NEW YEAR'S MEDITATION

NEW YEAR'S MEDITATION

NEW BEGINNINGS

Happy New Year to You and Yours – as we start the Beginning of a New Year.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

God is a God of beginnings.  Genesis, the record of beginnings. The word Genesis means origins or the coming into being of something. Genesis tells of the beginning of the Creation of the universe, the earth, and all that is in it; the origin of man; the appearance of sin; the beginning of a godly people; the origin of a nation – the Hebrews; and the beginning of the Salvation Story.

God is a God of beginnings. The heavens and the earth had a beginning. It boggles the mind that some people think that anything could exist without a beginning. Science itself demonstrates that material Universe has not always existed. Science and common sense shows that nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could – ala Maria's song in The Sound Of Music. Trying to explain it with the Big Bang Theory only evades the question. Where did the first atom come from? There had to be a beginning somewhere. The only rational and logical answer is that it was created.

God is a God of beginnings. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God" (John 1:1). This is not meant to imply that God had a beginning. Rather it brings us to the realization that before anything else was, God was. He is eternal. That is a hard concept to wrap my brain around. But if stands to reason that if God had a beginning, then He had to be created. It is a vicious circle. The best way to handle the conundrum it is to accept the reality of the eternal existence of the Creator – the Logos – the Very Word Of God. He was present and active at the beginning of the cosmos.

God is a God of beginnings. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life...that which we have seen and heard we declare to you…." (I John 1:1, 3a). There was a beginning of the incarnate God in the person of Jesus Christ. Even though He had existed as God in Heaven, He had a beginning as a human in the womb of Mary and took His first breath of earthly air in Bethlehem.

God is a God of beginnings. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again" (John 3:7). Birth is a new beginning. We need a new beginning in our lives and we begin our spiritual life when we are born of the Spirit. There is a definite beginning when we start our new life in Christ and are translated from death to life. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but He made us alive. In that process, we are created as a new creature. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new (II Corinthians 5:17). It is a new beginning.

As we come to the end of this year, we look forward to a new beginning. 2020 is past. 2021 is new. Praise God for new beginnings. But if we don't begin with God, the new beginning is an empty promise. I might say "in the beginning of 2021 – God…..." May God always be our starting point, our place of Beginning.

Love, Dad