The Beginning and the End

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NKJV)

“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2 NKJV)

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24 NKJV)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Revelation 22:13 NKJV)

Things that I don’t Understand

There are a lot of things that I don’t understand.  The beginning mentioned in Genesis 1 is one of them.  Many people have tried to explain what that means including scientists, philosophers, linguistic excerpts, and theologians.  Some have said that if you don’t believe that the heavens and the earth were created in six literal days, then you don’t believe the Bible and you can’t possibly be saved.  If that is the test of the new birth, then I am in trouble.  

I want to go on record that I let the simple things explain the difficult things and if the plain sense makes sense I seek no other sense.  So I believe that John 3:16-18 is simple.  John 3:36 is simple.  John 5:24 is simple.  Romans 5:6-8 is a statement that makes plain sense.  I have bet my soul for eternity on those promises.  They are truth and the Holy Spirit has convinced me to take them at face value.  However, I am not one who is convinced that the earth is 6000 years old.  It may be, I am just not convinced.  I am convinced that God created the earth and our society.  It didn’t happen by chance and it didn’t evolve.  

When we look at the beginning found in Genesis 1 I find myself asking a lot of questions.  I wonder where God came from.  We aren’t told.  He says He is the beginning and the end.  The fact that there is a creator God who designed this universe and Who created man is very evident to any thinking individual.  But just as no man has explained the scientific basis for a person’s consciousness (his ability to BE), no man has been able to understand the eternal God—a God without beginning and without end.  My point is, we are not told everything about creation.  As a result, I think the Bible should say, “Once upon a time,” instead of “In the beginning.”  The Bible starts with the story of our society and God reveals Himself progressively to that society.  But there are a lot of things that God does not tell us about the history of creation because it doesn’t concern our society.  We read, “. . . through one man sin entered the world (this society of which we are a part), and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (Romans 5:12 NKJV).”  That word for world is the word for a society.  Apparently, there was a society of some sort before ours as Satan and the angels had already been created before deceiving Adam and Eve.  Satan had already sinned before Adam and Eve sinned.  I know there are many people who have found ways to logically explain how Satan could have fallen before or during the sixth day of creation, but my point is that we don’t really know the “when” but we do know the “what.”  And that is often our problem with Bible interpretation, particularly when it comes to future events.

It is Time to Awake out of Sleep

Paul says, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light (Romans 13:11-12 NKJV).”  Notice that night and day here is used symbolically and salvation is not the new birth.  It is the salvation of the Christian from the judgments that are coming.  But notice that just as the nation of Israel had a beginning of months when they were saved from Egypt, these Romans also had a time when they first believed.  And we read in 1 Corinthians 15:24, that an end is coming.  I suspect that Paul is referring to the end of all that is involved in this society and is looking forward to the eternal day of God of which we know very little.  However, I am glad for the promise of eternal life from the One who is and who was and who is to come.  He has the power to save us from eternal damnation “(and anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15 NKJV).”  He has the power to save us from the judgments that will come upon unbelievers during the seven literal 360 day years of tribulation that will come upon all who are alive when He returns for His bride. 

A Beginning I do Understand

There are beginnings that I do not understand, but my beginning with God, I do understand.  It began with finding out that as a sinner I needed to be saved and then finding out that Christ had already died to save me (Romans 5:6-8).  That beginning is going to save me completely.  I have eternal life.  God promises that.  I will not be condemned with unbelievers, God promises that (See John 3:18).  What gives me courage and confidence isn’t that I know God (though I do) but that He knows me.  Paul says, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19 NKJV).'”

Now is the Time

Now is the time for all of us to remember that God doesn’t tell us what we do not need to know.  But He does tell us that we need a new beginning, that when all is said and done in this life and in the history of this society, all is NOT said and done because our Lord is the beginning and the end.   This eternal One is not willing that any should perish and with what is going on in our world, now is the time for all of us to make sure we have anchored our eternal existence for eternity on the simple promises of the Ever Existing One. 

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of April 19 and 26, 2026

If you would like further conversation about the issues in these meditations, contact me at collinsbd@yahoo.com and I will try to accommodate you with a virtual Bible Study.