Beginning at the Beginning

Genesis 2:3 Here we see the Sabbath was before the law. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. He set it apart as holy.

Paul, a Hebrew of Hebrews who was sent by God to declare the Good News of overwhelming grace to the nations had this to say in his letter to the Colossians. Chapter 2: 16 - “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day- 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come ; but the substance belongs to Christ.”

The Sabbath is a mere shadow of what was to come. The substance belongs to Christ. The Greek transliteration of the word “substance” is “soma”. “Soma” is best defined as “body”. The body is Christ. The shadow He cast was a special day. The shadow was extending out from the body. We saw the shadow first and now we see the body. It is in Christ that we find true rest. As Jesus Himself promises, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Of course we need to take some time off to rest and recharge. That is simply part of our physical makeup. It is how God made us. But whether it is true rest, peace, hope, love or joy; all of these are found only in Christ.

It is so sad to me to know there are millions of believers who think that in order to please God that they must “keep the Sabbath”. Whether it is Saturday or Sunday, are we “required” by God to treat one day as special above another? I believe the answer is a clear and resounding No! But that’s alright. God is in complete control to open their eyes to the wonders and completeness of His grace. When He decides to open our eyes, they will be opened.

Discovering God's Will Is Much Easier Than You Think!

What is a heart's cry of every serious Christian?

"Show me your will, Oh Lord!"

Discovering God's will for your life is much easier than you may think. Christian teachers have been making millions over the years teaching there are several secret keys to learning and performing God's will. How can I hear God's voice? This job or that job? Marry this woman or that woman? Buy this house or that house? Choose this church or that church? Decisions. Decisions. What does God want?

All that's needed is to ask ourselves one question:

What is it we are doing right now?

Whatever we are doing right now is God's will for our lives. Everything in our lives and in the lives of everyone in the world is God's perfect will for us and them.

There is no such thing as "God's Permissive Will!"

God's will is nothing that has to be discovered. "Oh look how obedient and sensitive he is. He really can hear God. I wish I could hear God like that. Then I could know God's will."

God's will is something that is being accomplished throughout His whole creation, every second of every day. Some (actually Many) may object and say, "This sound like you are making us into robots or puppets." Why is having free will so important to so many people? What is it that they want to be free to do? They want to be free to disobey God. That's the bottom line. They want the choice to obey or not to obey. Why in heaven's name do we want a choice like that? Will we have that choice in heaven? No. There will be no sin. There will be no disobedience. God can and will take away all possibility of sin and we will not be robots. We will be humans with a new nature.

Even the most horrific sin is God's perfect will.

What is the most horrific sin? No, the most horrific sin is not rape. It is not murder. It is not child abuse. All of these pale in comparison to this sin. Here is the most horrific sin:

The crucifixion of God's one and only Son.

God is using that horrible sin and blessing us and glorifying Himself. So it will be with every evil and sin that has ever been done. Their darkness will make God's light shine even brighter. Just one second in His presence and all pain will be forgotten.

For out of him and through him and to him are all things. (Romans 11:36 )

For out of him are all things: there is nothing that did not come from God.

and through him are all things: God is working through everything there is

and to him are all things: everything will one day return to the Father.

Let us cease our striving. God cannot be any more pleased than He already is with you. No matter what great work you do, he cannot be any more impressed. No matter what evil you do, his delight in you will not be decreased.

Rest in this. You are his will.

Beginning at the Beginning

A very controversial topic is found in the second verse of Genesis. A literal translation is, “the earth, she became chaos and vacancy”. This has been argued for centuries and again we don’t want to get bogged down. But let’s take a minute and look at the translation of the Hebrew word Hayah. The controversy is caused by the fact that this word can be translated both as “became” or “was”. So was the earth created without form and void. Or did it become formless and void. Of course the implications are that if it became void, then it was in another state before. What was that state? How long was it in that state? Was there another long lasting creation we aren’t really aware of? This is called the “gap theory” because there was a large gap in time between the first and second verse of Genesis. Again we cannot know for sure and it is not the purpose of this study, but it is interesting to study and look into.

There is so much we could go into. Literalness of the days. Allegorical teachings regarding darkness and light and the different days of Creation. But it’s time to move on.

Genesis - Chapter 2:
In verse 2, in the King James translation we have our first anthromorphism. Anthromorphism is placing the limited characteristics of man onto God. The KJV says that God rested. God doesn’t rest. The Concordant Literal Version translates this correctly, saying that God ceased. The eternal realm simply IS. There is no passage of time. No past, present, or future. Not even any ceasing. Just Being. This is based on God’s name as He revealed it to Moses: “I AM THAT I AM”. In the second person when addressing God we can call Him, “YOU ARE THAT YOU ARE”. In the third person when we are talking about God to someone else, we can say that “HE IS THAT HE IS”.

Hey, we all have to think about something. Let’s think deeply and meditate on this: The past and the future are just as tangible, just as real to God, as the present is to us. The past IS. The future IS.

To infer in any way that the future is changeable based upon our actions is impossible. IT IS! Does this make you feel like a puppet on a string? Does it make you think, "What is the purpose of my existence if the future is already set?" What do these two questions indicate? I believe they point to your "self". It is thinking that freedom has to include the ability to be independent from God and having the ability to choose to act contrary to God's will. Are you going to be able to choose to be independent and to act contrary to God's will in heaven? I hope you say no. No impure thing will enter heaven. So, your freedom to sin is taken from you when you enter heaven. Does that mean you are a puppet on a string? No. It simply means God's perfect will is being done in heaven.

What is the desire of every serious Christian? To know and do God's will. He has already granted that prayer to those with eyes to see (He gives those too). You are doing God's perfect will right now. Are you confused? That's His will. Have you just met your future wife? That's His will. Have you just suffered a serious evil in your life? That's His will. Terriost attacks are His will. The death of children is his will. The greatest evil the world has ever seen was His will: The suffering and crucifixion of His Beloved Son. All these others pale in comparision to the death of His innocent and perfect Son. And Isaiah 53 tells us that this pleased God. One of the most important reasons for our time on earth is for God to create an eternal contrast. We need the dark for the light to shine bright. One second in God's presence and it will all fall into place. He will be so wonderful and bright. Sin will be so awful and dark. We will be changed so that temptation will not even be possible. Even considering the most minor sin will be repulsive, not tempting for all eternity.

Purpose of this Blog

I've come up with three purposes for this blog:

1. Cutting and pasting my book "The Real Good News!" chronologically.

2. An ongoing Bible Study through the book of Genesis titled "Beginning at the Beginning". It's purpose is to a God and His purposes when view through the paradigm of a God who wins totally. Not just wins with one or a billion casualties, but a God who wins everthing.

3. Various Life Thoughts.

I have gone back and properly titled all three of these purposes.

I hope these bless you.

Charlie

Beginning at the Beginning

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

This verse is such a breath of fresh air. Direct and to the point. Simple and easy to understand. No unnecessary embellishment. However, it requires faith from the very first. How did the writer of Genesis receive this information? He may have received it from oral or written tradition. If this is truth then someone had to receive this information directly from God by revelation. Maybe the writer of Genesis was Moses. If so, it was likely Moses who received the knowledge of Creation directily from God. It does not get any more revelationary (made it up) than this.

Do you believe this Creation account? It is impossible to believe this without faith. How do you obtain this faith. We will probably wait until we get to Abraham before we discuss faith in more detail.

The first name given to God in the Scripture is a plural word. The name is Elohim. Elohim is a plural of Eloah. However, even though it is plural it governs a singular verb or adjective. Why is a plural name given to our one God? There are many scholarly opinions as to what this would signify. An example being The United States. United States ends in an "s" and is plural, signifying the States which are United. However we see it as a singular entity. And it takes a singular verb or adjective. We know this singular entity is made up of many states which are united. This in itself proves nothing, but it does clearly open the door of wonder.

The Real Good News!


A FEW GUIDELINES

When presenting the Gospel of the Salvation of All, I’ve discovered there are a few guidelines which must be understood and followed, if the learning is to stay on course.




Who Should Read This Blog?

There are many different reasons why I decided to write this blog. Many different people this blog is directed towards.

Satisfied Attenders

It is written to believers who are attending traditional church and who are satisfied with the doctrine of salvation being taught from the pulpit. They believe that everlasting torment is a necessary pillar of the gospel. Perhaps this blog may be used to begin the eye opening process.

Dissatisfied Attenders

It is written to believers in Jesus who are attending traditional church, but who are not satisfied with the inconsistencies offered from the pulpit. Those believers who are currently looking for answers that traditional Christianity does not offer. Who are not afraid to question and are hungry for the truth.

Dissatisfied Non-Attenders

It is written to those who are believers, but who no longer attend church. They have seen through the inconsistencies and are looking for consistent answers.

Those Who Have Left the Faith

It is written to those who used to believe in Jesus, but left that belief because of all the inconsistent and abusive baggage that went along with it. They were taught that unless you believe in Jesus in time, then you will be tormented forever. They were not able to accept this doc-trine and they thought that was what the Bible and Jesus taught, so they left them both.

Non-Believers

And it is written to those who have never even seriously considered Christianity. They have heard that the Bible teaches that if you don’t make a wise and timely decision to accept Christ, you will burn forever. They know that makes no sense, and since they have never been indoc-trinated to accept the nonsensical, they are not interested.

Back Filers

Last, but not least, this is written to get the attention of those believers who just don’t care. They believe in the reality of everlasting torment, but have placed the whole idea in the “back file” of their minds. They rarely think about it and don’t understand why it is so important. They have yet to see how the threat of everlasting torment cannot coexist with the character and attributes of God. I hope to show them that everlasting torment has no place in, and in fact destroys, the Gospel of Grace declared by Paul.

Beginning at the Beginning

Introduction

Today I am starting a bible study. What better place to start then at the beginning... Genesis.

The book of Genesis lays the structure for all the major themes we find throughout the rest of the Bible.

Creation, Sin, Judgment, Sacrifice, Death, Law, Grace, Faith, Salvation and Family, to name just a few.

The two most important truths that we begin to discover in the Book of Genesis are the Character of God and the Attributes of God. If we start by laying a faulty foundation in either of these two areas then there is little stability, comfort, or security in our world view. When Christian teachers start allowing anything that is inconsistent regarding the character and the attributes of God to affect their interpretation of Scripture then a confusing, muddled, mixture of law and grace is the fruit.

When they know no better they think they are walking in a decent amount of clarity, but believe that they must accept several mysteries that just can't be understood in this life. That is a faulty foundation.

We are Beginning at the Beginning again to show that many of the things traditional Christianity describes as mysteries, are really nothing more than inconsistent thinking which begins to destroy the character and attributes of God. However, if our primary motivation is to uphold the character and attributes of God then a consistent and clear understanding of God's Grace is the fruit.

Traditional Christianity teaches that we must choose to cooperate with grace and that we are given just enough grace to help us make this choice. However, Scripture reveals something else.

Scripture reveals a grace so powerful, that when sin increases, grace abounds even more (Romans 5:20). A grace which is abundantly given to us by God so that we may have all sufficiency in everything, and may have an abundance for every good deed (2 Cor. 9:8). A grace which has been lavished on us (Eph.1:8).

The purpose of this study is not to cover every detail and every question ad infinitum. Instead, our focus is to once again lay a foundation. A foundation which upholds God's character and attributes, as well as clearly outlines His plan for the ages.

Let's begin...

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning...

Here are a few other powerful examples of beginnings:

But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. (Mark 10:6)

We see here that it appears Jesus thought the male/female relationship was the norm.

Next we have two very interesting examples:

for the devil sins from the beginning. (1 Jn. 3:8)

John the apostle says the devil sinned from the beginning.

he (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44)

Jesus says the devil was a murderer from the beginning.

Traditional Christian teaching says the devil was created a perfect angel and through his own free will chose to rebel and sin. They get this idea from the following scriptures:

Isaiah 14:12-22 However, the first eleven verses of this passage make it clear these verses are talking about the king of Babylon.

Ezekiel 28:12-19 This passage is clearly telling us about the king of Tyre.

Why do traditional Christian scholars take these two passages which are clearly talking about two earthly kings and allegorize them so that they are describing the devil? Since they believe in everlasting torment God cannot be responsible for making the devil a sinner and murderer from the beginning. This would also make God a monster and be the one who is responsible for sending people to everlasting torment. Therefore, the devil had to have free will and decide on his own to sin and rebel. They believe this relieves God of any responsibility. But in doing this they seriously weaken the very foundation of God’s character and attributes. He is not truly sovereign. He is not Lord over Satan. He is not truly omnipotent (all powerful), because He is not powerful enough to make sure His will is done. He is not truly omniscient (all knowing), because He could not know this was going to happen. If He did then He would be responsible for allowing it to happen.

Here is the sure foundation:

God has temporarily subjected the creation to futility (Romans 8:20) and has temporarily bound up all men in disobedience (Romans 11: 32)

God is completely sovereign over everything, especially the devil. He is all powerful. Nothing can or will resist His will (Ephesians 1:11).

He is all knowing. I make known the end from the beginning (Isaiah 45:9-10).

Not only is He all knowing, but He is all causing:

The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil. (Prov. 16:4)

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things (Is. 45:7)

For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly , and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Josh. 11:20)

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion . So then it is not of him that willeth , nor of him that runneth , but of God that sheweth mercy . For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up , that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth . Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault ? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (Rom. 9:15-21)

God is the cause of All Things. God is truly sovereign. God is all powerful. God is all knowing. God is love. God establishes perfect justice, making all things right again. The complete character and all the attributes of God can be upheld when we see that He is completely victorious. Not one will be lost, even if they think they want to be. The outcome is that God will once again become All in All ( I Cor. 15:28). His will… will be done!