The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1922-01-19

origins is exceed
lngly fascinating. Many have fol
lowed its tempting lure. Strange and
labyrinthian its trails. Fanciful and
mystic the discoveries announced.
Atom" "prOtoplasm," "electron" are
scientific terms of accommodation.
"Sentient slime" Spontaneous gener-
! ation," "the survival of the fttest" are
human attempts to describe the phe-
nomena of history. How much more
simple the opening sentence of Gre
! atoms story, "In the beginning-God."
Would you prefer any other begin
ming? How unappealing' the origins
of mythology. How incredible the
"fortuitous concurrence" Of evolution,
the spontaneity of species. Clothed
with scientific vocabulary, these fine
spun theories daze youthful inquirers
like the glare of a light does the
moth. How majestic and sublime
these four words God told Moses to
write. This is the first authentic word
of Science-it will be the last. All in
tervening postulates will appear as
kindergarten fables in the school Of
4 time. Oh that we might believe God
rather than men. in the beginning
Cod"
Where else would you put Him? If
He is not at the beginning He is no
where. There are human minds so
constructed that they can say, God
is in evolution of human thought and
desire"-simply a mental creation Of
superior traits and powers. Others
say, There is no God IN the begin
ming, in the now, nor at the end" But
the worlds greatest scholars, philan-
thropists, benefactors, through all the
years of time, have accentuated life
with this truth: God in the beginning.
They bear eloquent testimony that
such conception is the fountain-head
of character, the judging star of ca
reer the arching bow of destiny.
Without such beginning-"the world
is without a cause, the universe with
out system. We are in the midst Of
chaos and confusion. Life Is a wild
dream of insanity, colossal cruelty.
Give us God at the beginning and the
world falls into a plan with meaning
and purpose around a central throne.
All things become the outwOrking of
an eternal PLAN" Oh how restful and
assuring to weary mortals struggling
beneath the "reign of the law" to
know-"In the beginning was God"
II makes al the difference what kind
of a God we place at the beginning.
We have fallen on days when we need
to define our God. We are being robbed
Of the God of the Bible and of his
tory-the God of Israel and of the
church, not by blasphemous denials of
His existence but by denatured def
nitions Of Deity. God is principle, II
"God Is all and all is God" No longer
the Infinite and the Eternal Spirit
whose personality was made visible
I'm the man Jesus Christ, but the First
Cause.-The Impersonal Law"
OF what value to mortals such q
God? 1t were as we'll to worship as.
tronomy, to sing praises to physics, to
offer sacrifices to chemistry. The God
of the beginning is the Word made
flesh In the Babe of Bethlehem. The
God Of the beginning is the Jesus OF
Nazareth. the Christ of Calvary, the
Lord Of Resurrection. The God of tho
beginning is the one who laid aside
heavens robe of glory, put on the
sable garb of mortal flesh, was de-
spised, neglected of men, done ia
death on a cross, sealed up in tomb
But death could not kill God. He was
not dead "He abolished death and
brought life and Immortality to light.
The same God who commanded light
to shine out of darkness at creations
dawn, flooded the starless night of
death with a radiance of golden glory
This set the JOY bells ringing-"In the
beginning, Cod"
without Him there is no beginning
If he Is not in your life you are yet
unbegun. Existence Is earthly. Life
is heavenly. Existence is to know
man. Life is to know God. What a
difference when God is in the begin
ming. Every morning. every week.
every month every year, God in every
beginning. This means God at the
end; the New Jerusalem, the Holy
City--the fellowship of heaven and the
Joy Eternal. God Alpha and Omega
the Beginning and the End. Have you
begun with God? VIII you begin to.
day? "This month shall be unto you
the beginning of months: II shall be
the first month Of the year TO you"