In the Beginning, God
"In the beginning, God created ... " (Gen. 1: 1 ). "In the beginning was the Word ... "(John 1:1).
Read: Mark 4:3-11; Matt. 26:6-16; Deut. 15:11; Jer. 31:3; John 16:27; I Pet. 1:8
What Is God Saying?
God was in the beginning. God is not to be equated with all things. He made all things when the earth was without form and void. He transcends all created things because by Him all things were made. The Word that became flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, was with God in the beginning. In fact, He was God and is God. He is the Source of all life and the life He gives is the light of men. The fact of creation and the gift of light are closely associated. He who was in the beginning is the Source of all light and true Life now.
How Does This Apply To Us?
For us, God is the beginning, the true beginning. Without God, there is no beginning for anything worthwhile. God, who was in the beginning, can take the disorder and emptiness of our lives and create something entirely new. He created. He can recreate. He is the God of all beginning ... and of all beginning again. Jesus Christ who was in the beginning then can provide for us a new beginning now. Each day with Him is a new beginning. Let us come to prayer with tip-toe eagerness to see what God has for us in new adventures and joyful discoveries today. Every day is a new beginning with God, and it should be for us. He is the beginning of everything. He is behind all beginning again. We look for Him to begin something wonderful for us today.
Pray With Me
O God who in the beginning was, I affirm that in the beginning of this year, You already are. Your hand opens the door, Your presence gives me courage, Your voice calls me on and up. "In the beginning, God created .... " O0 God of infinite power and endless love, at the beginning of his year—and always—create in me a clean heart. Let all the follies and failures of the past be erased. Let the thoughts which have stained my mind and the desires which have corrupted my heart be removed. Let them be replaced by such thoughts of Your holiness and such desires for Your kingdom as shall give no quarter to the attacks of darkness, however subtle and persistent they may be. In the beginning, was the Word .... " Reveal Yourself to me, O God, in the transforming radiance of Your Son. He is Your Word. He is Your way of making contact. He is Your purpose revealed and Your love made clear. Let this be a year which, from the beginning to the end, shall be lived in the conscious presence of Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Author and the Finisher of our faith, who said, "Surely I am with you always, to the very end." God of all beginning and all beginning again, make this beginning Your beginning. As You have created, recreate. As You have spoken in Jesus Christ, speak again. May the breathless beauty and the reverent hush of this dawning spent with You linger with me through this year's most common tasks and give me living hope and strength through every trial.
In His name. Amen.
Moving On In The Life Of Prayer
We should keep going back to the God of all beginnings:
• He can get us started right.
• He can keep us going right.
• He can see to it that everything ends all right.
When we say "Amen", let 1t be with the glad conviction that Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of our Fruth. He who begins a good work in us won't stop His work until it is finished. Can we say "Amen" to that? Is 1t possible that our "Amens" have worn thin through custom? "Amen" should never be said carelessly or thoughtlessly. In I Cor. 1:20 we read, "All the promises of God find their yes in Him (Jesus Christ). That is why we utter Amen through Him to the glory of God." No wonder we say "Amen" at the end of our prayers. So ... in the beginning, God. In the end, God. In between, the privilege and the power of prayer.
