Geoffrey's Notebook

While going over this question in preparation for a local youth meeting, my son already had his own answer:   It is actually that simple. Creation has to stop at some point. If everything has to have a beginning, then there must be something before the beginning in order to begin everything else. Otherwise, once we find out who created God we have to ask who created that one? And at some point, we run into the real God who has always existed. Before there was a beginning of heavens and earth being created (Gen. 1:1) there was God. And He began all of creation:  John 1:1-3 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 received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being.  Hebrews 11:3 By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear. 

A good question from the bible.com app. Jesus gave a warning parable for disciples and ended with: For many are called ones, but few chosen ones (Matthew 22:14). The calling to the disciples was to follow Jesus. And many are called. Then the Lord chose the Twelve for a specific purpose. He did know that one of the Twelve was going to betray Him, so that is a different case than the others. With the other eleven, He chose them with a hint of foreknowledge (Romans 8:29) knowing that they would also choose Him. Though He had some counsel with the Father and knew who to choose, it was still a delight to Him when the actual choice was made. As all are turning away and the response of these disciples was to instead choose Him back, His heart was refreshed: "Did I not choose you?" Who is doing the choosing here? It is the disciples. But who already did the choosing? The Lord. He chose them having some foreknown sense of their future choice. Foreknowledge does not mean that th...