Time of Beginnings
In Genesis 1:1 the Bible tells us what actually happened in the beginning. In this chapter we note that only God the Almighty has no beginning; and in verse 2 it is noted that the spirit of God ‘moved upon the face of the waters;’ and in verse 3, God started speaking to cause things to be formed in order, and this could only happen when there was light. Apart from man, all things were made on the command of God, when He said, ‘Let it be’ and they appeared, both living and static things. The Bible tells us that man was made by God from the dust of the earth, as it is given in Genesis 2:7 and 1:26, and that he was made in the image of God. Man was made to be in charge of all things on earth, so he was to be upright, because he was to be responsible to see that everything was well cared for: man was to be obedient always to God and to seek His guidance in everything he did on earth.
As we are aware, when man failed (Gen.3), the promise of a seed through the woman was made by God and it was to be in the future, through the woman. In Hebrews 11 we read how God’s promise was passed through men and women of faith from the time of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain. The killing of righteous Abel did not stop the promise of God of a seed through the woman (Gen.3:15).
The prophets continued to remind the Children of Israel about God’s promises to mankind, e.g. Isaiah 7:14, which is about the birth of Jesus Christ, and Isaiah 9:6, which speaks about his future kingship; and in our days now we expect Jesus to return to establish God’s kingdom on earth. In order for each of us to be in this Kingdom, we should prepare ourselves for salvation, given by God’s grace. Jesus Christ set us an example by being baptised by John the Baptist (Matt 3:13-17). Although baptism had taken place in many ways since the time Adam sinned in the garden of Eden (Gen.3:21-23); and when the children of Israel left Egypt (1Cor 10:1-5), it is only Jesus Christ who made the baptism uniform to all his true followers/disciples (John 3:1-7). Baptism is a new birth in the Truth of Christ (Gospel) and this is a new beginning in our life in Christ, if we expect the love and compassion of God through His Son, our Lord Jesus as our Saviour.
However, before I continue on the subject of baptism, I would like to go back to Genesis 1:14, where we note that God said, ‘Let there be lights…and let them be for signs, and for seasons, days and years.’ The signs, seasons, days and years have always been happening, as God said, and these mark many things in our lives. We grow old, marking our years in life. It is we who change as time passes in our life. In other words, these signs, seasons, days and years have had their place, and then repeat again after a period of time, as God purposed them in the beginning of creation.
Following these changes, a true Christadelphian has also to follow his ‘Bible Companion’ each day until the end of the year, and then should begin again to read his/her Bible from where he/she began the previous year. These are repeated ‘beginnings’ in one’s life – time to become wiser in the ways of God, while preparing ourselves for the new life in the Kingdom of God which will be set up on earth by His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
But the question is, who will be saved to inherit this Kingdom? The answer is found in 2 Cor 5:10 which states that ‘Everyone’ will face the judgement of Christ before qualifying to enter the Kingdom. So we who were baptised into Christ by being dipped in water, unless we maintain that faith until the end, might find ourselves being rejected, although in our lifetime we might have been considered ‘important’ people in our Ecclesias. (Jude:5). So each individual should work for his/her own salvation.
Bro. John W. Muyala, (Bungoma, Kenya.)
