tells us He creates with intention and power – the entire cosmos springs from His word. And it tells us we live in an ordered universe where the heavens and earth exist because Someone wanted them to.

Without this cornerstone, we’re left with the devastating alternative that we’re merely “accidental blobs of dying chemicals mysteriously evolving from primordial sludge,” as someone once put it. But with Genesis 1:1 firmly in place, everything else makes sense. We have dignity because we bear God’s image. We have purpose because we’re part of His story. We have hope because the One who spoke galaxies into existence also knows our names.

I remember reading about the Apollo astronauts who first saw Earth from space. One described our planet as looking like “a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space” – so beautiful, so fragile, so precious. That perspective didn’t diminish their sense of wonder; it increased it. When you see the earth from that vantage point, you can’t help but recognize the handiwork of the Creator.

The same is true for us in our daily lives. When we build our lives on the cornerstone of Genesis 1:1, everything changes. Our struggles have meaning because they’re part of a larger story. Our relationships matter because we’re all image-bearers of the same God. Our work has value because we’re participating in the ongoing creativity of our Creator.

But here’s what strikes me most: Genesis 1:1 doesn’t just give us roots in a glorious past – it gives us routes to a magnificent future. If the God who created everything knows us personally, then He must have plans for us that extend beyond this brief earthly existence. We’re not dying embers in a dying universe. We’re beloved children of the eternal God, created for purposes that stretch into eternity itself.

Today, whatever uncertainty you’re facing, whatever questions are troubling your heart, remember this cornerstone truth. The same God who spoke the universe into existence is the God who knows your needs before you ask, who has good plans for your life, and who is working all things together for your ultimate good.

Let Genesis 1:1 be the foundation stone of your faith today. Everything else you need to know about God, about yourself, about life itself, flows from this bedrock truth. In the beginning, God created. And that changes everything.

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:11