I’d suggest that the Bible’s very first sentence—the one that begins with the word Genesis—should prompt a big but in our thinking: But what about God?

The text begins: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Okay, but who created God? Who is he? Where did he come from? The manner in which the book begins assumes God’s presence in this setting. God is introduced as if the reader already knows him, and in a way that suggests he existed before the beginnings of everything we can register with our senses—those things we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch.

In our legal system there is an objection that is voiced, “Assumes facts not in evidence.” When a lawyer states that objection he is arguing that the opposing counsel has misled the judge or jury by allowing them to believe something had been established earlier that was not, in fact, specifically testified to—in other words, there is no evidence in the record to support what you’ve just said. In reading the Bible’s first words, this presents one of the larger obstacles for some folks—there doesn’t appear to be any facts in evidence as to the origin of God.

The Bible, throughout, speaks of God as being eternal, having been from everlasting, and having acted before time began. The Psalms record that Moses prayed: Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. The Psalmist later attests—with a big but no less—that man’s days are numbered, but from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him. Everlasting—implied in that word is that God always was, and that he is, and that he will always be.

Back to the courtroom—when the objection “Assumes facts not in evidence” is raised, the judge might instruct a lawyer to substantiate the basis for his statement. Genesis unfolds like that. Offering no initial explanation for the existence of God, the writer proceeds immediately to creation’s beginnings—as if creation itself will testify that God, or some manner of intelligent being, was in place already. As the writer of the book of Romans concluded: Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. All of the systems and order that can be apprehended by our senses—seen, heard, smelled, tasted and touched—testify clearly that this was no accident. These things came into being by design, with intent and purpose. The Genesis account invites us to stay tuned as this story unfolds.

The manuscript of Big Buts of the Bible: Gospel of Matthew is finished. Here’s another excerpt, this from chapter 5:

You have heard it said, ‘love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…  That’s a hard teaching. I’ve had more than a few conversations with struggling married couples over the years where one or the other spouse tells me they aren’t feeling love anymore. I use this text to demonstrate love isn’t a feeling.

We’ve come to think of love as something we’re passive to—it comes upon us. We fall in love—sort of like falling in a ditch. Just happened. We talk about feeling butterflies in our stomach. That’s not love. That’s gas! It’ll pass—pun intended. But Jesus makes it clear, love is an action. You don’t get warm-fuzzies where an enemy is concerned. It has to be a decision.

The rest of the statement that Jesus gave tells us of the importance of this matter: …that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. People who knew my father tell me that they see and hear a lot of him in me. I suppose I did pick up a few of his features. I know that I picked up a bit of his temperament and some of his humor and vocabulary. Every now and again a phrase will come out of my mouth directed at my kids—a “Because I said so!”—and it is like déjà vu, I remember my dad saying that. Jesus’ point is that when we take up this manner of love, it is a dead give-away as to who our Father is. It so resembles Him that others will recognize it. God loves His enemies and cares for them. He causes His light to shine and rains provision on them. This manner of love is so very different from the norm. It stands apart.

Big Buts of the Bible: Genesis

160 buts to steer us through the book of beginnings. Are you ready? Here’s an excerpt from the book’s Introduction:

Genesis means beginning. In the Bible’s first book we find beginnings, beginning to end. The origin of all that is, the beginnings of the human race, the beginnings of all troubles and disorder, and the beginnings of God’s redemptive plan to rescue it all from that trouble and disorder—it’s all found here.

The outline of Genesis moves beginning to beginning. Nothing to everything we see: the first human to the first nation; the first family to the first domestic violence; the first covenant to the first breach; the first passions, first jealousies, first lies, first anger, first rage, first aggression, first murder, first… Do you get what I’m saying? It’s ALL here!

Most importantly, in Genesis we have the beginnings of God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. All that follows in the Bible springs from here. That said, in Genesis, we find Jesus!

Scholars have noted, “What was begun in Genesis is fulfilled in Christ.” The genealogies here in chapters five and eleven, for instance, are completed with the birth of Jesus in the New Testament. He is the offspring promised to Abraham. He is the one in whom God’s promised blessings are realized. A well-rounded picture of Jesus Christ cannot be gained apart from beginning here.

Studying the sciences? Cosmo, Geo, Bio, and Theo—all of the ‘ologies’ really—you’re wise to start in Genesis. A well-rounded picture of our lives and the world we live in begins here. Could you effectively study anthropology—the study of the human race—without the foundation Genesis provides? Talk about a missing link! Why, even debates in our day over things like Climate Change and peace in the Middle East are informed by the Bible’s first book.

You’ve picked up your Bible and turned to page one before. You made it through the story of creation, scratching your head over whether those were literal days, generations or eras, and whether it even matters one way or another. Then you got to the story of Adam and Eve and wondered: ‘What’s the big deal if they ate the fruit or not?’ Then you came to a genealogy. Next thing you knew, you realized that you had dozed off and drooled on the pages. Chapters five and six are stuck together. You pressed on a little farther. All those people living hundreds and hundreds of years, and all those names made up of seventeen consonants…. you’d had it, and you returned your Bible to the nightstand. Genesis? Yeah, you tried reading it once.

I want to encourage you to try again. You know the contents are worthwhile. This time, I’ve got a tool for you to use that will make a difference. It’s been there all along. But this time, you’re going to know to look for it.

Consider the word but. In grammatical terms, it is a conjunction—it conjoins two or more things by comparing, contrasting, arguing or otherwise stating an exception. You know the word but. It shows up in almost every conversation. Whether you’ve thought of this or not, you do pay attention when you hear the word but in conversation. Whatever follows the word but could be of vital importance. If someone says to you, “I am sorry, but…” you will need to give rapt attention to what follows. Did they just apologize or make an excuse? “I am sorry that I stepped on your toes, but if you didn’t have big clown feet weren’t sticking out in the middle of the room it wouldn’t have happened!” Buts are important clarifiers.

And there you have it: a tool that can forever change the way you read your Bible—but.

Good news. The word but appears 160 times in the book of Genesis. If you’re willing to take another run at it, this time following appearances of the word but all the way through, I believe you will come away with an entirely different result. You’ll have a better grip on all the beginnings mentioned earlier. You’ll have a better feel for confusing passages and an appreciation for genealogies and long vowel-challenged names. Well, maybe not the names. But (see that word?) you will come away with a much clearer picture of the whole, and where and how some of those silly names fit in the bigger story—God’s redemptive story. It is, after all, your story.

Big Buts of the Bible: Genesis traces each appearance of the word but found in the Bible’s first book, and is organized into fifty brief chapters, each corresponding with a chapter of the book of Genesis. We wind up with nearly a verse by verse scene by scene consideration of the Bible’s first book, and each step of the way this little three-letter conjunction helps to tie difficult passages, concepts and doctrines together. What do you say? Shall we start from the beginning?