Beginnings and Endings

I love beginnings and endings. Pardon me for starting with Peanuts, but Snoopy is a perfect example. He would sit on the top of his doghouse with his typewriter and begin a new novel: "It was a dark and stormy night..." Any book with a great beginning has great promise.

The Bible has lots of great beginnings and endings. Verse one of the Bible is, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.." That is such a powerful statement. It puts to end right there any debate over the creation. Then in Genesis 2:9, right at the beginning of the Bible, there is a reference to the tree of life: "The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden..." We read about it again at the end of the Bible in Revelation 22:2. Heaven is being described, "In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits...." Among other things, this shows how the Bible relates, ties together, from beginning to end. It begins with the Garden of Eden, and the tree, and it ends with heaven, and the tree.

Then there is the beginning of the New Testament. It begins with the genealogy of the family of Jesus. It shows the development of Jesus' family through the Old Testament, beginning with Abraham, and comes right on down to Jesus himself. And because the NT begins this way, it hints at the importance of the OT, bringing us to the New.

And finally there is the end of the Bible. Note Revelation 22:19-21, the very last verses: "..and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." How is that for an ending?!

Thanks for being a reader. See you next week. May the Lord be with you.