Battle For The Truth (Part 26)

Genesis 1:31–2:1-3, 7 – “(31) And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” 2:1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (7) And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Introduction

As we continue our review, bear in mind that this is a review of the Truth and Authority of God’s word—the Bible. The Bible informs us that life has meaning and purpose. Our lives are not accidents. We live because God gave us life. God gave us life through our parents, which consisted of one man and one woman. Amen somebody. Whether we know who our parents are or not, God caused the seed of our father to fertilize the egg of our mother, and at that moment knit our soul to the zygote that was formed. Moreover, whether our parents intended our conception or not, God intended for us to be conceived and born. What I find even more amazing is the fact that God made only one of me and only one of you. We are uniquely made in the image of God. Our fingerprints, retinas, voice, face, and DNA are uniquely to each individual. There has never been and will never be another you. Wow! I will allow a few moments for that to soak-in. Now if that does not make you feel special, I am afraid you are not looking at things properly and need to take another look. Again, I say, this is low-hanging fruit and not difficult pick. No degree, diploma or certificate is required to grasp that truth. Amen somebody. These things are either True or false. What say you?

No matter how you answered the question, God knows, and the angels have recorded it. God knows because God is omniscient. In the OT, David, the great psalmist of Israel informs us of this in Psalms 139:1-4, “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. (2) Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. (3) Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. (4) For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.” In the NT, the author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Amen somebody.

As is often the case, someone may be asking, “Ok, so what’s the big deal and why am I raising such a big fuss about it?” That is a good and fair question. The answer has not changed—the truth matters, the souls of men are at stake, and time is running out. The Battle for the Truth is indeed a battle for the souls of men and All Souls Matter. Amen somebody.

1:31 – “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

Chapter 1 continues to emphasize that over six 24-hour days, God created everything in existence, whether celestial, terrestrial, plant, and animal. We further learn that God created all things by speaking them it into existence, except for man, whom He formed from the dust of the ground. Repeatedly, we see the phrase, “God said, Let…there be; Let the waters; Let the earth; and, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Furthermore, this truth is confirmed in the following NT Scriptures:

John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

Colossians 1:16-17, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (17) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Hebrews 11:3 – “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Ah, faith, now there is that little word with big meaning. What is faith according to the Bible? Hebrews 11:1, says:

Table goes here.

The Bible is the source from which all truth concerning Creation and life is found and has throughout every generation of man withstood all scrutiny and proven itself to be trustworthy and reliable. For this reason, Christians are not burdened with trying to prove the truth claims of the Bible. Rather, it is the burden of unbelievers to disprove the Bible’s truth claims and produce verifiable and documented evidence to support their contrary claims. Amen somebody.

2:1-3, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (2) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (3) And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”

Here we learn that on Day 6, God ceased His creative work and established Day 7 [the Sabbath] for man to be observed as a day of rest and worship. Moses confirms this in in the establishment of the laws and statutes for Israel:

Exodus 20:8-11 – “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

Leviticus 23:3 – “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.”

Side Note: As it was during Jesus earthly ministry, there remains some confusion today among certain groups regarding the topic of the Sabbath Day and its relation to Christianity. Although time will not permit me to do a deep dive into the topic, I defer to Jesus and the Apostle Paul who did not teach that the church was restricted to worship exclusively on the Sabbath Day. In Mark 2:27-28, Jesus said to His critics, “…The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: (28) Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” To this controversy, the Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:16-17, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: (17) Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”

It has been my experience when discussing the Sabbath Day and its relationship to the church, that people who espouse a strict OT view invariably have other errant doctrinal views—particularly regarding the person and works of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, for now, I will not elaborate any further on this topic.

2:7 – “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Here we find more detail on the creation of man. As mentioned already, when it came to man, God did not speak man into existence. Rather, He took a more personal approach. A closer look reveals that Elohim who created heaven and earth, now reveals His more personal name YAHWEH (the self-existent one). Thus, the text says, that the LORD God or YAHWEH Elohim “formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” This leaves no room for doubt how man came into being­—God created him. Man did not evolve from apes or any other creature as Darwin claimed in his book “The Origin of Species.” Masquerading as truth, Darwin’s lie has been and taught in our schools and universities for over 100 years—resulting in a continual moral decline within our culture.

Nevertheless, the truth remains that everything we know about the human body, God made it from dust. From dust God formed man’s:

Skeletal system and all its appendages and teeth and nails

Muscular system with its tendons and ligaments

Circulatory system including his blood, heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries

Nervous system

Immune system

Respiratory system

Sensory perception including sight, hearing, smell, taste, feeling, speech

Brain that controls the entire body, and

Skin and hair to cover the entire body from the crown of his head to the bottom of his feet.

This prompted David to exclaim in Psalm 139:14, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” Amen somebody.

Side Note: In case you may be wondering, “What does all this mean?” Let me help you out. In a nutshell, this means that YOU DID NOT MAKE YOURSELF. Nor did you evolve through some unsubstantiated process. Amen somebody. Ask anyone who doubts that God made them these questions, and ask them to be honest with themselves:

Are you alive right now? The truthful answer is “Yes.”

Have you always been alive or were you born because of your mother and father on a particular date, at a particular time, and in a particular place on the globe? The truthful answer is “No, I have not always been alive. I was born because of my mother and father on a date, at a time, and in a place on this globe.”

Where were before you were born? The truthful answer is “I do not know.”

So, what have we learned? We learned that you are alive now, but you have not always been alive. You are alive because of your mother and father, and was born on a date, at a time, and in a place on this globe. And, although you were born because of your parents, they did not give you your life—God gave you your life through them. This truth can be traced back through Scripture to Genesis 2:7, and without the aid of Scripture we are hopelessly lost in a world of uncertainties. Amen somebody.

Conclusion

And here is the ultimate issue. You are running out of time., and when your time has run out down here on planet earth, your body will return to the dust from whence it came, and your soul will return to God who gave it to you (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Then you will have to stand before Almighty God to be judged. There is no escape and no do overs. As Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” For “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) Now that is what I call bad news. Nevertheless, there is good news in Christ. For this reason, Christians are so passionate (or should be) to herald the message of gospel of Jesus Christ spoken through the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthian 5:20 – “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” Amen somebody.

Next week we will review the Garden of Eden, the Serpent, and the fall of man. So, until next time may God richly bless you my beloved.