Beginnings and Hope for the Future
At the turn of another year, we may not be facing major changes in our lives, but even so, the new year is always a time to take stock of the past and to look to the future.  We like to find the positive, hopeful aspects of the year in prospect.

Bible Beginnings
In this short article, we want to consider some of the ‘beginnings’ that we find in the Bible.  In looking at them, we will find some ‘bad’ experiences that we would like to put behind us, but more importantly, we will also find ‘beginnings’ that can give us a bright and sure hope for the future.

1   Beginning of Life
The first words of the Bible are very much THE beginning:

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

In straightforward language it tells us what happened (the universe and all life on Earth was created) and why it happened (because ‘God said’).  The language is timeless – written thousands of years ago, it could never have been a detailed scientific explanation that would have been understood by every reader down the centuries.  Nevertheless, the record is true and tells us what we need to know.
The record continues detailing all the elements of what was made – from the vast extent of the Universe to the detail of everything that is unique to the Earth – plants, trees, sea life, insects, birds and animals.  Finally, we are told of the creation of man and woman. 

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Then God blessed them, and God said to them,

"Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."…Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:27-28, 31

Note the uniqueness of humankind – in some way it was ‘in the image of God’.  God gave them a purpose and a position.  Had we been there at this beginning, we would have felt very positive about the future. 

2   Beginning of Death
The privilege of living in the world that God had created carried a condition with it.  It was simply this – of all the trees that bore edible fruit, there was one that was forbidden.  The penalty for disobedience was the introduction of death.  At some point we find that this command was broken and God’s judgment was this:

Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.  Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, And to dust you shall return."
Genesis 3:17-19

So we find the introduction of death – the opposite of life (note that death is not the beginning of anything else, it is the removal of life).  Not a beginning that would fill us with hope.

3   Beginnings of New Hope
If death was to be the end of the bright hope that was seen at the beginning, and we have only got to the third chapter in the Bible then what is the rest of it about?
Well, it is not long before we start reading some more positive things.  By the 12th chapter, we meet up with a man called Abram and God gives to him some promises, conditional on his actions:

Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Genesis 12:1-3

No doubt there were moments when Abram wondered where God’s ‘land’ was, but he put his trust in God and moved on.  To him, God’s words were a basis for real hope.  As he lived out his life demonstrating his trust in God, we read more details of the promises God was making to Abram.  One detail of this is “and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies”, pointing to a particular descendant.  This is picked up in the New Testament identifying the descendant for us.
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. Galatians 3:16

4   New Beginning for All
Later in the same chapter, the writer, Paul, explains that the promises made to Abram (later called Abraham) are available to everyone who has become associated with Jesus through baptism.  In another of his letters, Paul explains that ‘in Christ’ people can have a real hope as we show below.

5   Beginning of Life from Death

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.  But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 1Corinthians 15:19-20, 22

The proof of our hope is the fact that Jesus rose to life from the grave, never to die again.  The hope itself is reflected in the following verses:

But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.  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.  For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:23-26

So key elements of the hope that we can share are: that Jesus Christ will return to this Earth to establish God’s Kingdom; that he will establish a just and right government that will remove the selfish and corrupt rulers of our world; that death, the end of life, will finally be removed.

Free Booklet – Hope For A Hopeless World
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