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"These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God" (Revelation 3:14).
God is a spirit (John 4:24) and he abides continually; without beginning and without end
(Hebrews 7:3). Those who view the Bible as a history book have stumbled at this because they are inclined to think of
the texts in a linear fashion. This way of thinking would make everything irrelevant to our current condition except
for what they consider to be prophesy (i.e. predictions of some future events), which they also conceptualize in a linear
fashion. However, because he is timeless Jesus Christ (i.e., the Living Word of God) is " the same yesterday,
today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). A fundamental paradigm of this ministry is that the Bible is a book of parables
that are intended to convey a spiritual understanding. This week's sermon expounds on the concept of "the
beginning".
As concerning you and me, there are many beginnings and many ends.
Jesus says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end..." (Revelation 22:13). We are the earth and
at the outset we are without form and void of understanding (Jeremiah 4:22 & 23). When we first hear the Word of
God as revealed by the Holy Spirit, that is the point where God says, "Let there be light..." (Genesis 1:4). Only
at that point have we truly begun to let Jesus Christ (i.e. the Living Word of God) into our hearts. This is "the"
beginning and it occurs in different people at different times.
Once there
is light, he begins dividing the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:4). Those who rejoice in and embrace the light inherit
the promise. They begin to gain understanding (Psalm 119:113) and their faith increases (Romans 10:17).
But "...faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). "For
now we see through a glass, darkly..." (I Corinthians 13:12), but at the last trumpet we shall be changed (I Corinthians
15:52). Therefore, we look forward faithfully to the day that our change shall come and the old ways shall be no more.
God says, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). This is the basis
for our sure and certain hope that our change shall, indeed, come. Amen
Questions or comments? Contact Pastor Paul: