Older Than a Fossil

READ: GENESIS 1:1-3; JOHN 1:1-18; COLOSSIANS 1:15-20; HEBREWS 1:8-12

Have you ever dreamed of being a paleontologist? There’s something awe-inspiring about fossils, whether you find a rock with an imprint of a leaf or a marine creature on it, or go to a museum where entire skeletons are constructed. It’s amazing what we can discover about the past through what we find in the ground.

Do you know how fossils are formed? When a living thing, like a plant or an animal, is buried in mud or clay for years and years, the material around it gets very hard as time goes by. Eventually, the plant or animal dissolves away, leaving openings in the hardened material. Those openings are exactly the shape of the plant or animal that has disappeared. When this process happens with animals, the flesh and hair and feathers wear away first, but the bones, teeth, and horns take longer to decompose. Over time, water finds its way into the cavity in the ground, and the minerals in the water gradually replace the bones and such until there is a complete replica of the original skeleton.

This whole process takes quite a while. You might say fossils are “as old as the hills,” to quote an old saying. The ironic thing is, we aren’t even sure exactly how old the hills are. But God knows. He existed long before the earth or anything in it. God is eternal, with no beginning or end. And we’re not just talking about God the Father. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father have always existed. God is one God in three persons—that’s why we sometimes refer to God as the Trinity. Together, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made the earth and everything in it. And that makes it even more awe-inspiring to realize that God came and lived among us as a human. Jesus is God incarnate, and He experienced all the same things we do, even death. But death could not keep its hold on Him—after three days in the grave, Jesus rose (Acts 2:24).

As finite human beings, we can’t totally wrap our minds around these truths—even Bible scholars and pastors can’t quite explain the mysteries of God. Yes, throughout our lives we’ll learn more and more about God, but there will be many things we won’t fully understand until we see Jesus face-to-face, and that’s okay. As we look forward to that glorious day, we can marvel, wonder, and rest in the truth of God’s greatness and eternal love for us. • A. W. Smith

• What are some of the mysteries about God that you have trouble wrapping your mind around? Who are trusted Christians in your life you could talk with about these mysteries?

All things were created through him [Jesus]… John 1:3a (CSB)