CHRIST THE BEGINNING

The Bible opens with these words, "In the beginning God..." Without explanation and without seeking to prove the existence of God, it declares God as the Creator and Originator of all things. The Gospel of John opens with a magnification of the same thought. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." What is said of God in general must be said of the GodMan, Christ Jesus, in particular. He is the Beginning. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end as well as everything in between. This He is in the Godhead. He is the preeminence and the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is the Beginning in the purpose of God, especially His purpose of grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. He is the Beginning as the Eternal Son that was given as the child that was born. He is the "I AM" of eternal existence being one with the Father from old eternity. "The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;" (Prov 8:22-30) The fear of Him is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. As the Beginning, He is the Head of all things. He is the source of all power, the object of all true worship, the whole of salvation, and the sum of all glory. He is the fountainhead of all grace and righteousness. In the words of Paul, "Christ is all!" All who are in Him possess all and are new creations. They have been so from the beginning and in the Beginning. Christ has forever stood as our Surety and by His death "brought in everlasting righteousness" which was imputed to us. "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." (Rev 21:5-6) Let us know no other King, no other righteousness, no other Savior, no other Life, and no other God than Christ, the Beginning.

Gary Shepard

Can you say with David, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." (Psa. 27:4) What is your "hearts desire"? To be occupied with thoughts about God as He is revealed in the Scriptures will increase our faith. Much that passes current for faith today is either sentiment or presumption. Faith must be based upon a true revelation of God, and we have this revelation in the Bible. The way to have a strong faith is to have

a great and mighty God. Nobody's faith can be stronger than he believes his God to be. I cannot have strong faith in a God who, I think, is weaker than men. If my God is weak, my faith, of necessity, will be correspondingly weak. I cannot have much faith in God if I believe He is being defeated on most battlefields. I cannot have much faith in God if I believe He is trying and failing, if I believe He is doing the best He can to accomplish as much good as He can and to save as many as He can. But if, like Job, I believe that "What His soul desireth, even that He doeth" (Job 23:13), then with Paul I can say that "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." (Eph. 3:20)

C.D. Cole

Although I am a sinner, yet I despair not; for Christ, who is my Redeemer and my righteousness, lives. In Him I have no sin, no fear, no sting of conscience, and no fear of judgment; for in Him there is no condemnation. I am indeed a sinner as touching this present life; but I have a righteousness of my God which is above this life, who is Christ my Lord. In Him I rejoice!

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THE BABY BORN TO DIE

Christ came, the uninvited One,

Sent from the Father high,

To do His will upon the earth.

To suffer and to die.

The death He died was not a death,

Like other deaths before;

But was a death for sins not His,

Which on the cross He bore.

In Christ the sinless suff’ring Man,

His Church God justified,

The Child who came from Mary’s womb,

Is Christ the Son who died.

His perfect life laid down for us,

Raised all His own to life;

And trusting in the Risen One,

We live His bride and wife.

8.6 8.6 Gary Shepard