The Ending is the Best Part

I read an interesting Bible verse the other day: “The end of a matter is
better than its beginning” (Ecclesiastes 7:8, NIV). Another Bible
translation phrases it this way: “Finishing is better than starting” (NLT).
I’m no ancient-language scholar, so I can’t go into the meaning of the
original words and sentence structures, but this phrase captured my
imagination…

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As I was sitting eating a snack and thinking about this Bible verse, I
wondered, “Why is the end better than the beginning? Or, why is finishing
better than starting?”

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When I’m working on a task, usually the goal is to complete it. The
examples that came to my mind were a school assignment or a woodworking
project. It makes sense that finishing these tasks would be better, and
more satisfying, than starting them.

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But something else with both an ending and a beginning could be a journey,
even a hike. The end is better, not just because you’ve arrived at your
destination, but also because of all the experiences you’ve had along the
way. Similarly, the end of a good book is better than the beginning,
because the story is now more dear to you, the reader, than it was on the
first page when all the characters were still just strangers who were
starting to introduce themselves.

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As I mused about all these endings and beginnings, I started thinking about
the Bible in this way. And I found it so hopeful, because if the end is
better than the beginning, then the new heavens and the new earth described
in Revelation will be even better than the Garden of Eden described in
Genesis!

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When Jesus returns bodily to earth and restores His creation, everything
will be better than it ever was before, because God is bringing His plan of
redemption to completion. Even though we were once far away from God,
strangers because of our sin, He brought us near through the blood of Jesus
(Ephesians 2:13, 19). God has been glorified through the death and
resurrection of Jesus, and since we belong to Jesus, God is also glorified
through all of us! What a mystery and honor—to have the privilege of
glorifying God with the rest of His creation, with the mountains and
the animals and the stars! In the end, together we will cry, “ ‘Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come”
(Revelation 4:8, NIV). • Hannah Howe

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• As Christians, we get to look forward to the “end” of the world, at least
as we know it. What do you imagine living forever with Jesus in restored
creation will be like?

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The end of a matter is better than its beginning. Ecclesiastes 7:8a (NIV)

Read Verses:

Rev.21.1-Rev.21.5|Gen.1|Gen.2.4-Gen.2.17|Eccl.7.8-Eccl.7.14