“In the beginning, God.....

“In the beginning, God…”1
It has been said that “the existence of God is the great presupposition
of theology”2. Because theology is the quest to
understand the nature and purposes of God, it begins with the
premise that God exists. But it also reflects the reality that, for
the Christian, accepting the existence of God is ultimately a
matter of faith.
Without faith-engagement in the task, the study of ‘doctrine’ is
merely an intellectual exercise. But most of us aren’t interested
in Christian teaching for its own sake. We want to grow in our
understanding of God so that our lives will be changed for the
better.3 For that to happen, at least some faith is necessary.
“…without faith it is impossible to please God, because
anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”4
Christian ‘faith’ (“being sure of what we hope for and certain of
what we do not see”5) is not ‘blind’ faith. It is based on what God
has revealed to us about himself, primarily through Scripture.
The ‘amount’ or ‘strength’ of our faith is not really important.
At this point, your faith may be ‘great’ enough to start this quest
by boldly claiming the promise that “if any of you lacks wisdom,
you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding
fault, and it will be given to you.”6
Or your faith may seem to you to be very ‘small’. Inside you may
be saying: ‘God, (if there is a god!) show me more!’
Whether our faith is ‘great’, ‘small’ or somewhere in the middle,
God can work with it!7
1 Genesis 1:1 (TNIV)
2 L. Berkof, Systematic Theology, p. 21
3 Romans 12:1 (TNIV)
4 Hebrews 11:6 (TNIV)
5 Hebrews 13:1 (TNIV)
6 James 1:5 (TNIV)
7 see Matthew 17:20 (TNIV)

http://www.kortrightchurch.org/pdf/DDD%20-%20Introduction,%20Sept%2013-14,%202007.pdf