A Reading
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1: 1-2)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1: 1-5)
A Thought
I have friends who are atheists.
There's this mate of mine. He says, 'It's such rubbish. Come back to my flat and I'll make a cup of tea and we'll talk the whole thing through'.
So I go back with him and he puts the kettle on.
'The thing is, Frank, the universe - it just happened. A big bang, an accident, no one made it happen. There's no great designer, no thought went into it or planning, it just happened - do you get it? ... Anyway, that cup of tea won't make itself.'
I said, 'Why not?'
(Frank Skinner)
I have no desire to place my life into the hands of someone whose greater powers I can fully understand. If I can understand those greater powers, they must be limited. So I have no need to understand how the universe was formed, or how Jesus rose from the dead, and instead I turn my attention to the who, why and what.
The bible is clear about both the who and the why.
The ‘who’ is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is perfectly holy and free of any sin.
The ‘why’ is to die on a wooden cross to pay the penalty for our sin. The stain of sin is removed from our souls.
The ‘what’ is that, through our repentance and faith, Jesus Christ welcomes us into his family and home.
This is all I need to understand.
A prayer
My Lord Jesus Christ,
you have opened the door to heaven.
I put my faith in you and repent of my sins.
Fill me afresh with the power of your Spirit
to serve you faithfully in word and deed.
By your name,
Amen