Oh The Great Love Of God To Create Adam And Eve...Even Though He Knew Rebellion Would Allow Sin Into His World

Genesis 2: 7 and 21-22  -  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.

…And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.  Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

God had finished the creation of his world… but it was incomplete without someone to share it with. It needed a caretaker. Just one man would not be enough…so he formed the perfect complement to Adam as a helpmeet…a companion….and as a way to fill the earth with human life. This is our genealogy.  This is our beginning.

God created man in his image.  The life he breathed into him included free choice. He gave him boundaries knowing all along that Adam and Eve would be deceived and choose rebellion and sin. He created man knowing that he would need to send his only son to fix their bad choice with his perfect sacrificial love.

It is so hard for me to comprehend the love God had to create this world…give it life with his very spirit….give them the perfect place to grow and be content and happy…knowing all along they would choose to let sin bring death and suffering into the perfect world he had made.  It makes me ponder just how many times I have missed the opportunity to help God because my choice was weighed with logic …not completely with his love.

God’s original plan for man has not changed. We still have free choice…we still have boundaries…we are still to be his caretakers of the earth he gave us to live on. The only thing different than in Adam’s day is that we live on the other side of God’s timeline…in a season where we can claim the gift of love in salvation that Jesus gave us… and use the Holy Spirit he gave us to power our choices. We can admit the wrong in any bad choices we make and receive his immediate forgiveness.

It’s not enough to just claim that gift.  We are to share the power of it with others. Jesus made sure his last charge to his followers was recorded in Matthew 28:18-20  .  It says… “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you made me with purpose and love.  Forgive me for the times that I have allowed the free choice you gave me justify a selfish decision.  Help me to use your love and spirit to power a passion to share what you have done for the world.  Give me just the right words to say to each and every one you allow me to witness too. Amen.

Let's Start At The Very Beginning...It Was All God's Idea

Genesis 1:1-5 -  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

If we start at the very beginning…the best place to start…we find the spirit of God hovering over a formless mass of earth.  We are not told what went through his infinite mind to decide that he wanted more than just a formless void to hover over….but I am pretty sure that love powered the thought to make it into something that he could share with man.

Just as he divided the waters from land…the light from the dark…and the time into measurable increments….he divided the matter of his earth into his image…that of man and woman. He looked down on everything he had made…and said it was good.  Then he charged man with the job of caring for all he had made.

What an awesome thought…God did not need anything to exist…but he wanted to share his time with man…so he created a world that man could exist in…and learn about the love that made him by caring for everything thing else that God had made. His creation did not need time…or death…or fear…it was a sinless sanctuary. In the beginning…God…created his world…and his people.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are the beginning of the story. Nothing I have would be if you had not made it. Forgive me for ever thinking that this world is about me and my happiness.  Help me to always remember that I was created for your purposes.  Amen.

We Are Only As Strong As We Let God Make Us

Revelation 22:10-11 -    Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up what you have written, for the time of fulfillment is near.  And when that time comes, all doing wrong will do it more and more; the vile will become more vile; good men will be better; those who are holy will continue on in greater holiness.”

As John comes to the end of his vision…the angel makes sure John knows to share all he has seen with everyone he can.  WE may not know the exact date and time…but if John was told he was coming soon…that means we are surely closer than we have ever been to his return.

Perhaps I am not the only one who clings to God’s promises that help keep me strong and positive about this time.  Many of the scriptures are confusing to say the least. But here I fins a most wonderful promise of strength and courage.  The angel said that as much as evil will be increased…so will the believers strength to draw closer to God….to embrace what he really meant to become holy like him.

I am a realist at heart…and have trouble picturing myself strong enough to stand for the things I know I might need too when evil is right next to me. But this scripture promises that I will have the strength I need and more. Perhaps that increase in strength is what Paul felt as he wrote 2 Corinthians 12:9… “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”  As long as I realize that I am weak…I can claim the strength of Christ to help me any time I need it.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are the beginning and the end.  As you began this world in perfection …you will provide that perfect home of constant companionship with you in the end. Forgive me for the times that I have let the world dilute my confidence in myself to be all that you created me to be. Help me to cling to you and build my relationship with you so that you can increase all the weakest areas of my heart to be as strong as you need them to be. Amen.

Make God's Wonderful Heaven On Earth A Place For Many More

Revelation 21:3-5 -  I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, “Look, the home of God is now among men, and he will live with them and they will be his people; yes, God himself will be among them.  He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has gone forever.”  And the one sitting on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true:

John’s vision is just about to end…but before God brings him out of this anointed spiritual experience he allows him to see a glimpse of the way he will extend heaven into earth after all evil is done away with forever.  Mere words have a hard time describing the glorious picture of the place where God himself will live among us …his glory so bright we will never need the light from the sun again. 

This passage has long been one of my favorite promises of God. Life may take twist and turns that we have a hard time digesting without pain…sorrow and tears….but God will wipe the need for all of that away when he sends down his new Jerusalem to earth and gathers his children into it to live with him forever.

This city will contain a combination of God’s original people of Israel…and all the gentiles that believed when the 12 apostles became the first evangelists.  Verses 12-14 say… “Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. There were three gates on each side—north, south, east, and west.  The walls had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

The only people that won’t join us there are the ones John calls cowards…the ones who refuse to believe and reject the chance to claim their place as his child too. I can’t help but feel a deep longing for these people…surely some of these can change their minds if we take the time to share the way God transformed our lives when we became his child. If we don’t take the time to do it…they will stay cowards and be cast into that lake of fire and sulfur.

It is a reminder to me that a part of being God’s child requires me to be obedient to his call of evangelism. Many lost people will never see this new city of peace if I don’t take the time to tell them. It confirms why God tweaked my spirit to attend a basic mission’s class at my church recently. The stats they shared were surprising. You would think in the world of wonderful technology that we have …one would not have that 1.6 billion people on our planet have no access to the gospel.  In my hometown alone …out of the 93,500 residents…many do not attend a church or profess a faith of any kind.

Father...thank you for the reminder of how wonderful the peace and glory of your new heaven on earth will be.  Thank you for the reminder too…that many will not share that home with me.  Forgive me for the times that I have been selfish and not taken every opportunity to share the way you changed my life when I decided to believe in you…and accepted the greatest gift I ever got in salvation. Help me to listen carefully to the prodding’s of the spirit to know just who and when I need to share with.  Give me just the right words I will need to help them understand the finality of their choice to reject you.  Amen. 

Physical Death Is Not The End

Revelation 20:11-15 - And I saw a great white throne and the one who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and sky fled away, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, great and small, standing before God; and The Books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in The Books, each according to the deeds he had done.  The oceans surrendered the bodies buried in them; and the earth and the underworld gave up the dead in them. Each was judged according to his deeds. And Death and Hell were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death—the Lake of Fire.  And if anyone’s name was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.

John described the time of judgment to come after God has sent his son back to earth to reign with the faithful in peace for 1000 years. Satan and all evil was locked up for this time in a bottomless pit so that the world would not be deceived and have an opportunity to experience peace with no confusion. Theologians have varying theories about this scripture and its literal meaning…but I think stressing over the details is not what God wants us to remember about the words he had John record. 

God wants us to see the pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow…the hope that the ending of his great story provides. He also wants us to realize that to claim a portion of that hope we must believe and make sure our names are written in that book of life. The details may be a little hazy…but two things are sure.  All people will be judged…and those found to reject Christ will suffer the same fate as the creature who introduced evil and sin into the story to begin with. 

God wants us to realize too that we can’t just accept him and claim our place in his Heaven. The judging process includes a summary of the service we provided for him after we asked him to be our savior. My small brain wants to envision the same relationship we have with an employer.  When we ask God to write our name down in that book of life…we become his employee….and the judging will reveal what pay grade we should receive as we pass from this life into heaven with him. We should not settle for the lowest grade seat in the vast expanse of Heaven. We are to be the best employees we can be…so that we can spend eternity with more of our friends and family.

Father…thank you for the reminder that life with you provides peace and hope for all eternity….but a rejection of your love will end in eternal death. Forgive me for being an average employee…and settling so many times for a mere ticket to heaven.  Help me to be a better servant for your kingdom…following your leading to share what you have done in my life to give me eternal peace and hope…so that the kingdom will enlarge with new believers.  Amen.

Just Testify...Every Day... And Reveal Jesus To Others

Revelation 19:9-10 -  And the angel dictated this sentence to me: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “God himself has stated this.”  Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No! Don’t! For I am a servant of God just as you are, and as your brother Christians are, who testify of their faith in Jesus. Worship God. The purpose of all prophecy and of all I have shown you is to tell about Jesus.”

Everything around him had begun to praise God…so John was overcome with awe and fell down to worship the angel that had given him such insight to the things to come. But the angel stopped him quickly…explaining that he as a simple servant of God …just like John.  Then he told him the reason for the vision was to share what it revealed about Jesus to others.

Jesus appeared first as a humble lamb…led to a sacrificial death to pay for the sins of the world…but he rose to victory overall evil and became the conquering king that John saw coming in this chapter of revelation… to judge evil and do away with it forever.

Part of my job as a believer is to tell others about what Jesus did to save us all from the same fate as these creatures. We are to just testify what God has done for us through Jesus his son… and not just the basics of salvation…we are to proclaim the way he has transformed each of us.  We all began as wretched sinners…but when God washed our sins away with his son’s blood….we became a new creature…transformed by his love.  We were reborn to walk and demonstrate his love to others…just as Jesus did.

Jesus told us that this transformation required more than just a casual mention of his name when we felt like it.  It requires denying our self and taking up the same cross he bore…daily. He wanted to make sure we got this important message so he had Matthew and Luke record the same words he gave us in Mark 8:34-35… “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."”

His message is clear… and brought that feeling of conviction once again to my heart.  I needed the reminder that the cross of Jesus is not just something to hang on my wall…or my Christmas tree as decorations. It isn’t just a piece of jewelry I wear…or a design stamped into one of my favorite hats.  It is to be a permanent …daily part of my walk with him.

Father…thank you for the reminder to take up my cross and join you in sacrificing my life to tell others the good news of how you triumphed over death and provided a way to help me conquer evil in my life.  Forgive me for not taking up the cross and following you every day.  Help me to live a more sacrificial life and be your hands and feet to a dying and lost world.  Amen.

The Things We Love So Much Will Be Gone Someday

Revelation 18:14 -   “All the fancy things you loved so much are gone,” they cry. “The dainty luxuries and splendor that you prized so much will never be yours again. They are gone forever.”

John continues to watch as the great city of immorality is destroyed in just a moment.  Everyone who is watching cries in sorrow as they watch the things they loved about her disappear. The good life they enjoyed because of her ….the wealth…the status… the money…the power…they are gone forever as she is destroyed.

It is not the only place in the Bible that we are told that material possessions…power and status are not the most important things.  Matthew 6:19-20 record Jesus’ words to the crowds that followed his teaching.  He said… "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.”

What a great reminder this morning that material possessions…wealth…power….and status…will not transfer to our heavenly home.  We won’t need any of those things there. God has prepared a place for us that will be complete before we arrive.  All we will take with us to Heaven is our faith…our character...and the love that powered the good deeds we did in obedience to God while we were on earth.

Father…thank you for the reminder that you want us to focus more on you than the things of this earth. Forgive me for the times that I have thought that things are important and I need them to be complete.  help me to focus more on what you need me to do for you here on earth…and use the resources you have given me to build the kingdom of God. Amen.