Were You There When It Started?

About a year and a half ago, I deleted my Facebook account. It was a radical move made less radical by the fact that I had been convicted for at least a year that I ought to do so.

Now, I don’t believe Facebook is evil, and I’m not advocating that all Christians delete their accounts. In fact, I may one day rejoin those friend lists. But at the time, there were plenty of reasons for me to leave the world of likes and comments, including the amount of time I was wasting and the stress I was inviting into my life.

I knew these reasons and was convinced I would be better off without social media. So why did I wait at least a year before listening to the Spirit’s conviction?

Because I was there in the beginning.

Back when Facebook was only open to college students, and the invitation to join this new movement was extended to students one university at a time, I was at Samford University, communicating profusely over Instant Messenger with the girls in the next dorm room. When we learned that Samford had been added to Facebook, we rushed to join and grow our friend list of fellow students.

Over the years, as Facebook made welcome and unwelcome changes, I took pride in knowing I had been a part of it from the beginning.

There’s something about being part of an original group or a particular generation that gives us a sense of ownership, even if we don’t own anything at all. The sense is even stronger when we actually had a hand in starting something.

That’s why it’s so significant that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3, ESV)

This was not just any beginning. It was the beginning. The same one in Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning, God…,” now echoed by “In the beginning was the Word.” He is with God and He is God, both distinct and united, a clear reference to the Trinity.

Jesus was there in the beginning. Not only was He there, but He made every single thing that exists. “Without him was not any thing made that was made.”

He owns it all. He is the Original Developer of Everything.

Social media platforms eventually run their course. At some point, the negatives outweigh the positives (Myspace, anyone?). God’s creation was also in danger of negatives outweighing positives. The whole world rebelled against its Creator and became caught up in sin and death. Jesus could have deleted the whole thing.

But He was there in the beginning.

He chose to hold it together. “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17, ESV)

He chose to shine His light through the darkness. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5, ESV)

When it seems like darkness is closing in on you,

When it seems like life is just a waste of time,

When the stress becomes overwhelming,

Remember:

Jesus was here in the beginning.

And He’s still here now, shining His light through the darkness.

He is God.

He is good.

And He is not leaving.