Before the World

Who or what is God? How do you define God?

In my home country, heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian thought, many people have a concept of "god," though not all people believe that such a being exists or exactly what such a being would be like. But when we worked in Thailand, we found that the Thai people, in general, don't have a concept of a God as an ultimate being that is separate from the created realm. As such, there is no term specifically for a God. The term they might use for God essentially has a meaning like "lord" and can refer to a spiritual being or an earthly ruler. So when we used the term, we used it with qualifying terms such as "God the creator."

The Bible has many references to God as Creator and, as such, is Lord over all that He has made. It also points out the unique role of humans in the created realm and the fact that these humans were designed to have a relationsip with Him. God is a personal God.

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

Genesis 1:27 ESV
So God created man in his own image,
 in the image of God he created him;
 male and female he created them.

Psalm 24:1 ESV
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
 the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
 and established it upon the rivers.

Psalm 100:3 ESV
Know that the LORD, he is God!
 It is he who made us, and we are his;
 we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 115:15 ESV
May you be blessed by the LORD,
 who made heaven and earth!
The heavens are the LORD’s heavens,
 but the earth he has given to the children of man.

Proverbs 3:19 ESV
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
 by understanding he established the heavens;
by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
 and the clouds drop down the dew.

Isaiah 40:28-29 ESV
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
 The LORD is the everlasting God,
 the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 He does not faint or grow weary;
 his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
 and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Isaiah 44:24 ESV
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
 who formed you from the womb:
 “I am the LORD, who made all things,
 who alone stretched out the heavens,
 who spread out the earth by myself,

Isaiah 66:2a ESV
All these things my hand has made,
 and so all these things came to be,
 declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 10:12 ESV
It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Jeremiah 27:5 ESV
“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth,
 with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

Jeremiah 51:19a ESV
Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
 for he is the one who formed all things,

Colossians 1:16 ESV
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Hebrews 1:10 ESV
And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
 and the heavens are the work of your hands;

2 Peter 3:5 ESV
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God

When God appears to Moses, Moses asks what God's name is. God introduces Himself a "I am who I am." God is the self-existent One, the One who exists apart from the created realm. (Exodus 3:14)

In Psalm 139, David writes about the awesomeness of God and, in verses 13-16, what that means for us in particular as humans.

Psalm 130:13-16 ESV
For you formed my inward parts;
 you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
 Wonderful are your works;
 my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
 when I was being made in secret,
 intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
 in your book were written, every one of them,
 the days that were formed for me,
 when as yet there was none of them.

This song is based of the thought that God is creator of the world in general and humans in particular, and as such, He is Lord over the world and our lives as well. And in spite of all that God has to keep track of in regulating the universe, He cares for us as individuals. The mix of tenses in the song is intentional.

Before the World
©Edd Russell, Fresno 6/2006

INTRO E B/D# C#m Bsus F#m G#m A2

E      B/D#                      C#m  Bsus
   Before the world was born
F#m G#m          A2   Bsus
        There was You.
E     B/D#                       C#m Bsus
   Before the world was born
F#m G#m A2
You   are   God
     F#m G#m   A2
Before  time began
F#m G#m    A2     Bsus   E       B/D C#m Bsus
You   are    there    al   -   ways

CHORUS 1
                      E B/D# C#m Bsus
And You are Je     -     sus
    F#m G#m   Bsus
Crea  -  tor  of all
                     E B/D# C#m Bsus
Yes You are Je    -    sus
F#m G#m Bsus
Lord over  all

INST:  E   B/D#   C#m   Bsus (2X)
            F#m   G#m   A2

E      B/D#                      C#m  Bsus
   Before the world was born
F#m G#m          A2   Bsus
You knew my name.
E      B/D#                      C#m  Bsus
   Before the world was born
 F#m G#m        A2
You  called me Yours
     F#m G#m    A2
Before  time began
F#m G#m    A2   Bsus E   B/D C#m Bsus
I       am    Yours  al - ways

CHORUS 2
                      E B/D# C#m Bsus
And You are Je     -     sus
    F#m G#m   Bsus
Crea  -  tor  of all
                     E B/D# C#m Bsus
Yes You are Je    -    sus
F#m G#m     Bsus
You  are my God

REPEAT CHORUS 1

INST:  E   B/D#   C#m   Bsus (2X)
            F#m   G#m   A2

F#m  G#m  A2
You    are   God
F#m  G#m    A2
I         am   Yours

END:  F#m  G#m  A2  Bsus  E