Category: Creation Science

Where Was God? #3

Monday, September 16, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

Adam, the federal head (representative) of the human race, exercised his free will, and he deliberately made the wrong choice (1 Timothy 2:11-15). Today, all of creation, especially man, suffers the consequences, as the Apostle Paul explains so clearly: “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:… for if by one man’s offence death reigned by one… therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation… for as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…” (Romans 5:12,17-19).

By Adam, sin infiltrated the original, perfect (sinless) world system: hence, the Scriptures speak of “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). God had already warned Adam, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). After partaking of that forbidden fruit, however, Adam continued to physically live another 930 years (Genesis 5:5). And yet, he and Eve died right there in the Garden of Eden just as God had foretold (in Eden, they died spiritually, unable to commune with God, which is the natural state of man right from birth).

Where was God on September 11, 2001? In the same place He was when Adam sinned that first time. From heaven’s glory, God Almighty watched man make a choice to follow Him or Satan. God’s wrath against the world’s sin is coming, but the 9/11 terrorist attacks were just sinful man’s actions (remember, where there is sin, there is death). Our world has never seen God’s wrath, yet.

Thankfully, just as God was there to provide man with a free will, and He was there to observe man exercise that free will, He was also there to graciously make provisions (Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork) for the inevitable sins that man would commit….

Where Was God? #2

Sunday, September 15, 2013

“Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1 KJV).

One of the most common questions ever asked….

How in the world did the world ever get the way it is? Does God really care about us? If so, why does He not do anything to make it better? Or, as the deists claim, is God completely unconcerned with the universe He created? Will God ever intervene and set things right?

One of the most basic teachings of Scripture is the concept of sin and death. Wherever we find sin, we find death; wherever we find death, we find sin. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).

When the Lord Jesus Christ placed Adam on planet earth, He instructed Adam: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16,17). Notice the word “freely,” as in, free will—God refused to have man be a robot. The Lord knew good and well that, by giving man these choices, there was the risk of Adam making the wrong decision.

Once God made Eve, Adam repeated God’s instructions to her. At this point, either Adam failed to properly communicate God’s Word to Eve, or Eve just did not remember God’s Word correctly. Whichever the case, the serpent (Satan) tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). The Bible says Eve was “deceived,” but Scripture also says Adam knew exactly what he was doing (1 Timothy 2:11-15).

Again, God knew full well what would happen. He watched the fall of man occur in the Garden of Eden, and did not prevent it. Man had to choose, and choose he did….

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Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #4

Monday, September 9, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11, and Hebrews 4:3-11 explain how the Sabbath day (the day of God’s “rest”) was the sign of God’s earthly kingdom (God’s “rest”). Psalm 132:5,8,13,14, the words of King David, enlighten: “Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob…. Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength…. For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.”

The Sabbath-day rest reminded Israel of God’s original purpose in creation, and her role in His plan to reclaim the earth. Had Adam not sinned, God’s earthly kingdom would have been established 6,000 years ago with Adam and Eve. God created the nation Israel to do what Adam failed to do in the earth, but Israel too fell into sin, so again, God’s earthly kingdom was postponed. That earthly kingdom was in David’s mind when he sought to build the Temple, God’s house (Psalm 132 in the previous paragraph, and note how God declared, “This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.”).

Unfortunately, 600 years after David, at the close of the “Old Testament” Scriptures, sinful Israel has been scattered among the nations, JEHOVAH’S glory has left the Temple, and the Temple has been utterly destroyed. For the next 400 years, God is silent toward Israel (John the Baptist’s ministry breaks that silence).

When we come to the context of today’s Scripture, we find Jesus Christ, the LORD of Psalm 132, now come to His nation Israel. The mighty JEHOVAH has now arrived in human flesh to offer Himself as their King, to usher in that kingdom whose establishment has been repeatedly interrupted by sin.

The Pharisees, blinded by their religious fervor, fail to see Jesus as “Lord of the sabbath day….”

Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #3

Sunday, September 8, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

Genesis 2:1-3 and Exodus 20:8-11 explain that Israel’s Sabbath-day keeping was connected with the creation week. The writer of the book of Hebrews elaborates:

“[3] For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. [4] For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. [5] And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. [6] Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: [7] Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. [8] For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. [9] There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. [10] For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. [11] Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews 4:3-11).

Quoting Psalm 95:7-11, which describes how most of Israel rebelled against JEHOVAH under Moses’s leadership and thus could not enter the Promised Land (the “rest,” God’s kingdom on earth), the writer of Hebrews cautions Israel during the (future) seven-year Tribulation not to repeat their forefathers’ mistakes, so they may enter Christ’s millennial kingdom.

Both Adam and Israel under Moses fell into sin, delaying God’s earthly kingdom connected with the Sabbath “rest.” Regarding today’s Scripture, Jesus the King, is now on earth, ready to bring in Israel’s kingdom if she would trust Him….

Mercy and Not Sacrifice? #2

Saturday, September 7, 2013

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:7,8 KJV).

What did our Lord mean in today’s Scripture?

The Sabbath day first appears in Scripture in Genesis 2:1-3: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”

Notice that creation and the Sabbath day are connected. God has just created the heavens and the earth. After six days of working, He rests—not because He is tired, but because His work is finished. From this point onward to Moses and the Law, the Bible makes no reference to man keeping the Sabbath.

Through the Mosaic Law, the LORD commanded Israel in Exodus 20:8-11: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

Again, see how Sabbath-day observance and the creation week are related. When God instructed Israel to keep the Sabbath day, they were not to do any work (just like God ceased from His work in Genesis chapter 2): instead, on the Sabbath, Israel was to take the time to remember God’s original plan in creation and their role in it.

This background information will now help us better understand today’s Scripture….

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

Thursday, September 5, 2013

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 KJV).

In these twelve simple words, we see the Christian’s life and death….

The Christian (“Christlike”) life is the life that Jesus Christ lives in and through the Christian. Here on this earth, Christ lives His life in us Christians. Galatians 2:20 affirms: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear….” The Bible also says in Colossians 1:27 “…Christ in you [Gentiles], the hope of glory….” We do not live the Christian life because we, even as Christians, cannot live the Christian life. Only Jesus Christ can live His life. When we place our faith in God’s Word to us, Romans through Philemon, the Holy Spirit will take that sound doctrine and transform our inner man (soul and spirit; 1 Thessalonians 2:13), thereby changing the outward man (the actions of the physical body).

In today’s Scripture, we also learn that for the Christian, physical death is “gain.” In 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, we read: “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

While here in this physical world, we are absent from the third heaven where God our heavenly Father dwells. However, we have a responsibility—yea, a privilege—to care for our Christian brethren here on earth and tell the lost world about the salvation in Jesus Christ!

Until we reach heaven’s glory, we agree with Paul: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to be depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:23,24). 🙂

The Thing Which is Good

Monday, September 2, 2013

“Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28 KJV).

On this Labor Day, we talk about work, “the thing which is good.”

In this day and age of increasing “government assistance,” people are becoming less and less aware of our hard work being the Lord Jesus’ preferred method of the source of our incomes. While the physically and mentally disabled are obvious exceptions, the God of the Bible expects all of us to contribute labor in order to provide for ourselves. For children and young adults, even being a student in school is work enough!

Observe the doctrine being communicated in today’s Scripture. The grace life does not merely teach us to quit doing bad things, but it also instructs us to start doing good things (Titus 2:11,12). Once a thief trusts the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork as sufficient payment for his sins, then God expects that thief to quit stealing and find a job so he can provide for his needs!

The God of creation calls work “the thing which is good” (today’s Scripture). Work is not something to be avoided; it is something to be embraced for the Lord’s glory!

When the Lord Jesus Christ put the first man, Adam, on earth, that man had a divine commission. Adam was not to simply loaf around and do nothing: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam was to protect that garden, to till its ground, to prepare it for Jesus Christ to come down and dwell in with he and Eve (because of sin, that earthly kingdom over which Jesus Christ will rule is still awaiting fulfillment!).

Saints, may we work to provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and may we work to help those who truly are needy (today’s Scripture). In the words of God the Holy Spirit, that is “good!” 🙂

In the Palm of Thy Hand

Sunday, August 25, 2013

“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128 KJV).

Join the psalmist in esteeming the “precepts” of God preserved for thee in a Book that thou canst hold in the palm of thy hand….

The concept of our Creator God, Jesus Christ, is quite overwhelming. He is such a BIG God concerned about us, such tiny creatures who do everything we can to push Him and His will aside in favor of a “more intelligent” plan. To think that He would even bother to give His Word that was first preserved in heaven (Psalm 119:89) and form it into a book of human language that we could hold in our hands and study and read for ourselves, knowing full well the textual critics and denominationalists would immediately butcher it with their vain translational and hermeneutical methods, that they would greatly “wrest” (twist, corrupt) His Word. They have set themselves up for the day when they will stand before Him and be held accountable for their foolishness!

In today’s Scripture, the psalmist confessed: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” A “precept” is “a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.” In the verse previous, he declared: “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold” (verse 127). Do we “esteem all [God’s] precepts concerning all things to be right,” or just the parts of Scripture that bolster our denominational system? Do we love God’s Word “above gold, above fine gold?”

Dear readers, may we never take our King James Bible for granted. History testifies to the fact that countless souls died to give us those precious and preserved Words of God. They did not die in vain, so let us not relinquish that golden text in favor of the feeble, tarnished hallucinations of seminarians, Bible skeptics, and others who rely on human wisdom to govern their worldview (the “false way” of today’s Scripture). May we “esteem” the Word in the palm of our hand, and value it in our hearts by believing it! 🙂

Peace of Mind in a World in Pieces

Thursday, August 15, 2013

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4 KJV).

Despite all of the weeping, sleepless nights, and despondency, there is hope in Jesus Christ!

With the recent passing of a Christian couple’s newborn baby, the sudden demise of a Christian brother and ministry fellow-laborer, and the death of my great aunt yesterday, I can assure you that the member of the Church the Body of Christ, although guaranteed a blissful eternity in the heavenly places, is not spared from pain and grief in this fallen creation. My, what horrific, constant suffering all around the world! In fact, this very reality is often used as an “argument” against God’s existence (but is likened unto the folly of, “I do not believe in the existence of law enforcement officers because of the widespread criminal behavior!”).

Dear saints, sin produces division, disruption, disease, despair, decay, and death. What we see today are merely the remnants of the original perfect creation, what is left of that paradise before God cursed it so Satan could not use it in all its glory for his own purposes (Genesis 3:14-19). As each day passes, this ruined creation comes closer and closer to the day when that “bondage of corruption” will be lifted, when paradise will be restored on earth and in heaven (Romans 8:18-25). Much needs to happen before that glorious day arrives, so we Christians must patiently remain here on earth until our program finishes.

As our Apostle Paul wrote in that awful Roman prison cell, “Rejoice in the Lord alway [in every instant]: and again I say, Rejoice” (today’s Scripture). We cannot rejoice because of our dire conditions, but we can rejoice in these difficulties. Right where we are, whether good or bad circumstances, we should rejoice in our identity in Jesus Christ, in who He is and who we are in Him, what He has done for us (saved us spiritually), and what He will do for us in the future (deliver us physically).

Remember, God’s grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9,10) and we “can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth [us]” (Philippians 4:13). 🙂

Israel, Stand Still! #4

Friday, July 12, 2013

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10 KJV).

Israel must stand still and do nothing in order to see her God work mightily on her behalf!

Unarmed Israel “stands still” before the Red Sea and “sees the salvation of the LORD,” “the LORD fighting for [them]” (Exodus 14:13,14). His angel goes behind their camp, and the “pillar of the cloud” of His presence goes behind them, thwarting the efforts of the Egyptian soldiers who are set on slaughtering the defenseless nation Israel. With the Egyptians “preoccupied” and unable to reach Israel, the LORD of heaven and earth demonstrates His power over creation.

Let us read verses 21 and 22: “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”

The Jews stand in awe as the mighty Red Sea parts. Its water mass is divided into two bodies, with a high wall of water on the left and right hands, and a strip of dry land in the middle. Israel can now escape! Approximately two to seven million Jews left Egypt, so, evidently, some hours pass as they walk across the bottom of the Red Sea (compare “all that night” of verse 21 with “the morning watch” of verse 24).

Verse 23 continues: “And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.” Apparently, the angel of God and the “pillar of the cloud” allow the Egyptians to continue in their attempt to overtake Israel. The Israelites hear the soldiers and their chariots behind them, coming closer and closer as they too cross the bottom of the Red Sea.

What will JEHOVAH do next….?