Gospel

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Ends & Beginnings

“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done, …”
Isaiah 46:9-10 NKJV

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”
Revelation 22:12-14 NKJV

Throughout the Bible, we see that God is a God of both Ends and Beginnings. Wherever we see an end, it’s followed closely by a beginning. At some point in Eternity Past, God decided to end the empty, formless earth and turn it and the surrounding universe into an amazing, astonishing array of lights, colors, textures, substances, and temperatures (see Genesis 1:1-25). He began a family by placing on the earth a Man (Adam) and a Woman (Eve) (see Genesis 1:26-27, 2:15-25). He began Man’s tenure on the earth by giving him absolute dominion and authority over all of the plants and all of the animals, to keep the Garden of Eden and protect from all intruders (see Genesis 1:26-31, 2:8-14). When Adam failed God and handed his rights over to the serpent (Satan), God ended Adam & Eve’s time in the garden (see Genesis 3). Thus began mankind’s struggle with sin, sickness, poverty, and death.

With the Flood, God ended a period of time where sin dominated the earth (see Genesis 6 & 7). With Abraham, God began the Hebrew race and the march toward the appearance of the Seed, the Deliverer, whom He promised would crush the head of Satan (see Genesis 15-22). The enslavement of the Hebrew people in Egypt temporarily ended the prosperity of the line of Abraham (see Exodus 1 & 2). With Moses, God freed His people from slavery and began to prosper them again, but He also began the Law, which ended two thousand years of grace (see Exodus 3 through Deuteronomy 34). God began holding His people to account for their sins, and throughout the Old Testament, they went in and out of war and peace, bondage and freedom as they rebelled against the Law, then repented, rebelled, repented, and so on, and so on. Until…

Until Jesus. Jesus the Seed. Jesus the Lamb. Jesus the Servant. Jesus the Redeemer. Jesus the Alpha and the Omega. Jesus the Beginning and the End. Jesus the First and the Last.

Jesus took sin, sickness, poverty, and death to the cross and left them there. His death on the cross ended all of the wrong that Adam began. His resurrection from the grave on Resurrection Day began a new era of grace, in which God no longer holds us to account for our sin, our failure, our pride, our rebellion (see Romans 5, 6 & 8, Galatians 3). You can begin to experience the New Beginning that Jesus won for you by simply calling on His name: admit that He is the Son of God, who died for you and rose again; admit that you have sinned and need forgiveness; admit that He is Lord and accept His forgiveness (see Romans 10:9-10).

God is still a God of Ends and Beginnings. With Jesus, God began a new age of grace and ended the power of sin. One day, your natural life will end, and one day, probably very soon, God will call an end to life here on earth as we know it. At either time, depending upon whether you have accepted Jesus as your Lord & Savior, you will begin eternity with God in heaven or separated from Him in hell. Only you can choose which Beginning of your eternal existence will follow the End of your temporary lifetime.

** Adapted from the author's website at http://www.seedwords.com/pages.asp?pageid=84417

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