1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed.
2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.
3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
The Man and Woman in Eden When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil.
6 Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land.
7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.
9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches.
11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found.
12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there.
13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14 The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—
17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.
20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.
22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
23 “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.’”
24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
-New Living Translation
Beginning with a review of the previous chapter, when the Bible repeats itself, it is to reinforce an important point just like in life, when you make a mistake, you should learn from it and if you don't you will repeat that mistake until you have learned from it, the Bible reiterates the important lessons to make sure that you have learned and understood what God is saying. Here we see once again that when God made the Earth and Heaven, the Earth was empty, no plants no streams, no man to plant the seeds, or do any work. God prepared this planet for man, for you and me. Now as He describes the beginning of the planet, it does seem much better than we are on now, but we will be told in the next chapter what happened to the Earth. When the Earth was formed God laid the plants down into the soil before He let there be streams and irrigated the plants with water and mist that just rose from the ground. This tells me that God was planning for man to be completely provided for.
God made Adam, and placed him in a special garden, which had all of the plants which were both pretty and gave food. God once he placed Adam in the Garden on Eden gave him just one job to start off with and to test Adams free will. Man was given the job of naming all of the animals on the planet, possibly the second job would have been to name all of the fish and plants, but that is mere speculation on my behalf, as God does not give it to us in the accounts. God brought all of the animals before Adam, and was pleased with what Adam named them. God also was looking for something to help Adam and to be a companion for Adam. While God, had Adam naming the planet, there was but one house rule to be followed. Adam could eat of all of the trees and plants that he found in the garden, but he could not take of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and God were very close to a father and son relationship, probably the closest that any man ever has been and definitely ever will be while on this planet. And, while in every house, even yours and mine, there are and have to be house rules, God gave Adam just one, not to eat of that one fruit tree, for God told Adam, that when he did he would surely die. The term die does not translate well to our English language, I see it as too narrow for this phrase. To understand we need to see death for what it is; death is a separation, when your grandparents die, you and them become separated, you are no longer as close as you once were, but the Christian view of death, says that your no longer living here, but now are living with God in heaven if you are a believer, or are eternally apart from God, in spirit. And that is what is meant by die in verse 16, not completely stop breathing, but God and man will have a separation, when man tastes of the Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
God never was able to find an animal to be a complete companion for Adam, so he put Adam in a deep sleep and performed the first recorded surgery in history. For God took a rib from Adam and made Eve. Dr. Matthew Henry says that God took Eve from Adams side for a specific reason; if God had taken Eve from the head then woman would feel superior; had he taken her from the foot then man would feel superior, but from the side, each are equal, just the way it should be. Now man was here first, and Adam probably led Eve around as he knew the garden better than her, but he also bear the responsibility of looking after her, and keeping her with him as they both were equal. How many times is it that the husband comes home with a wild idea, and his equally important wife gives him the important voice of reason when they talk about the issue. If the husband were not married, then he might sell everything and move to Russia to mine for Emeralds, because someone told him it was a great way to get ahead. Just the other day, my wife and I went to breakfast and I talked to her about putting my name in for a new opening, which if it goes well could advance my career and in 5-10 years it could prove to be a very lucrative decision. My wife pointed out and rightly so I think that I would be going back to a position with a lot more stress, and the same or more hours, and this brought to mind that I would have less time to devote to my calling to advance Gods word, and things that I do to directly serve the Lord. Talking to her, made me realize that I was merely dreaming and my dreams were of acquiring things that the Lord would provide for me if I needed them, just as He provided for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with all of the food and water that they would need, just as God feeds not only the plants but also the animals all over this world.
While our governments do have forestry service employees, those employee neither irrigate, nor drop food for the millions upon millions of acres of wild land on the planet, but God does. He sees that the desert cacti gets their water, and that the lions on the plains of Africa get their meals and water. You can try all you want but to provide for yourself is difficult and stressful, I put my faith in God to feed my family with the things that we need to survive. God shows me the way to provide for myself, and sometimes He just plain provides, with me doing nothing, but asking for help. I know it sounds strange, unbelievable, and counterproductive to those who don’t know Christ, but I began reading the Bible as a nonbeliever, and came out with much better wisdom and insight. When I was not even half way through the Bible, I would pray to the Lord to help me with my side jobs to make the ends meet, to be able to feed my family, and the Lord blessed me with work for the weekends to help me through the difficult times that I was going through. I still pray to ask for His help in spreading His message through me, and I now have faith that His word will reach those in need.
If you do not have a relationship with God, I urge you to pray now and just ask God to give you understanding and knowledge of Him. Pray for help with your problems, and God will be more than willing to help. Lastly I urge you not to put off accepting Christ and your Savoir, asking Him to forgive your sins, and to bring you under the protective arm of God. You can say I’ll do it tomorrow, but you only have until you leave this planet to make the decision to come to Christ and believe and be saved. If you are certain that you will be here tomorrow, and will believe tomorrow, then sleep well this evening, for tomorrow will be better than today, but you and I know there are no certainties on this planet, my God knows each of our expiration dates, but He has withheld that tiny bit of info from us. May God bless you.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Genesis 1
The Account of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 29 Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. 31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.- New Living Translation
This is the opening chapter of our Creators truth passed on to us, there is a lot of ground work being laid down, as any author does in the beginning of a book, but the truth begins just five words into this book. The Lord, our Creator simply states, "In the beginning God created..." Genesis 1:1 that is the basis for everything else, take notice it is GOD, not A GOD, there is no uncertainty in this word, there is but one god. He is our Creator, He is our God, to Him there are no equals, there is no other. We owe Him everything, for He has given to us through His infinite grace, all that we have.
In the beginning the Earth was formless, or without form, it was some shape, not given to us at this time. The Lord gave the Earth it's form, he made it the into the sphere that we no live on, and His spirit surrounded the Earth. In the beginning there was a shapeless Earth and God, and that was all, until gave the universe light, and separated the light from the dark on the first day. Notice the lack of discussion, thought, or consideration, He made a simple statement and it was done. Just like when we walk in a room and flip on a light switch, the light turns on, except God did not have to do any wiring, nor created anything to give the light, on the first day. On the second, God once again without hesitation, thought or actual work, separated the Earth from Heaven, as it says that God created a space between the waters of Earth and the waters in Heaven. He did this once again without effort, he just did it. I too can not begin to imagine just willing something and it being done, I know that I have to ask my children for what seems like ten times to get them to turn off the tv when they are done watching and walk away, or I have to get up and turn it off myself. It is just another way that we are inferior to God our Creator- and it leaves me a couple questions to ask Him when I get to see Him in Heaven, if it is His will I am sure God will explain it to me, but for now all we have is what we are given in the Gospel and that is what we need.
On the third, fourth and fifth days God created the sun and moon to rule the light and the dark, the dry land as a place for people and the land animals to live, the stars and the planets for us to look at and give a reference to as of his greatness and vastness, He created all of the plants in the sea and on the dry land to feed the earths inhabitants and finally on the fifth day, the Lord created the birds and the fish in the sky and the sea, all without contemplation or effort. He is so great that he just made all of these, he said let it be, and it was.
On the sixth day, God tells us that he created the land animals small and large, fierce and timid, then God for telling of the trinity, said "Let us make man in our image." This verse 26 for tells of the trinity as God has a conversation of Father, Son, and Spirit, but he also has a conversation of some sort to plan the making of man. Everything else is just done, God, takes a moment though however short or long it was to plan out our creation, to plan our free will, to make us able to reign over this planet. Now evolutionists say that we are just the act of millions of accidental and random processes, but God tells us right here, that we are not, that we were put here in his image to reign over the earth as stewards of it, and to serve Him. We have a purpose in life, we have meaning. And without this basis, life is very empty. Empathize with the evolutionist, for they have no reason to be here, and when they die, that is it, they will be no more and a not part of a bigger plan, but if you have read this chapter and understand its meaning, you have a little insight into the bigger picture. You are here to serve a purpose, you are specifically made to do what you do, and to serve the Lord in his great plan.
In the book of Job (one of my favorite books in the old testament), Job has lost everything that he had and questions God as why to he went from being a rich and healthy man to being a poor, lonely man with leprosy. In Job 31 Job asks God many questions stating that he is a true believer, and God answers Job's questions with questions of his own. He asks Job if Job knows how to balance the clouds in the sky, or "Were you there when I laid the foundations of the Earth?-Job 38:4, God asked Job and through Job, He asks you and me when we question Him, "Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?" Job 38:12 and in Luke 23:44 when Jesus died, the Lord to show His displeasure in the Jews missing the message and attempting to do Satans work, and that what had been done was wrong, turned out the lights in mid day on the world for 3 hours while Jesus breathed his last breathes. It took God a mere six days to put his plan into motion, there is nothing that he can or can't do, and if it is His will, He will do it when He sees fit. Our purpose is to serve God's will. Genesis chapter 1 does not tell us the specifics of building our world, God has left us a lot of questions here to ask Him when those how believe in Him finally have the chance in Heaven. We don't know how long we have in this life, the Lord can take us at any moment. If what I have shared has moved you, I urge you to pray a short prayer and accept Jesus as your Savoir. All it takes is a few short meaningful words between you and God, tell Him that you have sinned, ask for His forgiveness and accept Jesus as your only Savior and way to Heaven, as this is the only way to truly find real peace in this uncertain world.
I urge you to seek out a local Bible based church, and seek fellowship with others to asist you in your walk in Christ. May God bless you with His treasures and riches, Amen.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 29 Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. 31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.- New Living Translation
This is the opening chapter of our Creators truth passed on to us, there is a lot of ground work being laid down, as any author does in the beginning of a book, but the truth begins just five words into this book. The Lord, our Creator simply states, "In the beginning God created..." Genesis 1:1 that is the basis for everything else, take notice it is GOD, not A GOD, there is no uncertainty in this word, there is but one god. He is our Creator, He is our God, to Him there are no equals, there is no other. We owe Him everything, for He has given to us through His infinite grace, all that we have.
In the beginning the Earth was formless, or without form, it was some shape, not given to us at this time. The Lord gave the Earth it's form, he made it the into the sphere that we no live on, and His spirit surrounded the Earth. In the beginning there was a shapeless Earth and God, and that was all, until gave the universe light, and separated the light from the dark on the first day. Notice the lack of discussion, thought, or consideration, He made a simple statement and it was done. Just like when we walk in a room and flip on a light switch, the light turns on, except God did not have to do any wiring, nor created anything to give the light, on the first day. On the second, God once again without hesitation, thought or actual work, separated the Earth from Heaven, as it says that God created a space between the waters of Earth and the waters in Heaven. He did this once again without effort, he just did it. I too can not begin to imagine just willing something and it being done, I know that I have to ask my children for what seems like ten times to get them to turn off the tv when they are done watching and walk away, or I have to get up and turn it off myself. It is just another way that we are inferior to God our Creator- and it leaves me a couple questions to ask Him when I get to see Him in Heaven, if it is His will I am sure God will explain it to me, but for now all we have is what we are given in the Gospel and that is what we need.
On the third, fourth and fifth days God created the sun and moon to rule the light and the dark, the dry land as a place for people and the land animals to live, the stars and the planets for us to look at and give a reference to as of his greatness and vastness, He created all of the plants in the sea and on the dry land to feed the earths inhabitants and finally on the fifth day, the Lord created the birds and the fish in the sky and the sea, all without contemplation or effort. He is so great that he just made all of these, he said let it be, and it was.
On the sixth day, God tells us that he created the land animals small and large, fierce and timid, then God for telling of the trinity, said "Let us make man in our image." This verse 26 for tells of the trinity as God has a conversation of Father, Son, and Spirit, but he also has a conversation of some sort to plan the making of man. Everything else is just done, God, takes a moment though however short or long it was to plan out our creation, to plan our free will, to make us able to reign over this planet. Now evolutionists say that we are just the act of millions of accidental and random processes, but God tells us right here, that we are not, that we were put here in his image to reign over the earth as stewards of it, and to serve Him. We have a purpose in life, we have meaning. And without this basis, life is very empty. Empathize with the evolutionist, for they have no reason to be here, and when they die, that is it, they will be no more and a not part of a bigger plan, but if you have read this chapter and understand its meaning, you have a little insight into the bigger picture. You are here to serve a purpose, you are specifically made to do what you do, and to serve the Lord in his great plan.
In the book of Job (one of my favorite books in the old testament), Job has lost everything that he had and questions God as why to he went from being a rich and healthy man to being a poor, lonely man with leprosy. In Job 31 Job asks God many questions stating that he is a true believer, and God answers Job's questions with questions of his own. He asks Job if Job knows how to balance the clouds in the sky, or "Were you there when I laid the foundations of the Earth?-Job 38:4, God asked Job and through Job, He asks you and me when we question Him, "Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?" Job 38:12 and in Luke 23:44 when Jesus died, the Lord to show His displeasure in the Jews missing the message and attempting to do Satans work, and that what had been done was wrong, turned out the lights in mid day on the world for 3 hours while Jesus breathed his last breathes. It took God a mere six days to put his plan into motion, there is nothing that he can or can't do, and if it is His will, He will do it when He sees fit. Our purpose is to serve God's will. Genesis chapter 1 does not tell us the specifics of building our world, God has left us a lot of questions here to ask Him when those how believe in Him finally have the chance in Heaven. We don't know how long we have in this life, the Lord can take us at any moment. If what I have shared has moved you, I urge you to pray a short prayer and accept Jesus as your Savoir. All it takes is a few short meaningful words between you and God, tell Him that you have sinned, ask for His forgiveness and accept Jesus as your only Savior and way to Heaven, as this is the only way to truly find real peace in this uncertain world.
I urge you to seek out a local Bible based church, and seek fellowship with others to asist you in your walk in Christ. May God bless you with His treasures and riches, Amen.
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