Creation

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

It all started in Genesis 1:2….

The earth was without form, darkness covered the deep waters.

The spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be “light”.

God divided the light from the darkness; called light “day” and darkness “night.”

Let there be space to separate the waters of the heavens and the waters of the earth.

God called the space “sky”.

God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry land may appear; called the ground “land” and the waters “seas”.

God saw that it was good.

God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass and vegetation, every sort of seed-bearing plant from which they came”.

God said, “Let there be all sorts of seed-bearing fruit trees and plants of the same kind”. And God saw that it was good.

God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days and years”.

God said, “Let these lights in the sky shine down on earth”.

God made two great lights; the larger one to govern the day and the smaller one to govern the night.

God also made the stars.

He knows the number of the stars. He gives names to all of them.(Psalm 147:4)

Lift up your eyes and see. Who has made these stars? It is the One God who leads them out by number. He calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of His strength, and because He is strong in power, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:26)

Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? No one can fathom the depths of his understanding. His understanding is too great for us to begin to know. (Isaiah 40:28)

Lord God, you stretched out your mighty arm and made the sky and the earth. You can do anything. (Jeremiah 32:17)

God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning.

God said, ” Let the waters be filled with an abundance of fish and living creatures, and let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” So God created great sea creatures. And God saw that it was good.

God said, “Let the birds fly above the earth”.

Then God blessed them saying, “Multiply, let the fish fill the seas and the birds multiply on earth.”

God made every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind, livestock and small animals and any creeping thing that scurries along the earth. And it was so.

God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw it was good.

And God said, “Let us make man in our image to be like us. Let them reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the animals including small animals that scurry along the ground.”

God had now created a man and named him Adam.

So God created human beings in his own image. (Genesis 1:27)

(This verse is often cited as the foundation for understanding the human purpose within creation, as being created “in the image of God” signifies our unique role in managing and caring for the world and that humans are in the image of God and are to love one another in their moral, spiritual, and intellectual nature.)

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Then God saw everything that He made and indeed it was very good. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. And God saw that it was very good.

In general,  Scripture teaches that God brought the world into existence as His crowning achievement of His good work and for His own glory and to provide a place for his sons and daughters to dwell here in morality.  He created people in His image so they can share in his overflowing love, grace and goodness through their relationship with Him. People were created to love God and each other.

The Lord God planted a garden, an earthly paradise in the East, in Eden and there he put the man he had formed and had named Adam. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, the name of the second river is the Gihon, the name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur and the fourth river is the Euphrates.

In the Garden of Eden, the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food and nourishment.

God wanted to show Adam His goodness and His love for him in providing Adam with a beautiful place to live, all of Adam’s needs were met. God’s plan and purpose for Adam was to live there and take care of  The Garden of Eden; caring for the plants and trees that were nutritional ensuring their growth and vitality and maintaining the overall beauty. He was also in charge of naming all of the animals that God had now created. (One of the most enjoyable responsibilities ever!)

In the middle of the garden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it *you will certainly die.”  

Adam did not know of death or sin as there had never been a reason to.

It is accepted by Christians when God said: * “you will certainly die” means that if you are disobedient to God you have sinned against him and will now experience a spiritual death and be separated from him. Not a physical death as we know it but that God will turn his back to you. Adam was actually living in the literal presence of God and had never been separated from him.

God warned Adam that if he ate from that one tree that he  would essentially experience a death and  would lose his perfect relationship with God. 

God asked Adam to name all of the animals, birds and fish but none proved to be a helper suited to him. God then caused a deep sleep upon Adam, took one of his ribs and made a woman and brought her to Adam. Adam then said. “She shall be called a Woman because she was taken out of man.” Adam and his helper Eve then lived in The Garden of Eden. (Interesting thought: Adam and Eve did not have belly buttons since they were not born of a woman.)

The Garden of Eden would have been the perfect temperature, the perfect humidity, without pests or diseases, roses did not have thorns and there was nothing that would detract from their enjoyment of knowing God in a perfect and pure way.
Adam and Eve lived a life of blissful innocence.  They had never sinned; therefore, they had no guilt or shame and had never experienced temptation before. This was life as God intended it to be.

Adam and Eve enjoyed a relationship with God, and with each other, that was able to continue without being stopped or made difficult by the power of sin because sin did not yet exist. Adam and Eve were the only two people on earth…and they were privileged in a way that no one since has been.  They met and intimately communicated regularly with the God. It was perfect.

And then everything changed within seconds…

In the Garden of Eden a serpent approached Eve by surprise. This serpent was more devious than any living creature which the Lord God made. The serpent asked Eve, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Eve replied, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, but not the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor touch it, you will certainly die.” The serpent then said to Eve, “You will not certainly die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her and he ate it.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

God asked, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Sin was now born due to the first immoral behavior (disobeyed God) which ultimately separated them from God just as God warned them. (…in the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.)

Definition of sin: “Offense against God”. And now, for the very first time this sinful behavior built barriers between Adam and Eve and God and their sins have made him not listen to them and are now separated from God him as if God had turned his back to them.

Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God they had  24/7, direct and intimate, moment to moment association and communication with him. But after they sinned they no longer had a relationship with God like they did before. This massively changed Adam and Eve’s daily life in every way because for the first time they have a sinful nature that knows how to disobey which brought on fear and guilt. Now sin will hinder their communication with God, like static on a radio. 

Understand and accept this: And because of this new sinful nature every single person born from that moment forward to this very day, every single one of us is affected by Adam and Eve’s sin just like a bad virus, it has spread to all of us because

Adam and Eve are the first parents of the human race.

We have ALL inherited this sinful nature, there are no exceptions and this is why Christians believe we are all sinners and say we need to be “saved”. Saved from what? Saved from separation from God and actual death as we know it.

So why did God create this serpent who tempted Eve and Adam?

According to the Bible God created the serpent in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve the free will to continue to be in relationship with him or not to be

just as he does with all of us.

Adam and Eve had the free will to choose to do what God commanded them to do but they failed.  Eve was tempted and deceived by a serpent who is known as the Devil or Satan leading her to eat the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam. Adam knew full well the consequences of eating that fruit and did so anyhow which is a direct rejection of God. This was the first time Adam or Eve had ever disobeyed God and because of this one choice they made, sin was now part of their nature.

Adam was commanded by God to do just one thing; to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, just one thing and Adam failed.

Satan or The Devil no matter what you call him is a symbol of evil, temptation and deceit.  He introduces you to lying, violence, pride, rage, greed, lust, lying, temptation, lying, theft, adultery and more. (yes lying!!!) His only purpose here on earth is to steal, kill and destroy and to tempt you into sin in all ways so he can to keep you from knowing and loving God. (read John 10:10). That is Satan’s purpose.

According to the Bible Satan is a created being who roams the earth tempting people to sin which separates them from God. Every day, whether we realize it or not, we are in a spiritual battle. The Bible tells us that Satan is a deceiver, an accuser, and an enemy of our souls.  Satan’s goal is to weaken our faith, fill us with fear, and tempt us in any way he knows we can be tempted to turn us away from God.

Know this: Satan in the Father of Lies (John 8:44). Satan lies to you all the time, that is his job. Satan can fill your thoughts with lies while you sleep or while you are awake.

Satan wants you to believe that your life is worthless, you’re a failure and will never succeed. Satan does NOT want you to forget the mistakes that you’ve made in the past. He will constantly remind you of the negative things that you’ve done to others and wrong choices that you’ve made. He will use doubt, fear, and guilt against you. Remember, Satan’s goal is to steal, kill, and destroy you.

Satan is the accuser, a liar, and a destroyer so he also wants you to believe that you are so bad that you don’t deserve God’s love, let alone His forgiveness. And If you constantly believe Satan’s lies, you may eventually turn away from God, and this is Satan’s ultimate goal.

Yes, Satan is active in our lives everyday trying to tempt us in anyway to sin so God continues to turn his back on us.

Bottom line: Sin separates you from your Heavenly Father God just like when as a child you do something your Earthly Father told you not to do. Both your Heavenly Father and Earthly Father’s are upset and disappointed in you.

And even with our sinful nature God continues to love us and still calls each one of us his “child” and so He has  given us a way to get back into a non static, intimate connection and loving relationship with him.

Accept the understand this: and God he is offering it to us ALL no matter our sin; no matter what we have done in our lives.

The way is through his son Jesus.

God had a plan…..

This is known as “The Greatest Story Ever Told” because it is.

Physical death would soon enter the world as a consequence of sin entering the world, thanks to Adam and Eve. 

In the Old Testament, the dead go to Sheol, the realm of the dead. Sheol is a place of silent existence where both the righteous and the wicked are isolated from God and the living. 

Sheol is the realm of the dead, where both the righteous and the wicked go after death. Sheol is a place of darkness, gloom, and silence, where the dead are isolated from God and the living

In the Old Testament, Sheol was generally viewed as a place to be avoided, and people were afraid of it because it was associated with suffering and separation from God.

*************

Approximately 4000 years after God created Adam the population had grown from 2 people; Adam and Eve to 200 to 300 million people and all were sinners which is why The Old Testament is filled with stories about violence, murder and people having to have power. Every single person was a sinner and God seemingly had turned his back on humanity. But God loved us and so he gave us a way for us to ask for forgiveness

Approximately 4000 years later after God created Adam, Jesus the son of God was born here on earth as a human specifically to restore the relationship between us with his knowing that we are all sinners. (God knows everything)

In The Bible John (John 1:14) wrote Jesus is “God wrapped in flesh”. Essentially meaning that God took on human form by becoming physically embodied in Jesus; signifying that Jesus was fully God while also being fully human. According to the Bible, Jesus is both God and the Son of God, and is referred to as “God in the flesh.” (Open your mind and believe, why not?)

Matthew who was one of Jesus’s Apostles and knew him well and Luke; another author in The Bible both knew Jesus’s mother Mary. In the book of Matthew 1:20-23 and in the book of Luke 1:26-38 they both write that Mary was a surrogate and that Jesus was conceived by God directly bypassing the normal process of conception. 

In Matthew 1:20-23 says, ” The Angel of the Lord said to Joseph (Mary’s husband) do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS. The virgin (Mary) will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means “GOD WITH US.”

The name “Immanuel” is characterized by Christ’s essence meaning chosen by divine authority. He was called Jesus which means “God Saves” because it expresses both his identity and his mission.

To get “saved” from being eternally separated from God is now your own choice. You can use  YOUR OWN free will to believe that Jesus is the son of God. Because if you do you will not be separated from him anymore.

This is why Jesus came to earth. Thank you Jesus!

Jesus came to put an end to our past, our sinful nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve and give us a new future with our Father God, NO MATTER OUR SIN.

 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

Jesus said that if you belief that He is the Son of God, accept that you are a sinner because you inherited a sinful nature and have sinned on your own,  ask God for forgiveness with honesty and sincerity in your heart, this gives you the opportunity to have a intimate and direct relationship with Father God no matter your sins;  murderer, adulterer, liar, women who have had an abortion, etc.

It is up to you and only you. God knows your heart.  Remember He created you, knows everything about you and knew of all sins you would commit and is willing to forgive and not remember your sins as if they never happened because His never ending love for you surpasses his immeasurable hatred of sin.

God is the God of second, third and fourth and unlimited chances for His children who confess their sins, repent and come to Him for help.

Here is proof:

• Psalm 25:7: “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O LORD”
• Isaiah 43:25: “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” 
• Hebrews 8:12: “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” 
• Jeremiah 31:34: “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        If you believe the words written below your belief and faith in Jesus begins right now:

“Dear Father God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died
for my sin and that you raised Him to life.
I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will.  

I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

If you believe in the above words not only are you back in relationship with God you are also being given eternal life and will live forever in heaven with God.

Paul writes in The Bible, “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
John writes, “My sheep (people of God) hear My voice and I know them. They follow me. I give them life that lasts forever.” (John 10:27-28)

There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together.  (John 14:2-3)

Before Jesus left to go back where he had come from 33 years previously he said to his friends/disciples, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. You have heard me say to you, “I am going away and coming back to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, “I am going to the Father,” for My Father is greater than I.

And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.”

Jesus continued to say: “If you love me, you will do as I command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. The Spirit will show you what is true. When the Spirit of truth comes, The Holy Spirit, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears (from God) he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, “The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.”
_{(John 14:15-17 & 27-29, John 16:13-15)}

Begin to pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s voice, the voice that you hear in your mind because He will guide you and will correctly interpret the word of God to you so you can reach new levels of understanding. Since He knows you perfectly and knows that everyone thinks differently He then transfers information to you in ways that you will comprehend it.

Thank you Jesus for going through that horror when you were crucified and murdered.  3 days later our Father God raised you from the dead and with your own commandment you were made alive again. And by doing so you have forgiven us and give us all the opportunity to spend eternity with you through your unmerited grace and mercy no matter our sin and no matter what we wrongfully did. And thank you for giving all of us access to our Father God so we may have a relationship with him and no longer be separated from him because of our faith in you.

Because of Jesus and our chosen faith in him we now have a new nature, no longer a sinful nature and our relationship with God can be restored because Jesus removed our sins from the record so God is oblivious and looks the other way and does not see them. And because of this, we receive forgiveness from God for our sins we have committed and we can, once again receive eternal life and live for eternity with you in Heaven. Thank you Jesus.

Choose to believe in Jesus and be curious about this. As they say “This Is The Greatest Story Ever Told.”

Once a believer in Jesus you are no longer separated from God. Thank you Jesus, In your name, Amen.

Words to think about: An egg has 3 parts: the shell, the yolk, the white each having their own purpose and is still considered an egg. God also has 3 “parts”: God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit each having their own purpose and is still considered God. You pray to God and he then informs Jesus who then translates what God told him directly to the Holy Spirit who then interprets it directly and specifically to you. These are known as “aha” moments or coincidences in your life but they are actually revelations sent to you from God. Pay attention and open your mind (why not?) because through your faith in Jesus you are being guided and directed by your Father God. (read Proverbs 3:5&6)

Jesus said: “When the Spirit of truth comes, *The Holy Spirit, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears (from God)  he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13)

*One definition of the Holy Spirit: “In Christianity the Holy Spirit is the One who guides a person to correctly interpret the word of God and he helps each person reach new levels of understanding. Since he knows each person perfectly and it is understood that people think differently, he can transfer information to people in ways that they would comprehend it.”

God says: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17)

FYI: Before Jesus left and ascended back to Heaven to be with his Father he gave us 2 commandments, not suggestions.

Jesus was asked, “Sir, which is the most important commandment in the laws of Moses?”

1) Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.

2)The second most important is similar:
‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.’

All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Bottom line:

On the last day I worked on this project, I looked up, grabbed my camera as I saw an angel with praying hands.