“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
(Gen. 1:28 KJV)

God told Adam to replenish the earth. Adam couldn’t replenish the earth unless
there was something there before…something to replenish! He could FILL the
earth, but in order to REPLENISH the earth, there had to have been something
there to replenish…(just a little food for thought!). Now…

“When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens—and no shrub of the field
had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for
the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the
ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of
the ground—the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
(Gen. 2:4-7)

Have you ever stopped to think that when Adam was created, there was nothing
here? “No shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the
field had yet sprung up…” when “…the Lord God formed the man from the dust
of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…”

There was just Adam…and more dust. You and I have had the luxury of having
a growing conciousness of life. Sometime before our births, or at the very latest,
AT our births, we became aware of our own existance a little at a time. As we
grew, so did the awareness of our “being”. From birth, we learned to walk and
talk and do all the things we do today.

But Adam…Adam wasn’t…and then, all of a sudden, he was. Boom! Not there
one minute, and the next minute, there’s Adam! What in the world, must it have
been like? To “not be” and then in the blink of an eye, “to be”….sitting there looking
around at….at what? More dust….

He was apparently created with intellegence, along with his own language and
motor skills because God brought the animals to him to see what he would name
them (Gen. 2:19,20). Just for the record, now you know why an elephant is an
elephant and a zebra is a zebra! 

Adam was what you might call the first of many “snapshots” of Jesus. Adam was
created a perfect man. In him, as he was created, there was no sin. In Adam was
the culmination of God’s creative work…the thing that took creation from “good” to
“very good” as God saw them. He was God’s companion, tending to God’s work
(as we shall see), and bringing God glory…just by being himself in his perfect state!
So, in a sense, he was a brief glimpse or snapshot of Jesus, as Jesus would come
to be known. Sort of a foretelling, you might say…

To get back on topic, God decided that Adam needed a suitable helper, put Adam
into a deep sleep, took out one of his ribs, and when Adam awoke…for the very first
time, he met Eve. Flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones…woman. And, according to
Gen. 2:25, they were man and wife!

“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the
man he had formed.” (Gen. 2:8)

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In the last letter, you should have gotten the idea that God was pretty pleased
with the work he did in the six days recorded in Genesis. But did you notice
there was one exception?

God saw the light was good.

When the water receded and dry ground appeared, God saw that it was good.
The land producing vegetation, and the heavens being restored to order…God
saw that it was good.

The water creatures and birds…God saw that it was good. The livestock and
creatures that move along the ground…God saw that it was good. Adam. Even
though God knew he would fall…Adam…God saw that it was VERY good.

But did you notice this:

“And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water
from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse
from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there
was evening, and there was morning—the second day.” (Gen. 1:6-8)

Wow. God didn’t say a single word about that being a good thing, did he? Could
be maybe, that he forgot…or that he just didn’t think it was that big a deal. Really,
all he did was separate the water under the expanse from the water above it. And,
he called the expanse….”sky”.

His creation wouldn’t live in the sky, but on earth. So the earth was a good thing.
All the things on earth were good things…and all the things above earth were good
things. But there was something about the sky that God didn’t much care for…

“The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or
Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his
angels with him.” (Rev. 12:9)

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to
live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of
the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” (Eph. 2:12)

Wow. “The ruler of the kingdom of the air”…Maybe that’s why God didn’t call
the sky good? Because it’s being ruled by the fallen Lucifer? The ruler of the
kingdom of the air…the prince of this world (John 16:11). God knew what
Adam was going to have to contend with.

Lucifer didn’t fall after the creation of Adam. He was already there…in the
garden…in the air around Eden…waiting. Waiting for Adam to come along and
be tempted. Lucifer was already fallen even as the earth was being restored by
God. He was already the ruler of the kingdom of the air…the prince of this world.
Waiting to ambush an unsuspecting Adam.

The sky, or the air is Satan’s habitat for the moment. Maybe that’s why God
couldn’t call it good….

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What’s important is this: IN THE BEGINNING, God created the heavens and
earth. Ultimately, he created everything ON earth, IN earth or AROUND earth,
including Adam. As we shall see, Adam was disobedient, fell from grace and
needed redemption. God provided that redemption through Jesus. THAT is what’s
important! 

With that said, let’s go back a few verses and look at something that’s very,
very interesting!

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light
was good…” (Gen. 1:3,4)

“And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered
waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.” (Vs. 9,10)

“The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees
bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
(Vs. 12)

Concerning the lights in the expanse of the sky…

“God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day
and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”
(Vs. 17)

“So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with
which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to
its kind. And God saw that it was good.” (Vs. 21)

“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their
kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And
God saw that it was good.” (Vs. 25)

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Vs. 31)

One interesting thing is this: Of all the work God performed in those six days, he
saw that it was all good. After the creation of Adam, even though God knew his
creation would fall, he called his work, not “good”, but “very good”. Adam, even
in his soon-to-be-fallen state, caused God to upgrade his own opinion of his own
work from “good” to “very good”. Wow, how God must have loved his Adam!
Wow, how he still does…you Adam, you!

There are a couple of other interesting things to point out in these verses…but we’ll
do that next time. For now, just sit back…relax and enjoy being God’s Adam.
The creation that catapulted God’s work from being “good” to “very good”. You are
why he created anything at all…you are the culmination of his work. You, Adam….
you….

Who’d have ever thunk it?

Many blessings!

Andy
imonlywood.com

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“And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day
from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.”
And it was so.” (Gen. 1:14)

Again, no creating…God was simply restoring the topsy-turvy heavens to where
they were supposed to be.

“God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light
to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky
to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from
darkness.” (Gen. 1:16-18)

God didn’t “create” two great lights on this day. He made two great lights (that were
already in existance from “the beginning”) governers of the expanse of the sky. He
made, or caused, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser to govern the
night. He didn’t create the stars…they were already here…from “the beginning”.
He simply returned them to where they were supposed to be before the heavens
were so shaken. In other words, he restored the heavens…

“And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the
earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea
and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds,
and every winged bird according to its kind.” (Gen. 1:20,21)

This is the first act of creation mentioned in the Bible since “the beginning”. God created
(new) the creatures of the water and the birds of the air. Why? Because these were
not going to be the same creatures that lived in the pre-historic world. These were to
be different. No sea serpents or pterosaurs…this time, he wanted to populate his waters
with fish, minnows, whales, and countless other critters. Instead of winged dinosaurs, he
chose to have feathery birds with musical voices…so he created them from scratch!

“And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock,
creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And
it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to
their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.”
(Gen. 1:24,25)

Did God “create” animals here? Or did he “let the land produce living creatures” that may
have existed before…in the pre-historic world? There’s no way to really know for sure,
and in reality, it doesn’t matter…because either way, God caused them to exist. It can
be said, though, that in every other instance that God “created”, the word “created” was
used. In any case, God “made” or caused them to be…whether new creations or
reproductions.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over
the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over
all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ” (Gen. 1:26, 27)

Here, God created Adam. Not the Neanderthal of old…but Adam. It’s here that God
first gives Adam dominion over the earth…and it’s here that the first prophecy of the
Bible is written. “Let THEM rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air…”

God is clearly saying that Adam is only the beginning. He’s letting everyone know that
man will, not just survive, but thrive on this newly restored earth. THEY will rule over
the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over all the earth…

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We left off with Gen. 1:2…God’s Spirit hovering over the void waste-
land of the earth. What happens next is this:

“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. God called
the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening,
and there was morning—the first day.” (Gen. 1:3-5)

Take a look at that again. The Bible doesn’t say God created light on that
first day. He simply said, “Let there be light…”

Or, perhaps, in other words, “Let’s get rid of all the dust, debris and darkness
that blocks the light from the earth…all the stuff that got kicked up in the war
with Lucifer that so distorted the heavens and earth, that even the light can’t
get through.”

“And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water
from water.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse
from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” And there
was evening, and there was morning—the second day.” (Gen. 1:6-8)

Again, it doesn’t say God created anything…only that he separated the water
from the water. Science believes that at one time the earth’s axis was perpendicular
to the sun…back in pre-historic times, to be more precise. What if, during this
tremendous battle, the earth was shaken to the point that the whole planet was
tilted on it’s axis, coming to rest just as it sits today? Tilted in relation, rather than
perpendicular to the sun?

The shift would have caused catastrophic shifts in the entire global environmental
systems that would have instantly wiped out all life. It could have very easily caused
an ice age or world-wide flooding, turning deserts to glaciers, etc…much like our
scientists theorize happened at some point in the pre-historic world. Instant and
total devestation and annihilation.

We know from the second verse of Genesis that the world was formless, empty
and dark. Water was everywhere…in fact, it implies there was nothing here BUT
water…until God separated it.

“And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
ground appear.” And it was so.” (Gen. 1:9)

Dry ground is “earth” (Gen. 1:10 KJV). If God created the earth (dry ground)
“in the beginning” (vs 1), then how is it his Spirit was hovering over “the waters”
(vs 2)? Because the entire earth was under water, of course! But how did it GET
that way, when it was created as dry ground? Again, Psalm 104 sounds like it’s
speaking more of this incident than the flood of Noah’s day, when the waters took
many, many days to recede, because the waters FLED as in Gen. 1:9,10….

“You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood
above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your
thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down
into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.” (Psalm 104:6-8).

“Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on
the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.”
(Gen. 1:11)

Again, no mention of God creating anything…he’s simply commanding the land to,
once again, produce vegetation. Everything was destroyed in the upheaval of the
earth, but somewhere below the surface of the earth, the seeds of plant life lay waiting
for God’s command to spring forth! The plants were destroyed on the pre-historic earth,
but the seeds were still there….

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⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:1-20

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

“The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken.”

The earth is thrown into total darkness as “the moon will be abashed, the sun
ashamed…”

“The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or
Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his
angels with him.” (Rev. 12:9)

The earth…the incredible gift that God gave to Lucifer to rule over has now
become his prison…a place of desolate waste and destruction. The heavens
and earth are in total darkness, torn to shreds by the tremendous battle that
has taken place. Now we can move to the second verse of Genesis and pick
up where verse one left off…

“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.”

To recap:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. For an unknown period
of time, Lucifer, being “model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty”,
had dominion over the earth…a gift from God. At some point, Lucifer decided
to attack the throne of God to claim it as his own…a great battle followed, in
which the heavens and earth were totally ransacked, and Lucifer was banished
to the now ruined earth as punishment. At this point, “the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters” to begin the process of restoration…

Surprisingly, there are many verses in the Bible that appear to speak of the time
period between the first two verses of Genesis. For instance…

“You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood
above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your
thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down
into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.” (Psalm 104:6-8).

It can be argued that these verses aren’t speaking of the flood of Noah’s day,
because that flood receeded over a long period of time…the flood of these
verses “fled” and “took to flight” as they might have done when “…God said,
“Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground
appear.”  (Gen. 1:9)

Take a look at Job 41 and imagine the creature that’s being described. There
is no such creature on earth (that we know of) at this time that would even
come close to fitting that description. Nothing.

“By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.”
(2 Peter 3:6)

This verse speaks of a world that was “deluged and destroyed”. The flood
of Noah’s day did not destroy the world. It most definitely gave the world
a radical pruning, but it was not destroyed. Remenants were left…Noah and
his family, along with all the animals on the ark. The pre-historic world, on the
other hand, was totally, completely and utterly wiped out….

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“You were the model of perfection,full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you…”
(Ezek. 28:12,13)

“You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were
on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.You were
blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was
found in you.” (Ezek. 28:14,15)

“So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you,
O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your
splendor. So I threw you to the earth…” (Ezek. 28:16,17)

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You
have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You
said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the
stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost
heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)

“And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and
they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient
serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was
hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Rev. 12:7-9)

“The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken.
The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it
is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again. In that day the Lord will
punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. They
will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in
prison and be punished after many days. The moon will be abashed, the sun
ashamed; for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and
before its elders, gloriously.” (Isaiah 24:19-23)

In other words, there was a war in heaven. Lucifer, his angels and the kings of the
earth (at that time) attempted to take over the throne of God.The heavens and earth
were shaken like little rag dolls and everything on it was immediately destroyed,
Lucifer was cast to earth and his angels were locked in dungeons (where they still
remain) to await their fate (2 Peter 2:4).

In the chaos of this great battle, as just mentioned…the heavens and earth were
plunged into total chaos and darkness…

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When Adam was created, he (Adam) was given dominion over the earth
(Gen. 1:26). He did nothing to earn it…it was a gift from God. It is reasonable
to conclude that Lucifer was given that same gift of earthly dominion back
in “the beginning”, as God’s highly favored angel. With his limited knowledge
of the future, together with the great power that God gave him, it is not
unreasonable to speculate that the pre-historic world was “created” by
Lucifer in an attempt to mimic what God had planned for the future…an
earth inhabited by a creation that was created by himself, in his own image,
and filled with his own Spirit. At the same time, perhaps God created the
pre-historic world for Lucifer.

It’s easy enough to imagine Lucifer attempting to mimic God’s creation
of animals and coming up with dinosaurs…and attempting to copy a man
and getting the “primitive” caveman. Neither of the two are nearly as complex
or sophisticated as the animals or human beings created by God in Genesis,
assuming, of course, that scientific theory is correct.

It’s also just as possible that God created them for Lucifer…knowing that
in our day, we would be consuming their remains as our primary source of
fuel…for without the dinosaurs of pre-historic times, there would be no oil.

Lucifer’s “world” consisted of dinosaurs and cavemen…at least, in the
beginning. I suppose it’s virtually impossible to tell how far they advanced
as time passed. If science is correct, then his dominion over this world
lasted for millions, or even tens of millions of years…maybe longer. Could
Lucifer’s world have advanced to the point of our own? Or even beyond?

Sure! Why not? Does that mean it did? Nope. Just that it could have.
That could possibly explain some of the mysterious ancient “nuclear reactor”
types of constructions…or the ancient “air strips” that we’ve all heard stories
about. At any rate, this world existed long enough to provide us with enough
fossil fuel to “modernize” transportation in our own world up to the present
day, and into the future…

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“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…

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