Race, Justice and Gospel Music - Seth PinnockSample

In the Beginning

How we explain the beginning of something helps us see the present situation. In today’s scripture, John reflects on the true beginning of everything, and that wonderful yet mysterious ways in which Jesus’s life has been woven into the entire fabric of the universe, and of our lives! What a thought!

John tells us that the Word of God was there in the beginning before the dawn of time, and that the Word of God is God, and the two cannot be separated for they are one and the same. God can neither go back on what He has said, for to undo His Word would make Him a liar: “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.” (Numbers 23:19)

In light of the world at present, current affairs and bad news, it is easy to believe that God is not only absent but detached from our everyday reality. As we take our eyes off The Word, the world so easily can take hold, bringing deep discouragement and a feeling of isolation from God. 

However, John tells us that the Word that was in the beginning, the Word that said  “Let there be light” and light was formed. The Word that spoke into the void and made substance from no substance, the Word that created all that we see and all that we know, is the same Word that stepped out of eternity into time, entered the womb of the virgin Mary, and clothed himself in flesh to dwell among you and me!

Hebrews dictates “we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are”, and Philippians notes that “he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” What a telling of the immeasurable love of God that transcends time and space! God is willing to go the distance for you and me, so much so that He reduced Himself to meet us at our level, be tempted at all points and ultimately die for us. 

This song, ‘In the Beginning’ professes the extent our Almighty God went to so He could dwell amongst us. We now are able to celebrate the freedom of salvation, because the Word dwells among us! A freedom this world cannot offer - who can help but sing! 

What’s more, that same light in the beginning now lives within each of us through the gift of the Holy Spirit! We are now called to shine that light of truth, justice, love and peace in this dark, decaying world. 

Will you sing of the “beginning” with us, to rejoice in the gift of the Creator God coming to us in the person of Jesus? And, will you sing, not just for yourself, but for a world that also needs to know what was truly “In the Beginning!”?