New beginnings - we start at the cross

New beginnings are possible with God - He offers a second chance to everyone who needs it.
Where to begin?
A new beginning with Him must start at the cross. Let's look back at the third chapter of Ezra:

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. 2 Then Joshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. (Ezra 3:1-2)

The first thing that the leaders of the Jews who were returning did, was to rebuild the altar. They saw the pile of rubble where the Temple once stood and they got right to work. The people themselves had dispersed to their ancestral lands and towns, to settle in. There was much work to be done; rude shelters needed to be erected to shield the people from the elements, and then the real houses could be rebuilt. Fields needed to begin to be reclaimed, and vineyards refurbished so that foods and oils necessary for life could be cultivated.

On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, though the foundation of the Lord’s temple had not yet been laid. (v 6)

Zerubbabel and Jeshua, though, set about building the altar. So when the people gathered on the first day of the seventh month, they came into the devastated city and saw a restored altar rising out of the rubble! The sight of that altar must have filled them with hope, even though the temple had not been started yet. The opportunity was there to sacrifice to God, to implore Him to forgive their sins and to bless their efforts in the Promised Land.

Zerubbabel and Jeshua knew that they must begin with the altar. Our fundamental need if we want to draw near to God is to experience forgiveness of our sins. God designated the altar as the place for sacrifice. He detailed the construction of it, the materials used, the height and the width, and more. He laid out guidelines for the sacrifices to be made there, whether offerings for sin or for praise. He promised that He would be there, and that He would meet the sons of Israel there:

 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; 43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.
44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God."  (Exodus 29:42-45)

The animals sacrificed were to be perfect, without blemish -- they pointed forward in time to God's perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for sins, His Son, Jesus Christ.

If someone reading here has never begun with God, then you must begin at the cross, where Jesus shed His blood to redeem all of us - we are all sinners. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness:

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

Our good works can never earn forgiveness. Either we put our trust in the perfect Lamb that God provided, or we must pay for our sins with eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. It's that simple:

Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)

Faith in the blood of Christ is the only way to begin with our Father God. That new beginning will have a glorious finish:

And everyone who calls    on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21)

If we are believers that have strayed from the Lord, the cross is still the place for a new beginning.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

To stay true to Him, we must start daily at the foot of the cross.
Next steps?
Stay tuned!