The Daily Word of Righteousness

Two Beginnings

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14)

"The beginning of the creation of God."

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Beginning. Of what is the Lord Jesus the Beginning? He is the Beginning of the creation of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ on two occasions has been the beginning of the creation of God. The first beginning brought into existence the initial spiritual and physical creations. The second beginning brought into existence the eternal spiritual and physical creations.

The Lord Jesus is the Beginning.

The First Beginning

The Father alone. The term "beginning" cannot apply to the Father. The Father is without beginning.

We are employing the name "Father" for the Being whom we call God, because this is the name that Jesus emphasized. The Old Testament speaks of Elohim, El Shaddai, Adonai, YHVH, YHVH Tsvaoht (the Lord of Hosts), and other titles.

The Lord Jesus, the Logos made flesh, continually referred to God as "Father." The view of God as our Father is one of the supreme revelations of the New Testament.

However, we must keep in mind that "Father" is not the name of God but indicates His relationship to His creatures. Neither is "God" the name of God but points to His supremacy. Perhaps it is not possible to give a name to Someone who is everything, everywhere, and has no beginning. God Is, and that may be the most comprehensive statement we can make.

It is utterly impossible for human beings to conceive of the Father, to conceive of Someone who has had no beginning. Our minds cannot grasp that which has no beginning.

The Father is a Person without beginning. He is everywhere and in all things. He is in the nucleus of the atom and He fills all of space. He is now, before, and always. Wherever there is anything or any thought of anything, there is the Father.

Were there gods before the Father? There cannot have been gods before the Father because there was no "before the Father." It is this timelessness that we are unable to grasp.

The Father always has been. Where did the Father come from? The Father did not come from anywhere—He always has been.

The Father is God—the Supreme Being!

There is one God.

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:6)

The basis of Judaism is the expression, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The confusion in Christian teaching concerning the Nature of the Godhead has caused the Jews to view Christianity as polytheistic. Indeed, much Christian preaching and teaching in truth is polytheistic. In our haste to emphasize the Deity of Christ we have implied the Father and Jesus are the same Person and yet are Two. If this were the case we would have two Gods.

If we would teach what the Scriptures state, both Old Testament and New, we would show that there is only the one God. The Lord Jesus is God's Son. The Lord Jesus is Lord and Christ because the one God has made Him so.

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36)

To be continued.