THE END – THE BEGINNING
By Pastor Paul M Hanssen
Whenever God causes something to come to an end, He always brings about a new beginning. Nothing that His hands create ends without something beginning in its place. We have reached the end of yet another year, but a new year is about to begin. However, we are also nearing the end of an important time in history – the end of the New Testament Church age.
For the past two-thousand years, the Spirit of God has been working among the Gentile nations of this world. His Word has gone forth. The Name of His Son, Jesus, has been proclaimed. However, in this final hour of time, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is sounding in the earth like a blazing, loud, trumpet. Once the Gospel of the establishment of the Kingdom of God has reached all nations, the ‘end’ will come.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)
The preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is one of the final prophetic promises on God’s calendar of events that must be accomplished before ‘the end’. At this present moment, we stand on the very threshold of beholding ‘the end’. However, before we do, we all have a part to play to spread the Word - to ‘preach’ the Gospel of the Kingdom, to tell it near and far, to write it, share it, send it, speak it, and to do our part to make sure that those who God has placed in our personal world and orbit are apprised of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. This is our duty!
The establishment of the Kingdom of God also marks an ‘end’ and a ‘beginning’ within our personal lives. The establishment of God’s Throne is the ‘end’ of all strife and the ‘beginning’ of total surrender. The establishment of the Kingdom of God is the ‘end’ of all war and the ‘beginning’ of Kingdom peace. The establishment of the Kingdom of God is the ‘end’ of one’s own purpose and the ‘beginning’ of the eternal fulfillment of God’s purpose. The love and devotion to all other gods in our lives comes to an ‘end’ when the Throne and the Kingdom of God are established. It is then that God’s eternal purpose of becoming the All in all begins!
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24-25,28). (Highlights added by the author)
The ‘beginning’ of God’s perfect, eternal, and abiding Kingdom will come when the ‘end’ of all of man’s rule, authority, and power is subjected under the feet of Jesus. The ‘beginning’ of God becoming the All in all will take place when every enemy of resistance against Him is finally subdued. The end of all things as we know it will come at the beginning of God’s Kingdom having filled all space, all things, all life, and all existence.
God desires to establish His Kingdom within us - His people. But, in order to do so there must be an ‘end’. Our own rulership must end. Our personal demands must end. The assertion of our own authority must end. The desire to display carnal power and force must end. The ‘self-life’ must end. Our own little kingdoms must end. All enemies of God, the love of false gods, all other lovers, and everything that resists Him, must end. When all enemies are placed under the feet of Jesus, then, and only then, can His Kingdom truly begin!
The establishment of the Kingdom of God within our hearts and wills is a process. As all rule, power, authority, and opposing enemies are brought under subjection to Jesus, the true lover of our soul, then God’s Kingdom is raised in strength and power. Yes, there must be an end in order for there to be a beginning. Where I end, He begins!
As we end another year, may we also see the end to more of ourselves and the beginning to the greater, deeper, and more prominent establishment of God’s Kingdom within our lives. May the end and the beginning meet with a new commitment to God and His eternal Kingdom.
From Sis Gwen and myself – HAPPY NEW YEAR as we end, and yet begin!