I'd like to share today that mankind has an origin. There is a beginning just as there will be an end. For those of you who buy into the big bang theory, what was the catalyst for the big bang. For those of you who wrestle with what came first the chicken or the egg, there is still hope. For those of us who are constantly analyzing and trying to interpret our world, the first cause is not important. It's essential! We all have beginnings that we remember. That first step your child took. Your first love. Your first time eating sushi. With all of these there is a quizzical factor trying to find out how that event came about and why. Okay, maybe we overdo life. But we do have the questions. I can tell you the date and time I surrendered to Jesus. That wasn't the beginning though. I can detail my life from age 5/6 on but that wasn't the beginning. Being born wasn't the beginning anymore than my mother conceiving and birthing me. The beginning of me was before the foundation of the world. How can that be? If I were to rely on logic and general understanding I would soon be overwhelmed with the immensity of the facts. There is a time when many of us have stood outside and gazed up into the heavens and wondered about the complexity of all the heavenly bodies in place and where did it begin. My mind goes on the fritz when I contemplate anything beyond where I can conceptualize or think. What's beyond the end of the universe? Where was I before the foundation of the world. Why was I created as I am from a sperm and an egg? How would my life had changed if there was a change in my past? What would I be doing now if this or that choice had been made instead? What is it within me that searches for the first cause?
Wow! That was intense! Maybe I'm the only one who contemplates the world in this way. But, I don't think so. I think these and maybe other questions come up in the Christian's mind every day. What is the etiology of me? Where do I have my beginning and where will I have my ending? So, here is what I've discovered and believe. I've discovered that there are some questions that only God knows the answer to and when I meet him face to face those answers won't matter anymore. So, why are these questions of etiology so important? For the believer it's important we know some of the beginnings merely from a historical perspective. From this perspective we can know where we came from and to whom we belong. Without this perspective we wouldn't be able to tell others of the hope that is within us. Without conveying that hope to others how would they too be saved? You see, my beginnings are important and so are yours. When a 2 year old asks a "Why?" question we want to answer them in a way they can understand. Nothing is different when we convey the Gospel to those who don't know the Gospel. Knowing our story and living it causes others to (hopefully) want what we have. If we are unable to provide a convincing and believable rendition of the beginning, why should they believe us?
The Bible begins with "In the beginning..." and is followed by the creation story. Where did God begin? What was the cause that brought God about? Why can't my mind conceive beyond that point? Hebrews 11 holds the answer. The Word begins with "It was by faith..." and lists many men of God who by faith moved the world for God. The beginning for each of us is to believe that which we cannot see and to know that God is who he says he is, does what he says he does and that he loved and created us from before the foundation of the earth. Being able to live in faith is an etiology of itself. Believing that God can heal, deliver, provide, and save mankind is mind boggling. It's only mind boggling because our faith only goes so far. Beyond that point our understanding ceases to exist and it is there that we surrender to that which we do not know. Mankind has been trying to find God through science, mathematics, theology, philosophy, and a myriad other ways over the existence of mankind. None have succeeded. The only manner by which God can be found, discovered, engaged is by faith. Faith is the evidence of things unseen and the hope of things to come. Next time you are telling someone that Jesus loves them, let them know about the etiology of the God your are proclaiming. He is your and my first cause.
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