In the beginning ...

[classicalhero]

The end of the present 6th Day is future. We live today at Gen 1:27 since God is STILL creating mankind in His Image, which is to be born again Spiritually in Christ. When Heaven is filled with ALL of it's host, we will advance to the PROPHECY of Gen 1:28-31. Then God will say, it is very good. Amen?

No, because you are ignoring the fall, where God cursed the earth and mankind because of Adam's sin, unless you are willing to call this present world very with all the death and suffering we are seeing, which I am most definitely not, because we are waiting and so is the whole universe for God to redeem us and bring the universe back under the glory of God, not right now, since we are under the power of the prince of the air. We are currently in enemy territory, but God will restore his rule again and we are just waiting for the glorious revealing of that.

 

[2KnowHim]

The Holy Spirit gives all believers their own understanding. In these last days we should all tell others what He has shown us, since there will be some 152k people leave this world today and go into Eternity. Amen?

Amen, my friend

 

[2KnowHim]

No, because you are ignoring the fall, where God cursed the earth and mankind because of Adam's sin, unless you are willing to call this present world very with all the death and suffering we are seeing, which I am most definitely not, because we are waiting and so is the whole universe for God to redeem us and bring the universe back under the glory of God, not right now, since we are under the power of the prince of the air. We are currently in enemy territory, but God will restore his rule again and we are just waiting for the glorious revealing of that.

Where do you think that the darkness of Gen. 1:2 came from?

 

[Aman777]

No, because you are ignoring the fall, where God cursed the earth and mankind because of Adam's sin, unless you are willing to call this present world very with all the death and suffering we are seeing, which I am most definitely not, because we are waiting and so is the whole universe for God to redeem us and bring the universe back under the glory of God, not right now, since we are under the power of the prince of the air. We are currently in enemy territory, but God will restore his rule again and we are just waiting for the glorious revealing of that.

My point is that God is STILL creating mankind in Christ, Today. Gen 1:27 This means that God has NOT yet rested (ceased creating) from ALL of His work, and He will NOT rest (cease creating) until His creation is brought to perfection or "Finished" as Gen 2:1-3 states. The prefect God will not rest from ALL of His work of creating until the 7th Day. Gen 2:2-3 God Bless you

 

[classicalhero]

Where do you think that the darkness of Gen. 1:2 came from?

Because God hadn't created light yet.

 

[Aman777]

Because God hadn't created light yet.

God had made the air dust and water APART from Himself since He did not exist in physical form at the time. ANYthing apart from God is evil because ONLY God is good. Anything apart from God is subject to the darkness or Death we see in the physical world.

Mar 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? there is none good but One, that is, God.

The only way to go to Heaven is to be perfect. IF you cannot be perfect, then you MUST be born again Spiritually, in Christ Who IS God. Amen?

BTW, Jesus IS the Light of the first Day. Gen 1:3

 

[classicalhero]

Doesn't Genesis 1:3 come after 1:2?

 

[Aman777]

Doesn't Genesis 1:3 come after 1:2?

Of course it does and Gen 1:1-3 tells us WHY God says Let there be Light.
I will paraphrase:

In the beginning of the creation of the perfect heaven, God created or brought into the physical world, from things which do not appear, the air, ground without form or dust, and water came forth from the air. God will use these 3 creation elements to make everything which will exist in physical form. ...BUT...

Something was dreadfully wrong since darkness or death was upon everything God had brought into the physical world. How could He have a perfect physical Heaven if DEATH or entropy was upon the elements necessary to build that physical world? Anything He built from those elements would decay and NOT be perfect, forever, as is the end of ALL of God's work.

God speaks Let there be Light and Jesus/YHWH came into the physical world from within the invisible Spirit of God to mold the air, dust, and water into physical shapes and to add life to those elements used to make physical creatures. Amen?

 

[2KnowHim]

God had made the air dust and water APART from Himself since He did not exist in physical form at the time. ANYthing apart from God is evil because ONLY God is good. Anything apart from God is subject to the darkness or Death we see in the physical world.

I like the way you worded this, The Spirit revealed it to me this way too. He used my artistic gift as the example to reveal the truth of this....

When I begin to create a painting or drawing of something, I see it in my "mind's eye" so to speak, and as long as it stays there it is Perfect, untouched by the elements. But once I bring it forth to the canvas it now becomes exposed to all the harsh elements of this physical world. This is how we were made subject to Vanity as well, not willingly but by Him who did it in hope. I paint because i want to share my gift with the world, inspite the fact that once I do anything can happen to it.
Unlike God, I don't have complete control over my masterpiece like He does.

 

[Aman777]

I like the way you worded this, The Spirit revealed it to me this way too. He used my artistic gift as the example to reveal the truth of this....

When I begin to create a painting or drawing of something, I see it in my "mind's eye" so to speak, and as long as it stays there it is Perfect, untouched by the elements. But once I bring it forth to the canvas it now becomes exposed to all the harsh elements of this physical world. This is how we were made subject to Vanity as well, not willingly but by Him who did it in hope. I paint because i want to share my gift with the world, inspite the fact that once I do anything can happen to it.
Unlike God, I don't have complete control over my masterpiece like He does.

Thank you for the kind words and God Bless you. The Spirit reveals unique things to all of us and in these last days, I love to read posts like your's.

 

[Crowns&Laurels]

No, because you are ignoring the fall, where God cursed the earth and mankind because of Adam's sin

I don't think God made the curse, the curse came from the sin.

 

[classicalhero]

In Genesis 3:13 God specifically states that he cursed the serpent and in 3:17 he again states that he has cursed the ground because of Adam's sin. All this happened after the fact of Adam's sin and only happened when God judged Adam, Eve and the serpent.

 

[joshua 1 9]

In the beginning …

Let us be clear, the Bible does not assert that the Earth or life on this planet was created 6,000 years ago (as many have presumed). It does not even teach against evolution. For, although ‘creation’ is certainly taught, how God created is not explained. Creation through evolutionary processes, as one method, cannot be ruled out. We need to realize – the Bible was not written to explain scientific principles, but to convey spiritual truth. The language of metaphor, parable and poetry is the language of much that is Scripture, but it is not the language of science. Nevertheless, although it is true that the Church had applied a simplistic interpretation to the creation narratives until modern times, it is simply ridiculous to either dismiss Scripture or to deny scientific evidence because of this. Rather, as Christians, we should thank the scientific community for adding to our enlightenment, so that, being disabused of false notions, we might apprehend the truth more exactly and be more open to consider alternative perceptions.

One might hear that ‘evolution’ does not need a Creator to begin the evolutionary process – yet, even if we admit that this could be true for the material universe that we can see and observe (and this is not proven), that in itself does not mean that a creative process could not have been the catalyst to begin the evolution of life on Earth. In fact, if we use the logic of evolution (given the ‘eternity’ of time) and consider the estimated age of the visible universe to be between 13 and 14 billion years (NASA’s figures, 2010) - and the fact that man through advances in genetic sciences is said to be on the verge of becoming a creator of life HIMSELF – is it not logical to believe that a much greater Creator already exists – Someone who is far superior to man? And should this be true, is it not also most likely that such a Creator would want to involve Himself in the evolution of life on Earth to ensure that through this process ‘goodness’ here should prevail? Moreover, is it not reasonable to believe that He would also desire to create other beings in His own image and likeness? – We call Him, of course, ‘God’. Like time, we might say that his existence is without beginning and without end – ‘Eternal’.

The Bible declares that God is invisible to human observation – that He is not part of our physical world, as we know it. Yet, not so long ago, the idea that there could exist another dimension to the universe beyond that observed could have seemed a mere fancy – without any scientific support. Not so today. Through scientific observations and mathematical calculations, we know that the normal matter of the universe – everything that we can see and observe – accounts for no more than 5% of all. The rest is calculated to consist of dark (as in unknown) energy (70%) and dark matter (25%):

“More is unknown than is known [about the universe]. We know how much dark energy there is because we know how it affects the Universe’s expansion. Other than that, it is a complete mystery. But it is an important mystery. It turns out that roughly 70% of the Universe is dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 25%. The rest – everything on Earth, everything ever observed with all of our instruments, all normal matter – adds up to less than 5% of the Universe.” (science.nasa.gov)

It is the biblical view that God and angels are spirit beings inhabiting such a realm unknowable to the physical senses. This realm of God, of course, is what in English we call ‘God’s Heaven’. The biblical Holy Scriptures are said to convey God’s spiritually inspired revelation, communicated to us by the Holy Spirit of God through His prophets, setting out His purpose and will for us – that the called of God might attain to everlasting life through faith as His children, born of His Spirit, in the knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ. This communion with God is made possible by the fact that man is not just a physical entity, but also soul and ‘spirit’ – and it is this spiritual aspect in man that allows the soul to exist beyond the grave and makes possible the ‘resurrection’ of man after death.

Blessings!

Evolution is a collection of theories. Some are true and some are not. That is pretty much true of Science in general. Sometimes they hit the nail right on the head and sometimes they miss it by a mile or more.

 

[SkyWriting]

Let us be clear, the Bible does not assert that the Earth or life on this planet was created 6,000 years ago (as many have presumed).

Correct

It does not even teach against evolution.

The original Creation did not include death.
The source of life is God, and not stupidity.
Evolution as a source of life is by it's nature
dumb as a rock.

 

[Riberra]

hi 'j',

When I have these discussions regarding the literalness of the creation account, I'm always struck with the thought that what it all really boils down to is whether we truly believe and acknowledge and understand the power and majesty of our Creator.

You see, as I understand the Scriptures, this entire realm of existence was created by a Creator whose soul purpose when He spoke the very first, "Let there be...", was to build a magnificent home for mankind. All those planets and stars and asteroids and such that you see when you look up into the night sky. My Father put everyone of them there in a mere moment as He built a universe that would be the home of man. He, by His eternal power and wisdom, started with just a single planet

Hi !,Genesis 1:1 tell us that God created the heavens first ....and the earth.
God created the Earth perfect right there at that moment mentionned in verse 1.
What have happened to the earth to became in the condition mentionned in verse 2 ?
2 And the earth was a waste and void..,

Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:2
2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep:


Lets elaborate a little more:
Genesis 1:1
1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Does it say when the beginning was? Absolutely not. This event did not take place six-thousand years ago, but eons ago. This scripture is describing the “themelios“, the foundation of the Heaven and earth in The World That Was, The First Earth Age.



Genesis 1:2
2 “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

Between verses one and two we have the passing of a very large amount of time. In verse one we are told, “God created the Heaven and the earth” (“themelios”). In verse two we are told, “the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep“. Essentially this verse is documenting the “katabole” which includes the destruction of The First Earth Age.

This scripture is also where we find the first mistranslation in the King James Version Bible. The word “was” is 1961 in your Strong’s Concordance and being properly translated means, “became“. This change in words completely alters the scriptures. The word“was” implies that God created the earth void which we know is not accurate and we will completely document that fact as we move through this study.

While the word “became” stipulates an event caused the earth to ‘become without form and void’. That event was the “katabole“, the “deposition” or “cast down” of Satan from his position of power in The First Earth Age.

Our Father did not create the earth “without form” (tôhû in Hebrew) which is word 8414 in your Strong’s, meaning, “a desolation“. Neither did He create the earth “void” (bôhû in Hebrew 922) meaning, “an undistinguishable ruin“, but it did “become” that way because of the fall of Satan. So verse two properly translated means, we have a world that ‘became a desolation, became an undistinguishable ruin‘. If it became void then it was something else before, God’s Word states the world was created as a habitable paradise.

Let us listen to Wisdom speak.

Proverbs 8:22
22 “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.”

What works of old are we talking about here? The beginning of The First Earth Age in Genesis 1:1 where, “God created the heaven and the earth,” which became an old work in Genesis 1:2 when our Father destroyed The First Earth Age because of the “katabole“, the fall of Satan.

2 Peter 3:6
6 “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”

2 Peter 3:7
7 “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

2 Peter 3:13
13 “Nevertheless we, according to his promise,look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”


Satan’s, from his position of power in The World That Was.
Satan's fall:
See details here:
http://worldeventsandthebible.com/2014/09/satans-sin.html

Isaiah 14:13-14
13 “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:”
14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Ezekiel 28:15
15 “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”

 

[Hoghead1]

1. 
   \
   
   
   
   
   As I have said before, and will say again, I do not think Genesis can be taken as literal, scientific, or historical.
   When we approach the study of Scripture, I think we should be willing to step outside the small box of narration presented within the narrow confines of fundamentalist thinking about the Bible. In so doing, we must cast aside the preexisting bias that everything in Scripture has to be true, that everything happened just the way the Bible says it happened. We should approach Scripture, with an open mind. Maybe it is all dictated by God and inerrant , maybe it isn't. Let us see.
   
   
   
   Bearing the above in mind, let us proceed on to the Genesis account of creation. It is readily apparent that it stands in stark contradiction to modern scientific accounts. If we stay within the confines of the fundamentalist box, science is clearly a thing of the Devil, and that's the end of it. But is it? Perhaps there are other possibilities. Let us also explore those. For centuries, solid Bible-believing Christians have had no problem in recognizing the Bible is not an accurate geophysical witness. After all, who believes that the earth is really flat, that everything revolves around the earth, etc.? So I don't see why Genesis should be any exception. Bur wait a sec. Just how did traditional Christianity manage to step out of the fundamentalist box here? Here it is important to consider the writings of the Protestant Reformers, who lived right on the scence, right at the time when science was beginning to serious question the flat earth, etc. Let's take a peak at Calvin, for example. He followed what is called the doctrine of accommodations. Accordingly, our minds are so puny that God often has to talk “baby talk” (Calvin's term) to us, to accommodate his message to our infirmities. He wrote a major commentary on Genesis, and, in his remarks on Gen. 1:6, he emphasized that God is here to accommodate to our weaknesses and therefore, most emphatically, is not here to teach us actual astronomy.
   
   
   
   Now, about the to contradictory accounts. It is my position that we must step outside the fundamentalist box and come to the text open-minded. It is my position that there are two contradictory accounts. It is my position we must resist all the fiendish effects created within the narrow confines of the fundamentalist box to unduly smash them together and bludgeon them into one account. The best way to approach a text is to go on the plain reading. Hence, in Gen . 1, first animals are created, the man and woman together. In Gen. 2, first man, then animals, then woman. What may or may not be apparent in English translations is that there are two very different literary styles here. Gen. 1, fr example, is sing-songy, very sing-songy. Hence, Haydn wrote a major work titled
   
   “The Creation,” based solely on Gen. 1. Gen,. 2 is narrative and not very singable. If you study the Hebrew here in more detail, we are also dealing with to different authors coming from tow different time periods.
   
   
   
   Let's turn to the stated content of the chronologies. As I said, a plain reading shows an obvious contradiction here. And as I said, many a fiendish attempt has been made within the fundamentalist box to smash these together. That is a favorite tactic of mode than one online self-styled apologists and also certain members in this group, no personal insult intended. So let us now go down through a list of the major devious attempts to smash the texts together and why they don't work.
   
   
   
   There is the pluperfect theory. Accordingly, all apparent contradictions can be easily explained simply by recognizing that everything in Gen. 2 should be translated in the pluperfect tense, thereby referring right back to one. So the line should read,...So God HAD created the animals,,,” So the problem is simply generated in the reader's mind simply because the English Bible has been mistranslated here. To a lay person, this might look impressive. However, if you know anything at all about Hebrew, this solution immediately falls on its face. There is no, repeat no, pluperfect tense in Hebrew.
   
   
   
   There is the two-creation theory. Accordingly, Gen. 1 and 2 refer to two different creations. Gen. 1 describes the total overall creation of the universe. Gen. 2 is purely concerned with what happened in the garden of Eden, with events that happened after the total overall creation. Looks promising. However, what is snot shown or addressed in the fundamentalist box is the fact fact this theory generates treffic problems in accounting for all the personnel involved and, in so doing g, has led to ridiculous results. A good example is the Lilith theory that was widespread among Medieval Christians and Jews. The problem was this: If we are fusing these accounts together, then there is a woman created in Gen. 1, and at the same time as Adam, who is not named, and who obviously exists in addition to Eve. Who is she? Her name is Lilith and she is Adam's first wife. She was domineering and liked riding on top of Adam when they had sex. Adam didn't like this and neither did God, as women are to be submissive. So God gave Adam a second wife, Eve, who at least stayed underneath during sex. Lilith then got mad, ran away, became a witch, and goes around terrorizing children, so that it was common to find a crib with “God save up from Lilith” written on it. Now, unless you believe in the existence of preAdamites, and the fundamentalist box does not and most Christians do not either, then this whole situation is absolutely ridiculous.
   
   
   
   There is the latent-chronology theory. Accordingly, the account is written by one author, never mind the literary differences. What he takes as the real chronology is that which is presented in Gen. 1. However, when he gets to Gen. 2, he for some reason, does not work through or explicate that chronology in its true order. Well, by that same token, why not assume his rue chronology is gen. 1 and that Gen. I is just his idea of explicating it out of order, for some reason? See, that strategy backfires. In addition, one wonders why an author would set up his chronology on one page and then on the next explicate it out of order. That sure is an awkward, messy way of explaining yourself.
   
   
   
   Now if any of you readers have in mind a better solution, I and other biblical scholars would like to hear it.
   
   
   
   P.S. Another problem with the Genesis account is that it does not make it clear how God creates. Some will say it definitely means creatio ex nihilo. But God created Adam out of dust, not out of nothing. God created Eve out of Adam's rib, not out of nothing. God creates the adult out of the child, not our of nothing. The opening of the Genesis account is ambiguous here. Maybe god creates out of nothing, but maybe out of some preexistence chaos. ;

 

[Riberra]

Now if any of you readers have in mind a better solution, I and other biblical scholars would like to hear it.



P.S. Another problem with the Genesis account is that it does not make it clear how God creates. Some will say it definitely means creatio ex nihilo. But God created Adam out of dust, not out of nothing. God created Eve out of Adam's rib, not out of nothing. God creates the adult out of the child, not our of nothing. The opening of the Genesis account is ambiguous here. Maybe god creates out of nothing, but maybe out of some preexistence chaos. ;

There is another explanation.
God CREATED - mankind in general - with all the different races ex nihilo on the 6th day.-Male and female He created them and said to them be fruitful and populate the earth and have dominion on it- (nomades)

God FORMED Adam from the dust and MADE Eve from Adam's rib and placed them in the Garden of Eden isolated from the rest of mankind for a special purpose ...a TEST who will decide....

-I am not the author of the text below- Bolded words in the explicative text are mine .

Gen 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 soul.

Notice that in Gen 1:26 and 2:7 both use the word man. I(the author) looked this up in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible and found that both use the Hebrew word H120, אדם or ‘adam in English, which can mean a man, mankind, or Adam the first man. So is there a difference between the word man in Gen 1:26 and 2:7?

To take this a step further I cracked open The Companion Bible and for the word ‘man’ it referred me to Appendix 14 where it explains the synonym words used for “MAN.” It says that Adam without the article denotes man or mankind in general, E.G. Gen 1:26, 2:5, 5:1. With the particle (‘eth) in addition to the article it is very emphatic, and means self, very, this same, this very, E.G. Gen 2:7, and it’s the first occurrence of this.

So according to E. W. Bullinger there is a big difference between the word man in Gen 1:26 and Gen 2:7.

I thought it would be interesting to see how The Septuagint translated Gen 1:27 and Gen 2:7, since both verses are about creating a man.

LXX Gen 1:27 And God made man, according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made them.

LXX Gen 2:7 And God formed the man of dust of the earth, and breathed upon his face the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.

Interesting, in Gen 2:7 it says God formed “the” man and in Gen 1:27 it says God made man. It seems that there is a clear difference of the word man according to The Septuagint which further confirms that in 1:26 God created mankind and on the 8th day in 2:7 God created The Adam.

If Genesis 2 is just Genesis 1 in more detail then we would expect the order of creation to be the same in each chapter. Interestingly, we find a difference that further clues us to Adam being an 8th day creation.

First let us look at Genesis 1. In verses 1:20 – 1:24 God created the wild animals beast of the Earth , then in verse 1:26 he created man.

Gen 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Now Genesis 2 God created man then created the (farm)animals.-BEAST of the field -

Gen 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 soul.

Gen 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof.

In conclusion we should be open to the possibility of Adam being an 8th day creation. He was the start of the Geneology (Adam,Seth...) of which Christ would come.

 

[Hoghead1]

Sorry, Riberra, but in light of the case I already made, I don't see how any of this could possibly even begin to work.

 

[2KnowHim]

The Seven days of Gen. is about the fall and Redemption of all mankind through The Lords Christ, who is The image of The invisible God.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
2Pe_3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

The seven days or seven thousand years of Gen. is in picture form of "The Finished Work" of His Christ for All mankind.
Adam's fall happened between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2 ....Hence the reason for the darkness, and the reason "it became" that way.

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Rom 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

It is the Blueprint for the Redemption of All mankind through Christ.

 

[miamited]

Hi Riberra,

Well, that is, and is reflected in this conversation, a somewhat popular understanding of the text. It isn't mine. God created this realm for man. He had no other purpose in creating this realm other than a place where man could exist. When He considered man, He knew that first He had to create a suitable habitat for him to exist. The God I know, and I believe is revealed to us in the Scriptures, in order to do this, merely commanded that the things necessary for man to live and breathe and eat, exist. This entire realm, from the furthest star and galaxy, to the most microscopic part of all things, came to be near instantly at the command and desire of God. As the law of the Sabbath testifies: For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

For me, I am in agreement with the declaration of the Scriptures. Six days, six rotations of the planet earth, which is what defines a day, God made this entire realm in which we exist. And, at the end of this age, God will even more quickly bring it all to a close.

By His will, power, majesty, wisdom and love, God created man and all that was needed for man to exist. He created this realm in which we live. It didn't take millions or billions of years for stars and planets and such to coalesce from some previously existing matter, energy or force. God merely said, "Let it be so". And it was so! I fully understand that I live and breathe and exist merely by and through the love and creation of God. I fully understand that He is the supreme and sovereign ruler and sustainer of all that He has created and that He created me to be in a relationship of love and respect for who He is and all that He has done that I might have life. I fully understand and accept that because He desires an eternal relationship of love and respect for all the living men and angels; and because He has wisdom beyond what I could ever hope to imagine, that He asks us to live by a certain and specific set of rules which He has given to us as laws.

He asks us to love Him. To understand that it is because of Him that we even have existence. To appreciate that it is by His power and design and love that we have air to breathe, food to eat and everything else that we need to have life and that His design is that we have that life eternally. But, because we have the same nature as Satan, a nature of pride and arrogance, and deign to even think or consider that we could live without His love and care and sustenance, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. We have all, like sheep, wandered off to follow after our own heart's desires. We have all become just like Israel in our understanding. For the Lord has said of them:

Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him."

We too, have rebelled against God. We have rebelled against His truth. Not believing or agreeing in what He has told us of Himself and all that He has done. We have rebelled against His laws. Not loving Him with every ounce of being that is each one of us individually and certainly not loving one another as we love ourselves. We have rebelled against His care and provision for us. Choosing instead, to put our faith in greatly educated doctors and medicines to save or extend our lives here on this earth. We have rebelled against His wisdom. Choosing rather the wisdom of those we hold up as so much wiser and knowledgeable concerning how things came to be as they are. We are a nation whose guilt is great! We are a brood of evildoers! We are children given to corruption! We have forsaken the Lord and spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned our backs on Him. And lest someone reading this think that I am playing holier than thou, I am just as guilty as everyone else!

But!!!!!!! I have read and considered the words of the God who created all that provides for my existence and my life. I have chosen instead to forsake the great knowledge and wisdom of man and his ideas and designs for extending my life through the hands of great men of medicine. I have chosen now to forsake the great knowledge and wisdom of man and his ideas and designs for how we came to be what and where we are today in this existence. I now strive, and yes, absolutely it is a daily and conscious working with and through God, His Spirit and His word, to understand and seek after what God has told me is the truth of my existence and His desires and hopes for me. I strive daily to love God. Not just know of Him, but to love Him and to seek to fulfill His desires for me. I fail miserably and often and am forced to cry out just as Paul did:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Knowing and understanding all as I do that the Scriptures reveal to me, I am forcefully driven to trust and hope in the mercy that God has promised to those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted