The Kingdom of God: Six

Matthew 16:13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you lock on earth will be locked in heaven, and whatever you open on earth will be opened in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly warned them not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Revelation knowledge. Peter had it. Peter knew that Jesus was the Son of the living God. Peter knew that there was a realm of existence that transcended that which is physical and he knew that Jesus had come from that realm and he knew that Jesus was the King of that realm.

Jesus acknowledged Peter’s understanding as being a revelation and not something he had learned from any human being.

Jesus continues by telling Peter that it is upon the rock of revelation that He is going to build his church. His new kingdom has a foundation and it is going to be built and not even hell is going to be able to stop His kingdom from becoming a reality.

Jesus then gives the keys to the kingdom to Peter and the other disciples. What are the keys that will open and lock the doors of heaven? The message of Jesus Christ.

So why did Jesus tell them not to spread the news of Him being the Messiah? It wasn’t yet time. The message was not complete. The work had not been finished. Paradise was not yet opened and ready to receive citizens because the blood of redemption had not yet flowed.

The King cannot rule the kingdom until He has ascended to the throne of power. Once Jesus took His place on the throne the Kingdom was ready. This all took place during the lives of those who heard Jesus say, “And I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom.”

So to answer the question, “What is the Kingdom?” , we can see that it is a kingdom with a King who is Jesus Christ. It is a kingdom that is not of this world. It is a kingdom that can only be visible to those to whom it has been revealed. It is also a kingdom that is locked to those who do not know or acknowledge the King. The Kingdom is unlocked to those who know that the key that opens the way is Jesus and His work at the cross.

If you know Christ by way of God’s revealed knowledge, you also hold the key to heaven. Are you unlocking the door for those around you?

Oh, When The Saints, Go Marching In!

What I Learned From Super Bowl 44:

I have loved the Saints for most of my life. How can a person keep from cheering for the underdog?

I was an Archie Manning fan. He played for the Saints so it was only natural to begin my long journey of ill-fated hope cheering for the Saints.

It was great to see the Saints make the playoffs for the first time in 1987. They had players like Bobby Hebert, Dalton Hilliard, Rueben Mayes, Eric Martin and John Tice. The Dome Patrol defense starred Ricky Jackson (just inducted to the Hall of Fame) Pat Swilling, Sam Mills, Vaughn Johnson and a kicker named Morten Anderson.

They were good enough to get to the playoffs but Jim Mora was never able to get them any farther than in the playoffs.

The overly conservative Jim Mora was finally let go in 1996. Mike Ditika then led the team for three miserable years and finally in 2000 Jim Haslett lands a playoff victory in New Orleans.

Haslett’s 2000 team was led by Jeff Blake, Aaron Brooks, Ricky Williams and Joe Horn. Over the next 5 years they could never get above mediocrity.

As most know 2005 was almost the end of the New Orleans Saints. For 39 years the Saints had struggled to attain very few playoff appearances and only one playoff victory.

2006 would begin a major change in Saints’ history.

Sean Payton was hired to make the New Orleans Saints a winner.

2006 saw the Saints win their division, win a playoff game and then loose to the Bears in the NFC Championship game. Players like Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, Marques Colston, and Devery Henderson were going to be the building blocks for the Saints’ future.

2007 and 2008 looked good on paper as the players were gathering but winning was still not the Saints strong suit.

2009 seemed to have all the pieces in place. The offensive roster was so full of talent that I can’t even list it all. The defense had become better and the 13-0 start to the season had the Saints looking like Champions.

Then, on a Saturday night in December, the Dallas Cowboys came to the Superdome and the Saints fell apart. They would loose the final two games of the season and although in the playoffs they were beginning to be doubted by this long time fan that had watched the Saints wither away many times before.

But the playoffs were favorable with a crushing of the Cardinals and an emotional rollercoaster ride to victory over the Vikings.

The New Orleans Saints were going to the Super Bowl.

Once again the Saints were the underdog. My heart was hopeful but my mind kept saying the Colts are the better team. Better team or not, the Saints pulled out all the stops. Down 10-0 after the first quarter the Saints decided to play the game their way.

The onside kick to start the second half set the stage and the interception that sealed the deal looked like the Saints that won 13 straight games to start the season.

So what did I learn from Super Bowl 44?

Play the game the way you play it. Don’t settle for allowing the other team to dictate what you do.

There are risks and rewards in championship games. If you’re willing to take the risks the reward might just be the greatest achievement in franchise history.

You’ve got to be willing to loose the game if you’re going to win your way.

Hindsight makes Sean Payton a hero. If the risks would not have paid off, Sean Payton would have been the goat. But the Saints had nothing to loose and believed they could pull it off.

I don’t know what goes on in the locker room and how Sean Payton can get his players to buy in but it brought a Championship to New Orleans and I loved watching it happen.

So, what now?

Once you’ve climbed the mountain the only direction is down. The ride to the top was long, hard, many times unforeseeable and very unlikely. But now that the Saints are the champions they can never go higher. They may repeat but it will never be as good as the first after 43 years of waiting for the fulfillment of a dream.

Thanks New Orleans Saints for a great season and a lifelong desire fulfilled.

The Kingdom of God: Five

John 18:36

36 Then Jesus answered, “I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

The Kingdom in the New Testament is a Kingdom ruled by it’s King Jesus who is the Messiah, the Christ, and the Savior.

We come to understand this because Jesus calls the Kingdom, “My Kingdom”.

Jesus is the possessor of the kingdom. He is the sovereign ruler. He also makes a statement that allows us to know a little more about His Kingdom. Jesus says, “My Kingdom is not of this world”.

Jesus is the King of a kingdom that is of another realm. We know about the kingdoms of this world. They are ruled by our fellow man. They are visible and they are of this realm.

Jesus is now telling us that there is another world or realm that is not of this world. There is a kingdom that Jesus rules over that is other worldly. “My kingdom” is not of this world.

Most people would say, everything that is of this world is real or it doesn’t really exist. Those who believe in the Lord also believe that there is a realm that is not of this world.

Jesus has opened the door to a new kingdom that He rules over and that is a part of something other than this world. Is this some sort of sci-fi show like the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits? No! This is the reality that the writers of New Testament desire for us to know and encounter.

Jesus is a King of a kingdom that is not like the kingdoms that we have come to know in this world.

Matthew 16:28

28 And I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom.”

According to this passage it’s a visible kingdom. People can see the kingdom. People of the first century were going to see the kingdom. Can we see the Kingdom today? I believe that those who believe in, trust in, rely upon, and have placed their faith in Jesus Christ can actually see the kingdom.

This new kingdom is a kingdom that you must be awakened to by looking beyond the world and into the existence of the realm of the spirit. We all know deep within ourselves that there is more to this world than what meets our eye sight. We know that there is an invisible realm that is working in our midst. Jesus tells us that He Lords over all the seen and unseen. He is King of God’s Kingdom which is everything that exists seen or unseen.

Matthew 13:40

40 “Just as the weeds are separated out and burned, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 I, the Son of Man, will send my angels, and they will remove from my Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace and burn them. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the godly will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!

Jesus wants us to understand that as King, He is ridding His kingdom of all that causes sin and all who do evil. So it is easy to see that His kingdom is not of this world. Our world is filled with sin and evil. So we must come to understand that this world is not the true kingdom but the battle ground where the war of separation is being battled.

Jesus tells us that at the end of the world all the separation will be complete and His kingdom will be cleansed of all that causes sin and all who do evil.

Are you preparing yourself for God’s Kingdom?

The Kingdom of God: Four

A kingdom is not like a democratic republic where the majority rule. In a kingdom, only one king rules and the ruler surrounds himself with a court of the most obedient and loyal servants to do the kings biding.

In a kingdom there are no elections. There are no political parties. There are no contradictory news channels. There are no congressional meetings to decide if the king’s policies are worth backing. What the king decides is the rule. As king, he has the right to do whatever he desires. What the king desires is what his servants make to happen.

We have a real struggle in our nation submitting to the rule of our leaders. If we don’t like the rules we can go to work to change them. The American church is doing this also. Sin, in the American church, is determined not by the Word of God but by the church’s congressional units. We have taken our democratic style of governing to the church. This has caused a great deal of difficulty within the body of believers. We don’t know who to submit to. Shall we follow the leaders of the church or should we follow the King of the kingdom?

In the book of Judges 21:25 it says, “In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”

Without a King to follow we have a tendency to become the king of our own life and this leads to self-service. We need a King.

In 1 Samuel 8:4-7 it says, “4 Finally, the leaders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. 5 “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king like all the other nations have.”
6 Samuel was very upset with their request and went to the LORD for advice. 7 “Do as they say,” the LORD replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.”

The people of Israel didn’t want the Lord to be their King. At this point the Kingdom has to become a voluntary Kingdom. The only people that will experience the Kingdom of God are those who voluntarily submit to the Lord as their King.

In the Old Testament we saw God give the Israelites a King. The King that was given was Saul. Saul was a perfect king for man. 1 Samuel 9:1a & 2 says, Kish was a rich, influential man from the tribe of Benjamin.2 His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land. Saul was the type of man men would have chosen to lead.

The problem with Saul was he was not God’s King. God’s king was David. It took 22 years for David to gain the throne of all Israel.

I see this as God showing us that it may take us a while to come around to the King that He has sat on the throne. We must exhaust ourselves with all of our man-made kings before we will be able to voluntarily submit to God’s King.

Are you tired of chasing earthly kings yet?

The Kingdom of God: Three

According to Webster’s Dictionary a kingdom is, “a politically organized community or major territorial unit having a monarchical form of government headed by a king or queen.” (a person who reigns over a kingdom or empire as a sovereign ruler) “a realm or region in which something is dominant” (such as the king) “ an area or sphere in which one holds a preeminent position” (such as God)”

The archaic word for kingdom is KINGSHIP. This would refer to a government ruled by a king

According to Britannica’s Encyclopedia the Kingdom of God is,

In Christianity, the spiritual realm over which God reigns as king, or the eventual fulfillment of God’s will on earth.

Although rare in pre-Christian Jewish literature, the idea of God as king was fundamental to Judaism, and Jewish ideas on the Kingdom of God most likely shaped New Testament usage. The term is often used in the New Testament, and it was a central theme in the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus. Theologians differ as to whether Jesus implied that the kingdom had arrived in his person or whether it was expected as a future event. Christian orthodoxy now holds that the kingdom has been partially realized by the presence of the church in the world and that it will be fully realized after the Last Judgment.

Those of us who have been raised all of our lives in the democratic republic of the United States have a very difficult time comprehending Kingdoms and Kingship.

We. the people, are not lorded over but we establish our own governing rule. We have a republic form of democracy where the majority rule through elections. This is totally foreign to a Kingship or a governing order ran by a sovereign leader such as a King.

A Kingdom is ruled by a King. What the king says is the rule and the citizens of the kingdom either submit to the King’s rule, acknowledging the King as lord, or they disobey the King’s rule and risk the wrath of the King, or they revolt against the King and try to overthrow his rule and take the kingdom from him.

When we consider the Kingdom of God in this way who is going to try to overthrow God? Who is going to disobey God and risk the consequences of His wrath? Shouldn’t everyone submit to God and acknowledge Him as Lord?

We, the people, of the democratic society desire to take our style of government into the Kingdom of God. This will not work. When we disagree with the King’s rules we do not have the right to form a group and lobby for a change. We do not have the power of the people to vote down that which the King has declared. We either submit to the King’s rule or risk being dismissed from the Kingdom.

God, in all His wisdom, knew that everyone would not submit to His rule. So God has designated a place for the citizens of His kingdom to work out their decision. This place is known to us as the kingdom of the world. God has given each of us time in which to decide if we are willing to submit to the King and live peacefully in His Kingdom or decide to disobey and revolt and receive the consequences of our decision.

The Kingdom of the world is the battle ground. We have been given time to try and test our beliefs on the battle ground of the world. The King’s desire is for us to submit to His rule and reign over our lives. The world’s philosophy is every man for himself. As we make our decision to submit to the King we then must journey the rest of our life on the narrow road being very cautious of the enemy who desires to ambush us with the world’s philosophy.

The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom ruled by a sovereign King. This King is Lord over all and the citizens will either submit to His rule or be thrown out of the Kingdom. We have been given time to make our decision. Since we do not know the time we need to be making an informed decision now.

I must add one thing before I go today. God’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of love where as the kingdom of the world is a kingdom of selfish desires and ultimately a kingdom of hate and war.

Many people do not understand the Kings ways and laws as love. they see them as restrictions to their freedom. What has lawlessness gained us in this world? Freedom or bondage?

God’s kingdom is ruled by the wisest of all kings. and the greatest of all lords. He has established a kingdom that will endure for all eternity. It’s open to all who would submit to the King and come to Him by His provided way.

Do you want to be a part of God’s Kingdom?

The Kingdom of God: Two

Acts 1:1-5

Dear Theophilus:

In my first book I told you about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day he ascended to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. On these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

4 In one of these meetings as he was eating a meal with them, he told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what he promised. Remember, I have told you about this before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

We know from the history recorded in the Bible that Jesus stayed here on earth for 40 days after His resurrection. According to the book of Acts there was a reason for Jesus to stick around. This gave Him the opportunity to teach more about the Kingdom of God.

This information tells me that the Kingdom of God was on the heart of Jesus. Jesus wanted His apostles to know about it, understand it, and spread the message of the Kingdom of God.

The King of the Kingdom desired to tell His messengers the Good News of the newly established Kingdom. He wanted them to know first hand what He had to offer so His messengers could begin spreading the message about the King and His Kingdom.

Jesus tells us in,

Matthew 7:13

13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. 14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.

We are told by the King Himself that the entrance into His Kingdom is narrow. In other words, there is a broad road that seems right to the masses but it will not lead to the Kingdom of God. The road the King will be calling us to travel, to enter His Kingdom, is narrow and it leads to the desired goal.

A narrow road is a road that needs to be navigated carefully and traveled slowly.

I happen to be one who desires to enter the Kingdom of God. I am also one who wants others to enter the Kingdom with me. Due to my desires, and the knowledge that the entrance is narrow, I want to know that what I teach is accurate to the Scriptures we have been given. I want to travel this road cautiously. I want to go slow enough that we don’t put ourselves in danger of accidentally crashing on our journey.

We travel farther tomorrow.

The Kingdom of God Intro

I would like to spend some time over the next few weeks trying to draw your attention to the Kingdom of God.

We have all kinds of stuff happening in our world. There is the health care debate, environmental concerns and an out of control federal budget. We have concerns about terrorist attacks. There are still wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have nations like Iran and their problems, there’s North Korea, the Somoli Pirates, the earthquake in Haiti and now Yemen has become a place of greater interest.

On the home front there is the battle between republicans and democrats, liberals and conservatives, progressives and tea baggers. The fight continues between the pro and anti-abortion groups, there is still a fight over how we are going to define marriage, our nation is on the verge of a financial breakdown, the society around us is already morally bankrupt, and the world we live in seems to be ripping apart at the seams and yet God has put it on my heart to stay focused upon His Kingdom at this time.

Do you know how hard it is to keep your focus on God’s Kingdom when the world you live in has so much tribulation?

Always remember, concentration is the focus of your attention.

Everyone of us here has our ideas and opinions about the world’s problems. We all would like to see things different than they are right now. So we join up sides and contend for our place in the battle. Our concentration leaves God and turns to the world that surrounds us. Our focus of attention is detoured by the world’s turmoil.

All the while, we are overlooking the fact that God sent His Son that through Him the world would be saved. Politics, education, social programming, religion and all the other philosophies of man will fail to solve the problems. God said Christ is the way to salvation. When we, the church, gets back to preaching and teaching the way of God maybe then we will see God go to work to change our circumstances.

So, over the next few weeks I will try to focus our attention to the Kingdom of God.

Theory of Everything: Three

If you haven’t read the last two posts I would advise you do so. It will be beneficial to understand today’s post.

Colossians 1:15-20

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

I hope you can see clearly what this passage is telling us.

Christ is God. Through Christ all things that exist have their existence. By way of Christ, God holds all things together. Christ is how God reveals Himself to us. Christ is how God is reconciling us back to Himself. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Christ is supreme over all things. Christ is how God reveals all things to us, the things that are seen and unseen. Through Christ we can come to know the unseen realm. Through Christ we can come to understand the visible realm.

The Theory of Everything is not a mathematical or scientific equation. It is a personal relationship with God through His revelation which is Christ Jesus.

Romans 1:18-20

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

The reason the world we live in is so messed up is due to us, God’s created humans, being blind to the truth. Our sin nature has blinded us to the reality of God and the realm He has created for us.

Due to our sin nature we want to eliminate God and raise ourselves to the throne of lord and king.

Without the sin nature we would have a holy nature. Our holy nature would be aware of God. God awareness changes a human being. The human, aware of God, would now understand that he is a created being that is accountable to his Creator.

This awareness changes the natural spirit that is bent on serving self to a newly awakened spirit that understands who he is in the sight of his holy Creator.

I know this sounds strange but it explains why the world is the way it is. Man, without the knowledge of God, does not understand truth. Not because truth has not been told to him but because truth has not yet been revealed to his hardened heart and mind.

Man is blinded, by his own sin, to the reality of his true position. Man has deceived himself to believe that he is lord and master of his own life and his own destiny.

This is a lie that man must become aware of.

Once aware of the lie he will become aware of the truth. The truth will set him free and in his freedom he will become aware of his true reality. Once aware of his true reality everything will look differently than it did before. It will be like being born again or being re-birthed into a new realm. This new realm is a realm that is under the authority of God not self.

According to Scripture God has made this plain to us and we are without excuse for not knowing the truth. So we are under the wrath of God until we wake up to this reality.

Once awakened to God we will come to understand the Theory of Everything. Our lives will be transformed by a new way of thinking. We will become aware of the mind of God through Christ Jesus who paid the price for our sinful ignorance.

The world at large and many, so called, Christians have not yet been awakened to this reality. Due to the mental blindness of the masses, our world suffers in its sinful state. This sinful state keeps us from knowing God and realizing what He is doing in our midst.

I pray you will consider coming to Christ to have your mind, heart and spiritual eyes opened to the Theory of Everything.

Theory of Everything: Two

This is a continuation from yesterday. It would be beneficial to read yesterday’s post before going forward.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. 4 This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

Sin is the unknown in the equation of life. Sin brought about the curse. The curse brought about death, disease, destruction, trials, tribulation and our doubt that God is in control.

According to the Scripture from Hebrews all things were created through the Son and the Son sustains everything. Through the Son we can be cleansed of our sin. Through this cleansing we will begin to see the truth. As we see the truth we will better understand God’s good purpose.

The world we live in does not lend to us the information we need to understand what God is really doing. We must desire to know God and seek to understand His will and ways.

Hebrews 2:5-10

5 And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. 6 For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? 7 Yet you made them only a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 8 You gave them authority over all things.”

Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. 9 What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. 10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.

God’s created world was cast into sin by man. God desired that man be delivered from his sin. God made a way for man to come back into right standing with Him. Through Christ we can come to understand the mind of God.

1 Corinthians 2:13-16

13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:10

10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

I know this all sounds rather unbelievable. I know many people will not believe this trail of Scriptures and what they reveal. But God desires us to know the truth. It is the truth that sets us free. Free from the bondage of this sinful world. Once free, our minds can be cleared to absorb that which God desires us to know.

I’ll finish tomorrow…

Theory of Everything: One of Three

The Theory of Everything is a scientific term. It is a search for the equation that will sum up all things. I don’t happen to believe that the understanding of everything can be drawn together in a mathematical equation. I don’t believe everything can be explained through a natural scientific study either.

The Theory of Everything must include the Creator. It must include the supernatural. It must take into account the power of the Almighty God who is omniscient or all knowing, omnipotent or all powerful, and omnipresent or always present all the time.

For those who do not believe in God the Creator it is going to be impossible to explain everything. Without God there is no Theory of Everything.

The following passages of Scripture need to be read and meditated upon. In the reading of these passages you will begin to see that God must be considered to understand all things or really anything at all.

Genesis 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.

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.”

9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.”

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.”

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.”

20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.”

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.”

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.”

We, as humans, may not understand this but God has the power to speak things into existence. God, as a mind, sees the possibilities and then brings them into existence with His command.

God is superior and has no limit to His abilities. He does limit Himself at many times and in many ways. His limits are self imposed for His own purpose. He will not work outside of love and good. He will work things together for His purpose.

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

We may not understand everything that God does. God doesn’t reveal everything to us. We must accept all that surrounds us by faith. Faith being what we know about God.

Scripture tells us that God causes everything to work together for our good if we love God. It also tells us that everything is working according to His purpose. We cannot comprehend this from our earthly platform that is fallen and surrounded in sin.

This is where we get confused.

We, as humans, wouldn’t allow many of the things that happen around us to happen if we were in control of all things. Since we are not in control we must trust the One who is.

I’ll continue tomorrow…