Walking in faith

Col 1:21-23

This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

  1. We were separated from God by our evil thoughts and actions.
  2. He, God, has reconciled you to Himself through Christ’s death.
  3. You have been brought into His presence
  4. You are holy and blameless before God- totally faultless
  5. But. This is important.
  • Continue to believe this
  • Stand firm in this belief (faith)
  • Don’t drift from assurance

This is the key to walking out this faith in Christ. It is reliant on our believing we are God’s, standing firm in it even in those times we don’t feel like it.

Grace and peace

Personal Responsibility

I notice today, more than ever we are buying into the idea that all of my troubles in this world are the fault of someone beside me. If I get pulled over for speeding, I was late for work, or my alarm didn’t work. The fact of the matter is I was speeding, it was my foot on the peddle. Or, I got into trouble for talking in class today because Sean would not shut up, he just kept talking to me. What we are saying in these two examples is that, yes I did this thing, and got caught, but it wasn’t my fault. The blame for that thing falls on someone else… I am innocent!

Getting caught

I knew this guy at one time. He had spent a good portion of his life in prison for running drugs into the United States. He told me the story one day of how he got caught with his load. He was smuggling the stuff in a very cleverly built boat. The boat had a removable deck, that was not noticeable. The deck was lifted away, the cargo was placed inside hidden compartments below the deck, then the deck was lifted back into place.

On this particular day my friend left Nassau with his boat loaded with “cargo”. He would make his way to the island of Bimini, refuel and the next day cross to Florida where his cargo would be delivered.

My friend arrived as planned to the fuel dock in Bimini. The fuel attendant came out to meet him, and assist him with refueling his boat. My friend was not interested in waiting around for the boat to be refueled, so he gave the fuel attendant more than sufficient money to fuel the boat, and told the guy to keep whatever was left for himself. The fuel attendant did not fill my friends boat, instead he kept all of the money and put no fuel in my friends boat.

My friend was interested only in going to the local bar and partying all night, and that is what he did. In a drunken drug fueled stupor he stumbled aboard his boat in the wee hours of the morning and set off for Florida.

He didn’t get too far out to sea when his engines died, and his boat was dead in the water. He had no water, no food, and no way to make land one way or the other. He was stuck.

After a couple of days my friend passed out on the deck of his boat from severe dehydration. As he lay on his deck a fishing boat came lumbering along, not paying attention to what was in front of them. They did not see my friends boat and their port stabilizer dragged across my friends boat tearing the center console out of its place, revealing his cargo below the deck.

The Captain of the fishing boat quickly realized that this was a drug boat and called the Coast Guard. My friend was caught, and the rest did not go well for him.

In his mind the reason he was caught is because the fuel attendant ripped him off. It was not his fault that he didn’t check his fuel levels.

God’s thoughts on our blaming others

Gen 3:12-13

The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

When Adam sinned and did that which God had said not to do. He blamed both the woman and God, then the woman blamed the serpent. I think it is important to note that God had nothing to ask the serpent. But what we have here is Adam especially not taking responsibility for his sin.

How did God react?

The serpent was punished. Vs 14 and 15 Then the LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

Then the woman was punished. Vs. 16 Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”

The man was held responsible Vs 17-19 And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”

Since you “listened to your wife”. Adam had chosen to listen to his wife rather than God. God held Adam responsible for the sin, not his wife, even though Adam had tried to pass the buck on to her and ultimately to God.

We are guilty of the same behavior: The devil made me do it, my wife made me do it, my friend got me in trouble, the fuel guy didn’t fill my boat.

God does not accept the blame shifting, he will hold us all personally responsible. There are no excuses that will be considered valid.

The only way to please God is to do life God’s way, and only His way.

Authority Eph 1:1-2

Authority

A while ago when I was a little less wise. I was to make my way to a place to prepare for being a missionary to unreached peoples. Being from the Bahamas I didn’t have many contacts in the USA, nor did I have a home base to set our from.

I had one contact in upstate NY, so I reached out to him, and he helped me to find a vehicle. I needed a vehicle because this training institute was in a rural part of the United States, then once I was done there I needed to move myself to another part of the USA to continue on with training.

He helped me find a vehicle that would get the job done, I purchased it and got on my way. Things would happen that I was not prepared for.

This car had New York plates, and had been used as a winter commuter vehicle for some years, so it was not in the best of condition. I got in this car, and made my way to Pennsylvania, got settled into the training institute, and began to get on with life.

Several months later I was pulled over by a policeman. He was a bit curious I suppose. This was a kind of beat up vehicle and I’d bet he’d seen it before. In the course of this encounter he discovered that I was living in PA studying and my vehicle was registered in NY with NY plates. It ended up in a fine, but I was left perplexed. As far as I was concerned the vehicle was legal because it was a licensed and insured vehicle. I knew nothing of “Separation of States.” NY plates meant nothing in PA.

Each state sets its own laws concerning the use and operation of vehicles on the roads of that state. I was in violation of the laws of PA, but totally unaware of that fact.

We as people fall under the laws or authority of what ever municipality we reside in. Not knowing those laws cannot excuse violation of those laws. Many times we live under the authority of law that we have no understanding of. Or sometimes we may travel to a place that has different laws in place, but while we are there, we too fall under the authority of those laws. Not knowing the law will not save you from an infraction of any of the laws of that place.

A few years ago there was a high profile cace involving a WNBA athlete Britney Griner. She was allegedly in possession of CBD oil in a vape canister. That was a major drug offense in Russia, even though it may not have been where she had left from. She had fallen under the authority of a different land. Ignorance of their law cannot excuse us from the law.

How does this relate to Ephesians?

Vs 1 NLT

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.

  • This letter is from Paul,
    • Who is Paul?
    • He will now set his authority to write this letter.
  • chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
    • Chosen by the will of God.
      • Paul is chosen by the ultimate authority
      • This means that what he is about to say is a message from God Himself
      • You must listen.
    • to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
      • An apostle is a messenger. One sent with a message.
      • So Paul is establishing that he is Christ’s messenger, chosen by God for this job.
      • His authority is established to delver the message.
      • His purpose is given.
  • Writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus,
    • The recipients of the message
      • They belong to God.
      • They are under the authority of God.
      • They are set apart for God(holy).
    • who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
      • Pauls message is for those who are FAITHFULLY following Jesus.

So Paul in verse 1, Introduces himself, states the authority under which he will give the coming message, and alerts those for whom the message is meant.

Without belonging to God, the words of these messages are not possible to keep. They are not just wise words to live by, but they are words, instruction to a group of people set apart for God, dedicated to God, Faithful in their lives for God.

Vs 2 NLT

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

  • our Father here is interesting. It would seem to indicate that God is the father of all mankind.
    • This is all people, those who believe Him, and those who don’t trust Him.
    • God is the God of all mankind, regardless of our belief.
    • Since God is the God of all, He is the final authority over all.
    • He is the one who decides right from wrong, just from unjust.
    • This is like going into a country and without knowing it being subject to law that you don’t know.
      • Ignorance of that law will not excuse you from that law.
  • Christ’s grace and peace is also available to all mankind.
  • To receive this grace and peace, one has to follow God’s way to receive that grace and peace.
  • It cannot be won by ignorance, or the rejection of God’s way cannot be excused by ignorance.

God is the God of all mankind, His being God is not dependent on our belief of that fact or not. We all fall under His Devine authority, if we believe we do or not.

He is a gracious God, who has provided for any who believe to be forgiven of all sin, and for those who believe to be adopted by Him as His own children.

His authority stands! There is no way out from under that authority. The question is, what do you do with it?

Marriage?

What is it?

Oxford:

The legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship (historically and in some jurisdictions specifically a union between a man and a woman). A combination or mixture of two or more elements.

Most of our focus now-a-days is on the big event. I was stunned to find that the average wedding in the United States costs $30,000.00. Everything must be just right and all things must be perfect. In 2022 the marriage industry brought in $70.5 billion. I was shocked to see this number!

In the United States if you decide after getting “married,” you’ve made a mistake and need to get out of it… Don’t worry, we have that covered too. The average divorce costs for a couple without children is $14,000.00, $21,000.00 if children are involved.

After getting divorced you can then try the whole process again. Both those doing the marrying, and those doing the divorcing welcome your attempts at this institution.

How Does God Define Marriage?

Gen 2:22–25 NLT

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

  • God made a woman for Adam, who was a man.
    • God’s first intention for marriage is between an man and a woman.
  • This union is autonomous from all family
    • A man leaves his father and mother
    • And is joined to his wife
    • and the two are united (married) into one.

Mat 10:6–9 NLT

But ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

  • In the words of Jesus
  • God made them male and female from the beginning. (There are no other genders, no other God sanctioned marriages.)
  • Again an autonomous relationship
    • This explains why a man leaves his father and mother
    • and is joined to his wife
    • and the two are united into one
  • Since they are no longer two but one
    • Let no on split apart what God has joined together.

So now we can say that according to the book of Genesis, and to the words of Jesus, that a marriage is between a man and a woman, and that it is permanent because God has put it together.

How does God put the marriage together?

The pastor, the priest, the JP?

In our western culture we mostly look to the church for guidance in theses affairs. There are however many “professionals” piling in. Like I mentioned before this is a $big industry.

For the west, most if not all of the traditions we associate with a christian wedding are in fact not christian at all. It is all Celtic tradition, the idea of an authority giving a blessing to marry, the white dress, the rings. All of it is Celtic! You can find no part of it in the scriptures.

Since we go to an authority for a blessing to be married. Whether the pastor, or a councilor, or a priest, they now become the authority for the idea of marriage. We make our vows before witnesses, human witnesses, all the while forgetting that God misses nothing. We are pushing Him out of the way, and out of consideration.

God puts it together!

The question then is how.

Gen 24:67 NLT

And Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent, and she became his wife. He loved her deeply, and she was a special comfort to him after the death of his mother.

  • Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother’s tent
  • and she became his wife

Where was the ceremony? Where was the priest?

Ex 2:21 NLT

Moses accepted the invitation, and he settled there with him. In time, Reuel gave Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife.

  • Reuel gave Moses his daughter

No ceremony? No priest?

1 Cor 6:15–16 NLT

Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”

  • A man who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her.
    • God sees them as married.
  • So God sees sex as marriage!
    • When an man and woman join in sex they are one body.
    • This is a permanent thing.
    • It has spiritual implications.
    • It has physical implications.
    • It has phycological implications.

The cheapening of sex

The cheapening of sex is a plan of Satan, who is seeking the destruction of us all. He has done an excellent job of making sex a trite affair. A little escapade.

1 Cor 6:18–20

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

  • Run from sexual sin!
  • Sexual sin clearly affects the body
  • The body of believers is the temple of the Holy Spirit
  • As believers we don’t belong to ourselves
  • We must live for Christ
    • Jesus said “whoever loves me will keep my commandments.”

Since God sees marriage as sex, there is no such thing as pre-marital sex. There is no such thing as sowing your wild oats! There is no such thing as trying it out to see if you like it.

Yes there is forgiveness, we must repent of our casual indifferent attitude toward sex. We must be pure.

Eph 5:15–20 NLT

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The times are short. We must return to the simple truths of scripture. We must put aside traditions that cheapen and even ignored God’s will for our lives.

Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:1

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Chapter 1

This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. (NLT)

  • Of note:
    • This is the revelation from/of Jesus Christ
    • Soon take place – suddenly take place.
      • Mt 24:34 This generation is not speaking of that literal generation, but of an age. The transfiguration is not the culmination of this prophecy. It is yet to come. The age I believe is referring to the age of the church. The new covenant that Christ put into effect with His own blood to purchase man back to Himself.
  • Mt 24 Jesus speaks of the things that must happen before the end of the world
    • Jesus warns us to be careful Many will come in His name.
      • What does it mean to come in the name of Jesus?
        • To declare thus sayeth or thus teacheth Jesus.
        • Doesn’t necessarily mean that someone would call themselves Jesus, though that can be so.
        • This means that these deceptions can and probably come from inside the Church. (We must test the spirits)
      • They will deceive many
    • Don’t panic, these things must take place
      • Famines
      • Earthquakes
      • Wars
      • In many parts of the world
      • This is the first of many birth pains to come There will be much more…
    • Some will claim that Jesus has come.
    • We can not be asleep. We each have to be students of the word of God, to know Him for our selves.
    • Mt 24:32 These signs will be recognizable to those who are paying attention. Signs that these things are about to happen. But not the exact time of Jesus return. The quest of so many to discern the time of Jesus return is a futile one.
      • Zch 12:10
      • Jn 19:37
      • Mt 24:36–42 anyone claiming to know when this will happen is one of those of whom we must be weary! They will come in the name of Jesus.
      • We must be watching for His return however, waiting in anticipation, Without knowing the exact time in advance
      • I suppose there will be some semblance of peace in the midst of all the end time upheaval when He returns. He says it will be like in the days of Noah, they will be partying as the rains began to fall.
    • 1 Cor 1:6–9 God will keep His people strong through all of this. We will know the peace of God that passes all understanding.
    • It will be a time of terror for the world, but not for God’s people, He will strengthen us.
  • Dan 9:27 7:13 11:31 12:11 Is 13:10 34:4 Joel 2:10

Delusion and Confusion

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Why is there so much confusion?

Why are people confused about who they are?

Why are people confused about what they are?

Why are there so many who have come the point of thinking it is best to end their own lives? Why do so many think they are not loved? “No one understands me…” is something I hear so often. Our emergency rooms are filled with children who have tried to commit suicide, or have plans to do so. I can’t comprehend how as a culture we have come so far, that our children want to die! They should be concerned about what they will do after school. Who they will be playing with. Will they be riding their bicycles, or playing on the swing, or playing hop scotch with the neighborhood kids. Instead they are heavy with the worries of this life. They are pondering things like, am I a boy or a girl? Am I a cat or a person? Am I popular on tictok?

Our kids are being taught to define themselves by their imaginations. They are being taught all kinds of evils on tv and the internet. These evils are deluding their young minds, they are confused because there are no hard fast definitions being given to them. They are left to themselves to define life. This is foolishness! Since they are the ones who have to define life, it is distorted, and grotesque.

Romans 1:21 Teaches that if we don’t worship God as God, or be thankful to Him, we have the tendency to think up foolish ideas of what God is like. The result of this is the mind becomes dark and confused.

Romans 1:22-32 Lists what comes out of this dark confused mind. It is a list that we see lived out in our world today. This is why our children are so confused, why they would prefer to end their own lives. My friend this is not all that difficult. The human mind separated from God is a dark confusing thing. If life seems to out of control, it seems like there is no hope. I want you to know that there is hope.

God created us to worship Him. He gives us reason to live, gives us love for one another, defines who we are, and gives us clear purpose. This is all the opposite of confusion. It is hope!

Romans Study Outline

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The following is a rough outline meant to help with study of Romans. My challenge to you as you set out to study the book of Romans, is that you put aside all the study aids, get a good modern translation, and let the Holy Spirit (who is promised to all believers) to teach you what God wants to teach.

We rely too much on the opinions of others, and as a result we get into useless debates and distractions that are not intended by our Lord.

We also get lazy relying on someone else to teach us what God’s will is. In the end God holds each of us personally responsible for our understanding and actions.

Chapter 1

Intro and Sin

  • Paul introduces himself
  • vs 17 All of God’s work in our lives is accomplished through faith.
  • From Start to finish….
  • Vs 18-32 The result of people who reject God (Vs 28)

Chapter 2

The law can’t save

  • Those who don’t reject God but try to keep the law.
  • Think they can judge others, but also fail to please God.
  • Vs. 29 Only those who’s heart is changed by the Spirit can be right before God

Chapter 3

God is faithful, He provides salvation

  • Vs. 9 All people are under sin
  • Vs. 19 The law is given so we can have no excuses.
  • Vs. 22-26 We are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ
  • Vs. 29 God makes people right with Him only by faith.

Chapter 4

Abraham’s Faith

  • Vs .3 Abraham believed God and God counted Him as righteous
  • Vs 13-15 God’s promise was not based on obedience of the law.
  • Vs. 16 The promise is received by faith.
  • Vs. 25 Jesus died because of our sins
  • And he was raised to make us right with God.

Chapter 5

Friends with God

  • Vs. 1 We have peace with God.
  • Vs. 5 We have been given the Holy Spirit.
  • Vs. 9 We are made right with God by the blood of Christ.
  • Vs. 11 We are now friends with God, we were enemies before.
  • Vs. 20 The law exposes sin.
  • Vs. 21 Christ gives us right standing with God.

Chapter 6

Sin’s power is broken

  • Vs. 2 Sin’s power is broken
  • Vs. 6 Our old sinful self was crucified with Christ.
  • Vs. 18 We are now slaves of righteous living.

Chapter 7

We are dead to the law

  • Vs 1 We are dead to the law.
  • Vs. 6 We have been released from the law.
  • Vs. 12 The law is holy
  • Vs. 25 Christ is the answer to all our struggles with sin.

Chapter 8

Life in the Spirit

  • Vs. 1-2 The Spirit has freed us from the power of sin that leads to death.
  • Vs. 17 We are Heirs with Christ.
  • Vs. 19 We look forward to a glorious future.
  • Vs. 30 We have right standing with God and He gave us His glory.

Chapter 9

Is God done with Israel

  • Vs. 6 Has God failed Israel?
  • Vs. 16 We can neither choose or work for God’s mercy.
  • Vs. 20 We are not in a position to question God, or to speak for Him.
  • Vs. 33 Anyone who trusts in Christ will never be disgraced.

Chapter 10

Salvation is for Everyone

  • Vs. 4 Christ has accomplished the purpose of the law.
  • Vs 9-11 Salvation is believing that we are made right with God throughout Christ’s work
  • And declaring our faith that we are saved.
  • What about those who have not heard?

Chapter 11

Is God done with the nation of Israel?

  • Vs. 2 No!
  • Vs. 11 God wants Israel to come to Him like Abraham… In faith.
  • Vs. 25 How do we fit in as Gentiles?
  • Vs. 36 Everything comes from God  and exists by His power, and is intended for His Glory.

Chapter 12

Living Sacrifices

  • Vs. 1-2 We owe it all to God because of what He has done.
  • Vs. 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, conquer evil by doing good.

Chapter 13

Respect Authority

  • Vs. 1 Respect governing authorities
  • Vs. 8-11 Our obligation is to love one-another.
  • Vs. 14 Put on Christ, don’t let yourself think about ways to do evil.

Chapter 14

Relating to other believers

  • Vs. 1 Accept other believers.
  • They are growing in understanding, give grace.
  • Vs. 7 We don’t live for ourselves. ( It’s not about me…)
  • Vs. 17 Live a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 15

Relating to other believers

  • Vs. 2 Help others, build them up in the Lord.
  • Vs. 7 Accept others as Christ has accepted you.
  • Vs 13 Let God fill us with all hope, completely with joy and peace.
  • Because we trust Him.
  • Last half of 15
  • Who Paul is and why He is writing.

Chapter 16

Greetings and good wishes.

God’s Special Creation

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Genesis chapter 2 God circles back to add some detail about the special part of His creation. The part of creation that is different from all the rest. The part of creation to which He gave very special attention!

Man, God’s Special Creation

Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

For all the rest of creation God said and there was. God spoke all other parts of creation into existence, but not man. He formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. God was much more intimate with the creation of man. The creation of man was not simply a word. God took time to form man, and the biggest difference between man and the rest of creation, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. This is not simply life, but the spirit of man was breathed into him. His soul was given to him at this point. This is the part of man that is not shared by the rest of creation, man’s spirit, man’s soul. Man’s spirit is what really sets him apart from all other created creatures. It is the spirit of man that is the image of God.

It is because of this spirit that we are able to commune with God. It is this spirit that gives personality. The spirit that allows us to form abstract thought. To ponder the meaning of life. It is this spirit in fact that gives us meaning of life. It is why when we talk of the deep things of life, we speak of spiritual things. It is on the spiritual level that we meet with God, that we commune with God. The spirit of man is the eternal part of man. The spirit of man is what makes us know that there is more to existence than simply this short life. The spirit of man is eternal, our spirit will always exist!

Man’s Task

God planted a garden, a special place with all the things that Adam would need for life. The garden was planted with all the trees that were pleasant to look at, and all the trees that Adam would need for his life. God Mentions two trees in particular: 1. the tree of life, and 2. the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These were both in the center of the garden. Man was put in the garden according to vs.15 to “tend and keep it.”

As a bit of a side note, God gives a bit of a geography lesson of the land around the garden, it’s rivers, and where they went. All of this geography is not the same now as it was then. We will look at an event later on that would reshape the face of the earth.

For now we need to know that God had created His master piece of creation, man, and had given to him all that he would need for life.

The Commandment

Adam was given the task of keeping the garden in which he would live. God also gave him one single rule, or commandment.

Vs. 16-17 “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Talk about a truly simple life! Adam has everything he needs, and every beautiful plant on earth surrounding him. All he needs to do is tend to the garden, and obey God’s one commandment to not eat that one fruit.

Adams Companion

vs. 18 God said “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

God would make for Adam a companion like him, to complete him. It is worth noting here that God did not say that He would make a companion to serve him, or who was lesser than he. God said that He would make a companion “comparable to him.” God created them equal, but not the same.

For the remainder of chapter 2 God goes through an exercise with Adam. He made from the ground all the creatures of the earth to have Adam name them, so Adam did. He named all the animals, but vs. 20 says “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”

God then went on to take a rib from Adam, and from that rib He would make a companion for Adam. Adam called her woman because she was taken out of man.

She was literally a part of him. Woman was created to be man’s companion, of all the other creatures of creation, there was no other animal that was comparable to man. Because of this when a man and woman are joined in marriage they are considered by God to be one. The bond of marriage cannot be broken in God’s eyes. He sees a husband and wife as one and the same.

In these days of confusion it is also important to note that the God prescribed marriage is one man with one woman for life. To deviate from this plan is to deviate from God’s plan, that is called sin.

God’s Creation Narrative

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The nation of Israel had been held captive for hundreds of years by Egypt. They were slaves forced to do hard labor. All they knew was pain and oppression, and God had decided it was time for them to be brought out of this suffering. Many of them had a vague idea of who God was.

God would introduce Himself to them through His servant Moses. He would also through Moses bring them out of the captivity of Egypt, with the goal of taking them to a land He, God, promised would be a good land, a land of fullness. He promised them He would go before them making the way.

It is during this Exodus of Egypt that God would have Moses write 5 books. These books would introduce God to the people of Israel, and let them know what He expected of them. They would see and experience many great miracles in their journey, as God became very closely involved in their lives.

One of the books Moses would pen is called Genesis, the beginning of all things. The book of Genesis is the history of the world in narrative form from the beginning of all things up to the time of Israel’s move to Egypt.

The Beginning of All Things

God starts Genesis with the words “In the Beginning.” Before this there was nothing. Only God existed and nothing else. No earth, no space, no light, no darkness, no sun, no stars. You get the picture. There was only God!

There are several important ideas to take away from the first chapter of Genesis. The first being that God, the almighty created everything that we see and know. He created the soundness of the earth that we walk on. He created the depth and vastness of space. He created time and the ways that we track time and seasons.

The Creation Timeline

He is also very careful to announce through His narration of the events of creation a time period for each creation event. Each creation event is marked by the phrase, “So the evening and the morning was the first day.” “So the evening and the morning was the second day.” And so on. There is no room for believers in God to accept anything other than God created everything in 6 days. He made sure to explain this very clearly.

God is Plural

We learn another important piece of information about God during this narration. Genesis 1:26 God said “Let us make man in Our own image, according to Our likeness…” God somehow exists in multiple persons! But He, God is one, vs. 27 says “so God created man in His, own image; in the image of God He created them.” God refers to himself in the singular.

Man

It is also important to note that the creation of mankind is different to the creation of all the rest of creation. There is nothing else created according to God in the same way He created mankind. All the other living creatures are simply spoken into existance. For example vs. 20 says “Then God said “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.””

In one statement God created all the creatures that live in all the waters of the earth, in multitudes. The waters teamed with life and the skies were filled with every species of bird. In the creative awesomeness of God His word is enough to bring all of the variety we see in the waters of the earth as well as all the varieties of bird we see covering all the earth.

Man, however is different. Man we see is created in the very image of God. He is also created to have dominion over all of creation. Man is God’s special part of creation!

The Goodness of Creation

Genesis 1:30 says “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”

God created a perfect work. A thing of beauty. He was very pleased with all that He had created. There was no flaw in it, no disease, no evil… So what happened? Why is our existence now difficult, full of disease and disappointment?

Who Is God? And Why Should I Care?

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Who is God? Is there a God? Why should I care? Three important questions.

Who is God

Here we are sitting and pondering the most important questions of life. Who is God? I suppose we really need to start from a question of, who are we?

These days we find ourselves confused about who or what we are. We are being told that we can be whatever we think we want to be. Is that true? I believe to answer who God is will put into perspective the question of who we are, and what we are.

We are being taught things like there are no genders, that the human species is going to cease to exist because of overpopulation of the earth, that there are no absolutes. We are observing a world where there seems to be no justice. People who are trying to play by the rules seem to be getting squashed. The wealthy seem to be getting more wealthy, and those who are not a part of the wealthy club seem to be struggling more and more to be able to make ends meet.

We are taught that our existence has come about by a great accident and all life, kind of generated itself over billions of years, totally on its own, and by total accident. So because all of life is an accident, there is therefore no god.

The more we accept these thoughts the further into chaos society gets. The more we accept these thoughts, the more confused we get. Each day there are more children who have decided that they should just end their lives, life is not worth living. Why? All of these thoughts are contrary to God and His purpose for our lives! The more we accept the things that are contrary to God the further we get away from normal, the more depressed we get, the more chaos surrounds us. Just what does God expect of us?

According to NASA planet earth is rotating on its axis at a speed of more than 1000 miles per hour. Earth is also at the same time making its trip around the sun at a mind blowing 67,000 miles per hour, that is 87 times the speed of sound. Beyond that our solar system is hurling through space at a mind bending 448,000 miles per hour. They tell us “speed kills,” well our planet is doing some serious speed, and without incident. How is this possible?

How is it possible that we can count on things like the length of our days? We can count on things like the seasonal calendar? We can count on knowing when the next eclipse will occur. The Mayans had predicted the position of constellations a thousand years into the future, and made record of those calculations. None of these things allow for chance, they are all predictable, Why? The answer is pretty simple. There are constants. There are rules that govern our solar system. The whole thing was designed by God, and is governed by Him.

God set about to tell us who He is. He set about to tell us how we got here on planet earth, how the stars came to be, how earth was formed with everything on it. He even took the time to tell us the exact amount of time it took Him to make all this stuff.

Simply look around you at all the wondrous bits and pieces of the world we live on called Earth. All the growing things, the mountains, the seas, the animals and bugs. Look at the way all these things work together. There is no way all of this is an accident. Order never comes from disorder, an accident never produces a new thing, just a mess.

God through His profit Moses introduces Himself to us. Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning God created…” In the beginning of all things there was only God. Everything else was created, made by Him. He takes the time to lay out briefly how he created the world and universe, and how long it took Him to do it. We will look at God’s account of the beginning of all things to attempt to learn what He would like us to learn from the creation account. Obviously He had it written in order to introduce Himself to us, we, His creation.

Is There A God

I believe all of creation points to God as the maker of all things, as the origin of all things. I believe there has to be a God because it is impossible for anything to exist otherwise. Look at our world hurdling through space at nearly 500,000 thousand miles an hour, without impacting anything else around us. This in itself is impossible. The scientists know this. That is why they spend so much time tracking comets and the like. Just one stray rock impacting earth at these kinds of speeds would be the end of all things, with no way to escape. Those scientists, most of them, would not admit there is a God. Because they don’t believe that there is a God, they stress about the precarious nature of earth moving through space at such ludicrous speed.

If our atmosphere would change in any way, we would probably be poisoned and die. This is why the scientists stress so much about any changes to our climate. They are worried that we will destroy ourselves by changing the climate. Life goes on today as it has for thousands of years, we are living in the very same atmosphere, regardless of the horrible things we have done on this earth. God is the sustain-er of our world, of our atmosphere. This is why life continues on. There is for sure a God! We are not an accident, our world is not an accident.

Why Should I Care If God Exists

Well, if God truly does exist. What does He want from us? Why did He make us? Why are we so different from all the other living things around us?

Why should I care if God really does exist? If God does exist, wouldn’t we do well not to offend Him? If God does exist, would we do well to acknowledge Him, if that is what He wants? If God does exist, what is He going to do with us, with earth?

The mainstream idea now is to erase the idea that God does exist. What if God is offended by that? What if the creator of the world, the universe, decides to deal harshly with those who try to do away with Him? If God is creator of all things doesn’t He have the right to do with all created things what He sees fit to do? If God does exist what kind of arrogance does it take to think we can erase the very thought of God?

If God does exist, I think we had better care! We had better find out what He expects of us. We had better shed our arrogance, and humble ourselves before God, the almighty creator of all things.