By Pastor Doug Marshall

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son..." John 3:16 (RSV)

One of my favorite hymns, which we don't often sing (only twice in the past 10 years) is "Of the Father's Love Begotten." The song is simple yet ethereal (the tune name is apt - Divinum Mysterium, the Divine Mystery). The words were written at the end of the 4th Century by a Spanish lawyer who had experienced God's love in Jesus. Near the end of his life he gave up his public career to live a life of poverty and prayer. These words describe how God, who is mysterious and beyond us, chooses to enter our world in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the one who gives us life (the source) and the goal (the end) of our life, the one toward whom our lives are headed. "He the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see." Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what that means. All I know is that Jesus is the one who brings my life meaning and hope. My job is to seek Christ and to worship Him.

One of these days we will need to sing this again in worship!

Prayer

Christ, to Thee with God the Father, And, O holy Ghost to Thee, Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving and unwearied praises be: Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory, Evermore and evermore! Amen. (v3)