Before the Beginning

Consider this: before time, before creation, before the universe, before earth, before humanity, God was.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ NIV) He was God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in the beginning and before the beginning.

Consider this: God is love. (1 John 4:8 NIV)

God existed before the creation of the world and so did love.

Consider this: even before the beginning God had a plan.

Before the beginning God knew that humanity would rebel against Him. Before the beginning God established a plan that would redeem and restore humankind’s relationship with the Creator. Before the beginning that plan involved the Son of God becoming human and living the ultimate life of love. (Revelation 3:18)

Even before the beginning, God loved us and decided in advance, through Jesus, to adopt us as His own children. (‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭4-5‬ NLT)

This was God’s plan and resolve from before the beginning. God first loved us. He chose to love us not because of anything we have done, but because of who He is.

“For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16) was not an afterthought. The love of Jesus was not an afterthought. You are not an afterthought. Before the beginning you were written into God’s story and His entire motivation was love.

Consider this: God’s story involves you.

Before the beginning God planned that you would receive love, be saved by love and that you would then live a life of love.

Love was always part of the story. You were always part of the story.

But you have a choice to be part of that story, or not.


OVER TO YOU
The new year has begun. Before you run full tilt into 2015, how will you choose to live it? What will your motivation be?

Is your motivation simply to do better than last year? That’s not a bad motivation, but it’s hard to maintain. As soon as things start to go awry the motivation can dwindle.

What if your motivation, like God’s, is love?


LOVE IN ACTION
God has planned for you to live a life of love. Is love the primary motivation of your life?
What would that look like?
Consider the key areas, relationships and activities of your life. Which of them aren’t motivated by love? Can they be?
What needs to change?


PRAYER
God, you are love. Before you even created the world your love had a plan for my life. Jesus, I receive your love. May my motivation for 2015 be your love at work in my life. Show me what I need to change and equip me to do it. Amen.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, R. O’Connell (University of Virginia), B. Whitmore (Space Telescope Science Institute), M. Dopita (Australian National University), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee