In the beginning. What in the world does that mean? Beginning of what? Beginning of time, beginning of creation, beginning of the Bible, beginning of God? What was Moses talking about when he penned those words that are the preamble to the greatest collection of writing to which the world has ever been privy?
In the beginning.
I hardly believe that; beginning, really? I don’t believe God or His story have a beginning. I think Moses just made that up because he didn’t know how else to start. There was no beginning. We teach and believe so fervently that God is eternal, how could there have ever been a beginning.
What does that mean?
I think what happened was that Moses was unable to fully explain what needed to be explained. Not that Moses’ description could ever be trumped, but how about this view into what “beginning” means, from God’s perspective, to start the whole thing off?
“In the beginning of what humans can understand. I’ll tell you how I broke the vastness of existence down into time and space so that you can wrap your little finite minds around it. Since you can’t even begin to grasp the concepts of eternity and infinite time and power and space, I’ll tell you how it all began; ‘it’ being how I made myself understandable to you. That’s really all you have the capacity to grasp anyway, what I reveal to you.
“But wait, I’ll throw in there the explanation of how you came into being in the first place. That’s the part that will actually blow your mind more than anything; the fact that I wanted you around. The fact that although my breath caused you to exist, and my words are the only source of creation that ever has or will ever exist and despite the fact that your greatest efforts to write laws, theorems, postulates and whatever else in order to try and explain the vastness that is the world around you, you will never even grasp the most finite concept of my existence and being, I still wanted you around. I wanted you around enough so that everything I did was centered around my desires for you.
“The reason we needed ‘a beginning’ was because of you. Yeah, I know it doesn’t make sense to you; why I care. It doesn’t make sense to the angels either. They don’t get why I love you and watch over you. They don’t get why I go to such great lengths to put up with you and help you get back to me. They only get what I tell them. They don’t get the fact that you make choices. They don’t understand how I continue to let you make bad decisions over and over and I just go crazy with excitement when one of you makes the right decision.
“If I were bound to the normal human rules that define reinforcement and extinction of behavior, those rules would long ago have caused me to stop trying with you all, but I’m not bound by your rules. Your rules only exist as you attempt to understand Me. There is way more disappointment from my perspective than there is joy.
“That’s why I had to set an end to this beginning. I will have what I desired to have with you in the beginning. I will have that relationship. I will have that communion. I will have that ‘walking in the garden in the cool of the day’ thing back. That was what I wanted forever; you, Me, eternity. So as a result of my intentions being the ultimate beginning and end of everything, there will come an end to what you call time that will stop the disappointment and bring all of the joy and goodness together and then we can do what I really wanted to do all along. I’ve created time as a window of opportunity wherein I can gather up the people who choose the right way and when this ‘time’ thing is over, we can do what I really wanted to do all along; hang out together. I want friends, I want partners, I want co-rulers and co-reigners. I want people like you to want to be with me and to be willing to pay a small price for it.
“That’s what I wanted. So I set up a training and a proving ground called earth and time. It’s like a little parentheses in the middle of my ultimate purpose and intention. You’re born, given your chances to prove yourself to me, with my help and encouragement all along the way, and point as many people in my direction as possible. And then you die. If you’ve made the right choices with your little bit of time, then you get to come be a part of the big party at the end. If not, then you get the punishment of those who decide they don’t want me.
“It’s sort of like a line in the sand, and I make you decide. You’ve all started out on the other side (thank Adam for that) and you have to willingly move to My side. You started out on the side filled with death and destruction. Negativity and pessimism is the norm on that side of the line, but the amazing thing is that I’m still with you while you’re over there. All the while I’m encouraging you and extending grace to you in order that you might take the step. That’s what you get this short life for. Making that choice. Make the right one, and you’re set.
“So, the beginning means just that. The beginning of mortal humanity’s opportunity to spend eternity living in immortality with the God that made it all possible to begin with. So there you have it – that is the beginning. The beginning of the parentheses, the clause, the appositive, that is time.
“It’s really just a story of your progress towards me. It outlines what some of the good choice makers have done and what some of the bad choice makers have done along that journey and how you can embrace the good and eschew the bad. Emulate the good choice makers and learn from the bad ones. (Trust me, you’ll fall into both categories yourself at some point along the way.)
“That’s what this is about, so enjoy and follow closely. You want to be sure you know where the line in the sand is located. That’s what I’m here for. I help you see the line and I help you find your way across. I help you find your own new beginning. One step from what was old into all the newness you can imagine. That short step across will be the biggest step you’ll ever take. Do it carefully. Trust me, it’s important.”
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