Before the Beginning (Names of God)
We often think of the birth of Jesus as a beginning. And in many ways, it was:
The beginning of what many of His followers thought would be a new kingdom on earth.
The beginning of a new way of tracking time. (Yes, I know A.D. didn’t actually start with the year He was born but all of history is considered as either before Christ or after Christ, regardless of the revisionists’ efforts to call it something different.)
The beginning of an upside-down way of living. [“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you“ (Matthew 5:43-44).]
At church this week, we were reminded that Jesus was and is eternal, because He is God. And God is “from eternal to eternal.” In other words, He existed before the beginning of time, and He will exist beyond the end of time. [“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).]
We cannot wrap our finite minds around that concept of infinite time. We can only accept it and be grateful that we don’t have to understand it.
Because God is eternal, He knows every detail of our past and every minute of our future.
Because God is eternal, we can accept our past and trust Him for our future.
Because God is eternal, and His promises have been fulfilled over and over, we can believe that His promises will always be fulfilled. [“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20).]
Because God is eternal, we can celebrate the peace of Christ, the hope of Christmas, and the promise of “God with us.” [“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23).]
Because God gave His only Son, we can have a new beginning every day. [“His compassion is never limited. It is new every morning. His faithfulness is great” (Lamentations 3:22-23).]
As you prepare for Christmas, remember to celebrate the eternal nature of God and Christ. [Tweet “God is eternal, so we can accept our past & trust Him for our #future. #Christmas #NamesofGod”]