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The Beginning and the End - Part One

Oct 13, 2024 by: John Herbert | Series: The Beginning and the End

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Ge. 1:1 In beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Today we will begin a new series looking at the end declared from the beginning in relation to the One who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

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Sunday October 13th 2024
The Beginning and the End
Part One

1). This may seem an obvious thing to say but the record of God’s revelation to us, that which we call our Bible, has a specific Book at its beginning and a specific Book at its end, with a particular Book that should be the first of the Gospels, that provides the continuity between the first Book and the last, placed between the two.

Our Bible begins, as we know, with the Book we call Genesis. And Genesis is a word that has the literal meaning of, ‘beginnings’ or ‘origins.’ Genesis then is a Book of beginnings, a Book of origins, a Book in which we will find the source of all sound scriptural doctrine contained within a foundational Seven Day structure that underpins all the rest of Scripture. And the first thirty-four verses of this Book establish the foundation upon which all the rest of Scripture is then built within the Seven Day framework. And if we had nothing more than these first thirty-four verses, we could still understand God’s plan and purpose in a general sense.

But before we can go to the last Book of Scripture, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we must first pass through the Gospel of John. A book that should be placed as the first of the Gospels, as it is a Book that begins at the same moment in time that Genesis began – Jn 1:1 In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in beginning with God.

John’s Gospel is based upon the same Seven Day structure found in its first sixty-two verses as that established in the foundation in the first thirty-four verses of Genesis. It is a Book that deals with the same subject matter as Genesis, creation, ruin, restoration, and rest, employing signs to convey this, whereas Genesis uses typology to do the same – Jn 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Moses, in Genesis deals with the restoration of the ruined material creation and John within a parallel frame of reference, deals with the restoration of a subsequently ruined creation, Man, and more specifically, the Jewish people. In Genesis Chapters 1-2 we see a marriage relationship for the purpose of rulership in the Seventh Day. And in John’s Gospel, Chapters 1-2, we find the wedding at Cana of Galilee at which Jesus gave the first sign of the eight that are recorded in John’s Gospel. A sign pointing to the restoration of ruined Israel in the Seventh Day. And both Books provide the framework into which that which follows them must be placed. The rest of the OT following the first thirty-four verse of Genesis and the rest of the NT following the first sixty-two verses of John.

And then, our Bible concludes with the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, a Book that we can see as a sequel to John’s Gospel if you will, as in it we find ‘how’ the purpose for the eight signs given in John’s Gospel will be accomplished. The purpose we have just seen in John 20:31. And we will be familiar with how it begins – Re 6: 1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

The Revelation is a book that presents the revealing, or the unveiling of the Christ, again using signs, as the primary focus of the Book is Jewish – Re 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

An unveiling then, of God’s only begotten Son, the Word made flesh, a revealing of the fulfillment of God’s purpose in His Son that has been set out in the Book of beginnings, the Book of origins, and then continued throughout the OT Scriptures. And as the Christ is the Word made flesh, His unveiling is synonymous with the finishing of the mystery of God – Re 10:7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

The mystery of God was laid out in the OT Scriptures by His servants the prophets, beginning with Moses, and then opened to our understanding in the NT and brought to its conclusion in the Revelation – Col 2:1 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, is then finished as the unveiling of Christ is completed, bringing to conclusion the purpose of God, set out in the first thirty-four verses of Scripture.

The Prophet Isaiah recorded this in - Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done…….

Isaiah gave a call to remembrance, to remember the former things of old. And with respect to exactly what is to be remembered from the former things of old, the Word of the Lord given through Isaiah the Prophet, simply states that God has declared ‘the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done.’ And in this statement, there is a clear declaration of intent, that God, from beginning, has had a singular purpose. God has determined that this purpose is to be accomplished, it is to be brought to its goal, and that which is to be accomplished, that which will be seen at the end, has been declared to us, has been made known to us, from beginning – 
Isa 55: 10 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

And to repeat this same thought from a slightly different direction, the accomplishment of God’s singular purpose has been declared from ancient times, but still awaits its fulfillment in those things that are not yet done within the boundary of time. Although these things are shown to us prophetically throughout the Scriptures, and finalized as the mystery of God is finished in the Revelation – Re 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

And to fully understand God’s purpose and its fulfillment, we will need to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, we will need to continually  go back to the former things of old, so that we may understand those things which are not yet done and what part we have with them – Ps 102:25 Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.

Jer 6:16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls.
		
And as we come to the final Book of Scripture, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself made the statement recorded in it, that He is the Alpha and the Omega, [the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet] the Beginning, and the End, who is and who was and who is to come
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Re 1:5…………… To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us a kingdom and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen…………8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”….. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

And these are the words recorded in the Scripture that He will yet speak at the time of the resurrection/rapture of the church, the event that will mark the beginning of His unveiling, words He will speak prior to the start of the Tribulation, which is the fulfillment of Daniel’s seventieth week, the time of Jacob’s trouble, at the end of which the mystery of God will be finished.

And these words have been and will yet be spoken in anticipation of the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom in the coming Seventh Day. And to the church gathered into His presence, all of us, He will make clear that He is the Alpha, the Beginning of God’s purpose, and in that beginning, that He, the Christ, is also the Omega, the End, the accomplishment, the fulfillment of God’s purpose, the very purpose which has been declared in God’s revelation to us through the Scriptures, from beginning, and now brought to its conclusion for all to see through the unveiling of the Christ, the finishing of the mystery of God – Eph 1:9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

And it was during the Lord’s first Advent, during His earthly ministry to an eternally saved generation of Jews, a generation to whom He offered the Kingdom of the heavens, that He said this – Jn 5:45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Moses was the one whom the nation’s religious leaders looked to as the source of their legitimacy – Mt 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

The religious leaders considered themselves to be Moses’ disciples - Jn 9:28 Then they reviled him [the blind man who had just received his sight] and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”

And Jesus said that Moses, in whom the Jews trusted, wrote about Him. And if that which Moses had written about Him had been believed by the Jews, if they had seen his writings, recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, through the eyes of faith, then the words which He, Jesus, spoke to them about the Kingdom of the heavens authenticated by the signs He gave them while He was in their presence would have been confirmed. And through that confirmation, the Jewish nation would have believed Him, they would have had faith with respect to the One who is the Alpha and the Omega, and they would have come to repentance, opening the door to the Kingdom of the heavens, promised to Abraham’s descendants, to them – Ge 22:17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Mt 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"

Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

And it was Moses who wrote about the Christ. It was Moses whom God had appointed to write the first Book of the Bible, the Book which deals with ancient times, with the former things of old, the Book of Beginnings, the Book of Origins, the Book we know as Genesis.

And at the conclusion of the Lord’s earthly ministry national Israel’s unbelief had reached its zenith leading to the rejection of their Messiah along with the rejection of the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens that He came with, climaxing in His death at the hands of His brother. But on the day of His resurrection, Jesus once again returned to Moses who had written about Him, and to the OT Scriptures, to reveal Himself to His disciples - Lk 24:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself………….. 44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Moses in the Book of Beginnings wrote about the Christ who is the Alpha, the Beginning, declaring through what he wrote concerning the Beginning, that Christ is also the Omega, the End. In the person of the Christ then is to be found the beginning of God’s purpose and in the person of the Christ is to be found the accomplishment of that purpose.

And so, let’s now take ourselves back to those former things of old – 
Ge 1:1 In beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
 
These are the very first words that God gave to Moses to record in His revelation to us, and as such they form the underpinning for the foundational thirty-three verses that follow them, verses upon which all the rest of Scripture that reveals God’s purpose in the Christ, that which is the mystery of God, is built. A total of thirty-four verses that present a concise overview of God’s plan and purpose that encompasses the heavens and the earth, the creation of Man, and the fulfillment of His purpose in and for His Son in the Seventh Day. And as such it would be good to pay these first words some particular attention.

Most probably your Bible, as mine does, translates the beginning of the first verse of all of Scripture as, ‘In the beginning....’, but the word ‘the’ is not present in the original language. God did not record the words ‘In the beginning’, for an obvious reason.

The use of the word ‘the’ given its context in this verse at the start of all Scripture can create the illusion of there being a specific point of beginning, a specific moment in time then, when God began. And as a result, we could be deceived into thinking that Genesis 1:1 is the first action that God took as He created the material universe. Or worse still, that this was also the specific moment when God Himself began to be.

But if we consider the triune God for a moment, it will surely be obvious that He has no beginning point, He simply has always been – 
Ps 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. 
 
And to assume that it is the material universe that is being referred to when God created the heavens, and the earth is simply not correct. The absence of the word ‘the’ in the opening verse of Scripture makes plain that there was no specific moment in which God brought everything into being, rather it allows for multiple beginnings. There was a moment in ages past when the universe began. And another moment in ages past when God created the heavens and the earth within that universe. But when the universe began is not dealt with in the Scriptures, because the universe at large is not the subject of God’s revelation to us.

Rather God deals exclusively with the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the restoration of that creation into what is now the inhabited earth that we know, and the heavens that are associated with the earth – Isa 45:18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.

2 Pe 3:5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

And then in Daniel we see this - Da 4:26...the heavens do rule….

It is from the heavens directly connected to the inhabited earth, an invisible realm to the human eye, that rulership over the earth by angels takes place through human rulers on the earth – Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The focus throughout all the Scriptures is on this one province in God’s universal Kingdom, the heavens and the earth, not the universe itself, and it would be entirely out of alignment with the rest of Scripture for the first verse in all of the Scripture to deal with something other than this. And so, if we are not dealing with the beginning point in time for the creation of the Universe, which we are not, then what should we understand from ‘in beginning’?

To start with, let’s keep in mind that the word translated ‘beginning’ also has to do with being first in the order of importance, rather than simply a specific starting point in time. Although there would have been such a starting point when God created the heavens and the earth.

The creation of the heavens and the earth was the most important thing that God did as the Alpha, the Beginning. And why was this creation the most important thing? Because in it He also declared an unalterable truth, a truth that has declared the end of the matter with respect to the One who said. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega.’

We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.

The Beginning and the End - Part One

Refresh A Recap from the Sermon

The Beginning and the End - Part One

Oct 13, 2024

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: The Beginning and the End

Category: Sunday Morning

Refresh
A Recap from the Sermon