“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” —Genesis 1:1
It's hard to imagine how anything could have happened before the creation of the universe. We can kinda grasp it because everything has a beginning, right? (Except God, but that's a different article.) But to think of before the beginning—that's just mind-blowing. Also, remember that this isn’t just the beginning of "stuff" like the planets and stars, but this is also the beginning of time itself.
What could we possibly know about what happened before the beginning? To be honest, not that much. Most of the knowledge of "before Creation" is shrouded in mystery. We can file this under "Things We Won’t Understand Until We Get to Heaven." Scripture does give us a few details though...
We know that God was not alone because He existed before the creation of time (Acts 17:25). God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit existed at once and as one being. God exists as a triune being in perfect harmony, fulfillment, and pleasure. God had the company of Himself in the trinity. David said in Psalms 16:11 that "joy and pleasures forever more" are in the presence of God.
Why is it important to know that God was perfectly fine before the beginning of Creation? Because this tells us that God did not create the universe out of loneliness. God has perfect knowledge of Himself and perfect unity, yet He still chose to create this universe and all of us—knowing exactly how everything was going to play out. Can you imagine?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” —John 1:1-3
Reading this passage, you might find you need to read it a couple times to really grasp what it means. (I know I still need to.) Jesus is the one referred to as "the Word" here. Jesus existed before the beginning. After He became human, we hear Him pray, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:5). (Also see: Who is Jesus?)
“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” —Genesis 1:2
This whole thing is crazy to think about, isn't it? The Holy Spirit was hanging out too! And the three of them had discussions with one another. The Bible tells us that God discussed the redemption of the world—even before there was a world to redeem (2 Timothy 1:9; John 17:24).
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” —Ephesians 1:4-5
Before Creation, God existed—just as He has always existed. Beyond what Scripture tells us, we get to use our imaginations to wonder and dream about what "before the beginning" might have been like.
Before God created the universe, He existed as the trinity—just as He does now. God exists as God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God was perfectly fulfilled and without lacking companionship before Creation, which tells us that He did not create the universe out of loneliness. The Bible tells us that God discussed the redemption of the world—even before creation. Other than these facts, what happened "before the beginning" remains a mystery.
Heidi Joelle spends her days staring at paperwork and making sure it is where it is supposed to be, how it is supposed to be, when it is supposed to be. And then she comes home and makes sure the porky little dog isn't eating a trashcan. Between these two events, she tries to learn and see as much of the world around her as possible.
