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Before we begin this journey, let me say that I most definitely believe in the
account of Genesis, as far as how our world came to exist! I also, believe,
though, that we’ve missed something very important that would help fill in
some of the “gaps” that we humans tend to look for. I believe that we have
misunderstood the six days of creation…that they were not, in fact, six days
of creation, but six days of restoration….

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1).

What we miss is this: No one knows how much time passed between Gen.
1:1 and Gen. 1:2! We often read it as though it was a momentary thing. God
created the heavens and the earth, and immediately his Spirit hovered over
the waters. That’s why the Bible and science seem to conflict! But think about
this…

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…STOP! God created
the heavens and the earth. We don’t really know how long it took or how long
they were there before Gen. 1:2 came along. What we DO know, is that the
heavens were created, then the angels were created. If you’ll recall from a few
letters back, the angels shouted for joy as the earth was being formed (Job
38:6-7)! Remember? (I’ll try to show you, as we move along, how it all fits
Scripturally, as well as scientifically).

“For this is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be
empty, but formed it to be inhabited…” (Is. 45:18)

If you read Gen. 1:2, you’re not reading about an earth that’s ready to be
inhabited…you’re reading about an earth that’s formless, and empty and dark!
Is that the way God created it? I don’t think so…but if not, then how did it
get that way? WHEN did it get that way?

In the beginning, God created the heavens, and along with them, the angels.
They watched and rejoiced as he created the earth. Among those created
angels was the one who would become our greatest adversary…Lucifer. Of
course, this was in the beginning, when Lucifer was still God’s highly favored
angel…

“You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.”
(Ezek. 28:12)

I believe, that “in the beginning”, once the heavens and earth were created,
God gave Lucifer dominion over the earth as a gift…

If you’d like to be sure not to miss any of the study on the Book of
Genesis (coming soon!), please sign up below for the free newsletter!

I truly believe that a lot of that the negativity the Christian faith faces today is
because so many people, including Christians, don’t really understand the grace
of God and what salvation is really all about! For instance….

When a pastor stands behind a pulpit and condemns his congregation for the
very same things that HE’S doing, people get a little unhinged! We’re all in the
same boat, folks. We’re all sinners…the only difference between
heaven and hell is Jesus. It’s not because of OUR actions, but because of HIS!

Christians aren’t perfect either. We have been made perfect (in God’s eyes) through
what Jesus did on the cross. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s not the rules
and regulations we follow (or fail to follow). It’s our standing before God. Either
we stand for ourselves and face condemnation, or we let Jesus stand in our place
and find acceptance. We are either enemies of God, or sons of God (John 1:12,
Gal. 3:26)…there’s no in between.

The Bible stirs up a lot of questions…but it’s because of our lack of understanding,
rather than any flaw in the Bible! That’s the purpose of this newsletter…to help you
better understand some of the things in the Book! 

What I’d like to do, is go back to the very beginning one more time…and take you
on a fascinating journey that will help open your eyes to just how much God loves
you! It will help answer some of the questions you may have about a lot of things…

Have you ever stopped to think about the apparent conflict between creation and
science? Those who believe in creation, generally believe that the earth and everything
on it were created in seven days…and that people have been populating it for around
6000 years. They believe the scientific data that claims the earth is millions of years
old is either incorrect, or a conspiracy to replace God’s creation…that either the
dinosaur never really existed, or that it did exist, but died out somewhere in the
beginning…like during Noah’s flood.

Science, of course, even though there is no evidence to support it, tends to follow
the idea of evolution. What if the truth is somewhere in between? Now, when I
ask that question, let me be clear that I most definitely believe in the Bible account.
The thing is, I also believe it’s often misunderstood and mis-interpreted!

God created science and gave us the ability to reason. Even though they may
appear to be at odds, they actually support each other, when we take the time
to take a closer look at what really happened!

Have you ever stopped to think about the first time Jesus is mentioned in the Bible?
Do you know where it is? Do you understand the concept of the Trinity, or does
it just seem really hard to grasp for some reason? Do you realize that the Old
Testament is just as much about Jesus as the New Testament? He’s all over the
place in the OT….ya just have to know where to look! 

Would you walk with me, through the book of Genesis? The place where it all
started? I promise you, it won’t be nearly as boring as you may think! Join me,
won’t ya? If fact, if you would, feel free to invite your friends along, too!

Many blessings!

If you’d like to be sure not to miss any of the study on the Book of
Genesis (coming soon!), please sign up below for the free newsletter!

Wow…I have missed something that’s devestatingly awesome! My apologies!

I hate to interrupt the path of where we’re going, but there is something we need
to go back and look at for a moment…something that I’ve never seen before!

We talked a little about Jesus being mentioned in the first verse of Genesis…
but there’s something pretty incredible wrapped up there that…well…let’s just
go look at it!

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Remember?

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the
End.” (Rev. 22:13)

Now, that’s still pretty neat stuff, in my book…but watch this!!

“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the
deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and
he separated the light from the darkness.” (Gen. 1:2-4)

Now…take a look at this…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
(John 1:1-5)

“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him
not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God.” (John 1:9-13)

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
(John 1:17)

You can’t tell me Jesus isn’t all over the Old Testament as well as the New.

I suppose we could start a whole new study on nothing but “the Light”…but
I guess it’s best to finish one thing at a time…

Besides, right at the moment, it’s hard to think of anything to say that Genesis
and John haven’t already said…

If you’d like to be sure not to miss any of the study on the Book of
Genesis (coming soon!), please sign up below for the free newsletter!

If God knew we couldn’t follow the law…and if following the law perfectly
is necessary in order for us to gain access to heaven…then why did he give
it to us? As some sort of twisted joke, maybe? Not at all….

“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of
the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” (Rom. 3:20)

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24) KJV

“To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not
charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.” (Rom. 5:13)

The law was given to teach us what sin is. It was given so that we might be
made aware of our sin…and as a schoolmaster to lead us to Jesus. It was
given so that we could understand our need for a Savior…Jesus!

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe…” (Rom. 3:21,22)

“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,
God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.”
(Rom. 8:3)

Folks, there is absolutely nothing that you and I can do to be
righteous in God’s eyes. The great thing is, we don’t HAVE to do anything…it’s
already been done. By Jesus. For you and me…all WE have to do is accept it!

“What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him
as righteousness.” (Rom 4:3)

“It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise
that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by
faith.” (Rom. 4:13)

“The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for
us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised
Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and
was raised to life for our justification.” (Rom. 4:23-35)

Wow! God gave us his own righteousness through Jesus…his very own perfect
righteousness. A righteousness we never could have gotten on our own. A
righteousness that’s acceptable in his sight. If we can only believe…

Many blessings…

If you’d like to be sure not to miss any of the study on the Book of
Genesis (coming soon!), please sign up below for the free newsletter!

In the last post we talked a little about the first path to heaven…your
own righteousness. We also talked about how your own righteousness
will never be good enough to get you in.

Today, we’re gonna look at the second path…God’s righteousness,
freely given to us through Jesus. This, of course, is the only path that
will take you Home!

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made
known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is
given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Rom. 3:21,22)

The problem is, there are a lot of Christians that get hung up on the law…
or the ten commandments. They believe that following those commandments
are the way to earn God’s love and forgiveness. But there are problems
with that way of thinking.

First of all, as we saw in the last post, we can’t keep the commandments
the way God intended for us to keep them. Secondly, that would mean that
our salvation depends on our own works, rather than on God’s mercy and
grace. Thirdly, God knew when he gave us the law that we wouldn’t be able
to keep it…that’s why he chose Jesus before the creation of the world to be
our redeemer…our salvation.

Fourthly, if you read back through the Old Testament, you’ll find that the
law consists of a lot more than just ten commandments. There are actually
about six hundred of them! The ten get the most attention because those
are the ones carved in stone that Moses brought back from the mountain…
but there are many others. For example:

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When anyone has a swelling or a
rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease, they
must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest.
The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has
turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling
skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them
ceremonially unclean.” (Lev. 13:1-3)

Read the rest of the chapter and you’ll learn how we’re supposed to deal
with mold, for instance. At least, according to the law. Skip over to chapter
15, and read what the law says about a woman’s monthly “visitor”. All that
is a part of the law. Among other things, on the eighth day, she’s supposed
to take two doves or pigeons to the priest as a sacrifice for her uncleanness…
even though it’s a natural cycle that she has no control over! When is the
last time you sacrificed ANYTHING for ANY reason? It’s a part of the law!

What most folks fail to realize, is that the law was given for an entirely different
reason. And we’ll look at that in the next post…

Just to pick up on where we left off…

We would have to perfectly follow God’s Law, every single day of our
lives, without stumbling at even one point, in order to enter heaven by
our own righteousness. Let’s look at some of those…

“You shall not murder.” (Ex. 20:13)

Now, you may be thinking the same thing I would be thinking if I didn’t
know better…I haven’t killed ANYONE! For that matter, I’ve never even
MAIMED anyone! Score one for me! 

So far so good…until you get to the book of Matthew!

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not
murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell
you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to
judgment.” (Matt. 5:21)

Oh boy…well, there goes that one! Who hasn’t been angry with a brother
or sister? Doesn’t have to be your biological brother or sister…any brother
or sister will do. In fact, if you read the whole chapter, it can be rather
disturbing (and humbling) if you’re depending on your own righteousness to
get you into heaven. I could go on and drag this thing out a bit, but go read
it for yourself.

It talks about turning the other cheek…which many of us have done on
many occasions. But we’ve all NOT turned the other cheek on many
OTHER occasions. It talks about giving away all our stuff…if somebody
wants your shirt, give him your coat too…give to the one that asks you,
and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you…EVER!

Nope. We can’t keep the Law the way God meant for it to be kept. As
time goes on, you’ll learn that the Law wasn’t given to us for us to follow.
God knew, like he knew with Adam…that we wouldn’t be able to keep
it, before he ever gave it to us. Instead, it was given for a far greater reason,
which we’ll get to shortly.

For now, though, just understand that your own righteousness will never
get you Home…

If you’d like to be sure not to miss any of the study on the Book of
Genesis (coming soon!), please sign up below for the free newsletter!

Just to pick up on where we left off…

We would have to perfectly follow God’s Law, every single day of our
lives, without stumbling at even one point, in order to enter heaven by
our own righteousness. Let’s look at some of those…

“You shall not murder.” (Ex. 20:13)

Now, you may be thinking the same thing I would be thinking if I didn’t
know better…I haven’t killed ANYONE! For that matter, I’ve never even
MAIMED anyone! Score one for me! 

So far so good…until you get to the book of Matthew!

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not
murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell
you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to
judgment.” (Matt. 5:21)

Oh boy…well, there goes that one! Who hasn’t been angry with a brother
or sister? Doesn’t have to be your biological brother or sister…any brother
or sister will do. In fact, if you read the whole chapter, it can be rather
disturbing (and humbling) if you’re depending on your own righteousness to
get you into heaven. I could go on and drag this thing out a bit, but go read
it for yourself.

It talks about turning the other cheek…which many of us have done on
many occasions. But we’ve all NOT turned the other cheek on many
OTHER occasions. It talks about giving away all our stuff…if somebody
wants your shirt, give him your coat too…give to the one that asks you,
and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you…EVER!

Nope. We can’t keep the Law the way God meant for it to be kept. As
time goes on, you’ll learn that the Law wasn’t given to us for us to follow.
God knew, like he knew with Adam…that we wouldn’t be able to keep
it, before he ever gave it to us. Instead, it was given for a far greater reason,
which we’ll get to shortly.

For now, though, just understand that your own righteousness will never
get you Home…

Many blessings…