Fri, Sep 30th - 3:43PM

GOD IN CREATION

"Because in Him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or lordships or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and unto Him.

And He is before all things, and all things cohere in Him;

And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things (Colossians 1:16-18);" 

We see here in these verses a continuation of the discourse on who Jesus Christ is.  Christ, the image of the invisible God, the First born of all creation, is also the One who created everything visible and invisible.  He created all authorities that are.  Governments have been created through Him, not their wickedness of actions but their authority. 

We are given a vista of how extensive Christ's authority and powers of creation are.  All creation bears the characteristics of Christ's intrinsic power.  Going back to Ephesians 1:21-23 we are able to see that Christ was purposely placed at the righthand of God in heaven.  God the Father may sit on the throne but it is Christ through whom all power and authority flows.  Jesus was never in any danger from any man while He walked this planet.  He feared nothing and no one.  Rule refers to the highest office, authority to every kind of official power, power to the mere might of authority and lordship to the preeminence that power establishes.  What is spoken of here in Colossians then is not only the angelic, heavenly authorities but also the human, earthly ones.  Christ has been seated far above all authority, all human endeavors, and above every name that is named in all of history. 

Another thing revealed here and in Ephesians 1 is that the power that God caused to operate in Christ subjected all things under His feet.  Being far above all is one thing; His having all things subjected under His feet is quite another.  The former is Christ's transcendency; the latter, the subjection of all things under Him.

God's power that He caused to operate in Christ gave Christ to be Head over all things to the church.  His headship over all things is a gift from God to Him.  It was through God's surpassingly great power that Christ the Son received the headship in the entire universe. 

We see therefore, that there are four aspects of the power that operated in Christ:  resurrection power, ascending power, subjecting power, and heading-up-power.  This four-fold power is transmitted to the Church, the Body of the Head.

Whatever Christ, the Head, has attained and obtained is transmitted to the Church, His Body.  In this the Church shares with Christ in all His attainments:  the resurrection from the dead, His being seated in His transcendency, the subjection of all things under His feet, and the headship over all things.  Here are the fruits of Christ in Creation. 

Colossians 1:15-17 reveal Christ as the first in creation (not first to be created), while verse 18 reveals Christ is the first in resurrection as the Head of the Body of believers.  Thus He has the first place in the church, God's new creation.  We see this assertion in II Corinthians 5:17 "So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new."  So anyone who truly has accepted Christ as Lord becomes a new creation and the old things of their life pass away, to be replaced with new things.  The old creation does not have the divine life and nature, but the new creation, constituted of the believers, who are born again of God, does have the divine life and nature (John 1:13; 3:15; II Peter 1:4). 

In Colossians 2:9-17 we find that in Christ all of the fullness of the Godhead both dwells and is expressed.  Not only that, but that each believer has been made full in Christ, who is the Head of all rule and authority.  Now verses 11-12 sound far out to unbelievers.  In Christ I was circumcised by Him in the putting off of the body of my flesh.  This was accomplished by the death of Christ and it is applied, executed, and carried out by the Holy Spirit of God.  To be buried in baptism is to put off, to strip off, the body of flesh which commits sin.  In baptism there is the aspect of burial, which is th etermination of our flesh, and the aspect of raising, which is the germination of our spirit.  In this we are made alive in Christ with the divine life. 

In Christ's resurrection, God enlivened us together by His divine life.  This was accomplished in His resurrection (I Peter 1:3) and is experienced through our faith in Christ.  In verse 14 it is seen that God blotted out, obliterated, erased, or annulled the Law and the ordinances which stood against us.  They were our schoolmaster previously, pointing out to us our shortcomings and lack of knowledge and understanding.  All of those things have been nailed to His cross on Calvary.  All rituals and traditions are unnecessary today having been shadows of Christ all along.  He has come, they must go.  Verse fifteen reveals how we are not to be beholden more to temporal rulers over that of Christ Jesus. 

God was busy while Christ's crucifixion was going on:  He nailed the Law on the cross and stripped off the rulers and authorities, that the way and the atmosphere might be cleared for us to enter into the participation in Christ.  The traditions of men were nailed to the cross, works do not gain a man entrance into heaven but your faith in Christ does.  Uncleanness of foods was nailed to the cross, what proceeded from out of a man's heart was what made him unclean. 

Verse sixteen here mentions being judged of the Sabbath.  The Sabbath signifies completion and rest.  This verse also mentions not being judged any longer because of daily, weekly, or monthly activities.  Daily we eat and drink Christ's Word, weekly we have completion and rest in Him, monthly we experience a new beginning in Him and throughout the year He is our joy and enjoyment.  Therefore Christ is always a reality to the believer and implies the universal extensiveness of the all-inclusive Christ.

From here on through the remainder of this chapter and into chapter three of Colossians it is seen that we are to realize that we have been transported out of dependency upon this physical world for affirmation and reward and have been set with Christ in heaven.  So, instead of focusing upon the demands of this natural world, and our society, we ought to focus our selves upon the things which are above, up in heaven.  This does not mean we become detached from daily living, meditating endlessly upon divine thoughts to the exclusion of all else.  No, it means that everything that I observe must be seen through "divine eyeglasses", everything that I do must be done as if I were doing it for Christ Jesus Himself.  My motivation must fundamentally change, "off with the old, on with the new." 

That is all for this study my friends.  There are more passages which I could draw into this, but it is time to move on to other topics.  I am confident that you now have a glimpse of the power which has been given unto you as a believer in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.  You have been created anew through the power of the One who created everything in the universe, what more do you need for motivation?

~Eric

Wed, Sep 28th - 12:53PM

GOD IN CREATION

"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16)." 

Today, in our current culture in America, the days are full of pernicious things.  Pernicious things are those which are highly destructive and injurious to people, even deadly.  These are things which cause our time to be used ineffectively, to be reduced, and to be taken away altogether.  Therefore, it is mandatory that we walk wisely in order that we may redeem the time. 

"Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:17)." 

Wish to redeem the time?  Then discover and understand the will of God and you will be able to redeem much time.  Otherwise our time will be wasted because we do not know what God desires us to be doing. 

"Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light; Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation (Colossians 1:12-15)."

Here we are told that, as believers in Christ, we have been qualified for a share of what has been allotted to all of the saints in the light.  Each believer will receive what has been already allotted for him/her.  God who delivered us from out of the power of darkness and then transported us into His kingdom, it is He whom we ought to give thanks to.  We recognize that we have redemption in Jesus Christ, the Son of His love.  Verse fifteen then gets back to what I have been presenting to you.  Jesus Christ, the Son of His love, is the image of the invisible God and is the First-born of all of creation.  It is here, at this verse, that many people stumble and fall short of the glory of God Almighty.  They take issue with that phrase "first-born of all creation."  What they stumble over is the concept that Jesus Christ is a biological offspring of God the Father.  That is not the case.  God's Spirit indwelled Mary and an immaculate conception occurred.  No sexual intercourse was involved and thus no biological connection was made between a "father" and and a mother.  How could God manage this conception?  I do not understand how, but God is capable of doing anything that He desires to do.

So Christ is the image, the expression, of God's being in all of His attributes and virtues (II Corinthians 3:18, and Colossians 3:10).  God is invisible to the naked, human, eye.  But Jesus Christ came to be made manifest if human flesh so that mankind could see God, even though He was veiled in human flesh.

That is all for today beloved.  I wish that we could have gotten a little further along, but, we shall tomorrow!  Grace and peace be yours!

~Eric

Tue, Sep 27th - 1:51PM

GOD IN CREATION

"All created things are living in the Hand of God.  The senses see only the action of the creatures; but faith sees in everything the action of God."   

                   ~J.P. De Caussade, Abandonments to Divine Providence

In Genesis we read about how God created the universe from out of the nothingness.  First there was darkness, the utter lack of any light, and then He created light in order to divide the darkness.  This dovetails into Ephesians 5 where we also read about light and darkness, for once we too were full of darkness but then Christ created light within us.  One speaks of physical light and darkness while the other speaks of spiritual darkness and light.  Thus we find out that the God of Creation is also the God of creating spiritual life within us upon salvation from our sinful nature.  He is the God of ultimate love and compassion.  And yet, He is also the God of justice and holiness.

Looking back to verse five, we can see that the kingdom of Christ can't be inherited by fornicators, greedy persons, nor unclean persons.  This is the Millennium being spoken of (Revelation 20:4, Matthew 16:28), but also the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:41, 43).  Christ has invoked creative powers, regenerated believers in Him into the kingdom of God (John 3:5), and they are in the church life, doing all things as unto Christ Jesus. 

As God is light, so Satan is darkness.  It is what fuels the imaginations of people and finds its expression on the written page and upon the silver screen of Hollywood.  Once we were darkness because we were by default with Satan.  But upon becoming redeemed through the blood of Christ we are light and become one with God in Christ.  We pass from out of spiritual darkness into the light of spiritual discernment.  We are then urged to walk as children of light, to daily live out our newfound discernment and to not stumble back into darkness.

We are instructed as to what the evidences of being a child of light are.  Goodness, righteousness, and truth are the hallmarks of someone walking in the light of God.  We are also warned against participating in the works of dakrness which are characterized as being "unfruitful."  One of the main fruits of darkness is that of vanity.  Instead of participating in the fruits of darkness, we are called upon to uncover them, to expose them for what they really are.  Spiritually dark things are normally conducted during times of physical darkness so that they can't be observed.  People break and enter into homes and businesses after hours, at night, when the lights are all turned off and no one is there to see.  But when light is directed upon the darkness, then what has been done in secret is made manifest, it is exposed for eyes to see.  The dual meaning of darkness and light comes into full focus then.  I can physically stumble around in a room full of furniture by refusing to switch on the overhead light.  Or I can turn the switch on and clearly see to walk around the obstacles and not trip and fall down.  The same concept operates in the spiritual realm.  I can refuse to use the light of Christ to illuminate my life and stumble blindly into all sorts of problems or, I can accept His light and allow God to direct its revealing rays into every nook and cranny of my life so that I am not falling into sin and placing myself in the path of temptation every day.  I can use the "God torch" to illuminate my path in life or I can stubbornly choose to rely upon my physical senses to steer me clear of trouble, even when I can't see anything. 

God commands us to wake up!  "Therefore He says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you (Ephesians 5:14)."

Again, we are confronted with terms which speak of creating things, of renewing things, of regeneration.  Spiritually we have been asleep in the dark but now the call reaches out to us to awake and arise from the dead.  Some of us hear this call and act but many either do not hear or choose to not listen or to not believe what they hear.  It is ever so important a calling, for to not heed the call means to forfeit having the light of Christ shine upon you, it means that you shall remain living in the darkness of the spiritually dead.  You shall remain less than you ought to be.

Upon hearing and heeding God's call, one is to then conduct oneself very carefully in living out one's life.  We are to remember that we have been called to expose those who walk in darkness and thereby give opportunity for the light of Christ to shine upon them.  Verse sixteen of this chapter in Ephesians then goes on to tell us to redeem the time for the days are evil/wicked.  "Redeeming the time" does not mean that we are supposed to keep ourselves physically busy every day, never taking any time to relax.  No, it means to be seizing every opportunity to spread the Word of God to those who have never heard about Jesus Christ.  We are to seize every opportunity to pray for those who are in need of our prayers, to show kindness, to show generosity, to show love, and thus we redeem the time.  We need to evaluate how much of our time is spent upon amusements for amusements are explicitly constructed to divert our attention from more important matters.  They are often meant to deceive, to occupy our attention frivolously, and to addict us to things which are more pleasant than what may be currently ongoing in our personal lives.  Why are cell phones so addictive to adolescents in school?  Because they are an amusement which is so much more pleasing than the drudgery of what is happening in the classroom.  But if they were not allowed into the schools then the students' attention would not be diverted from what the teacher is presenting.  My oldest grandaughter is addicted to her phone, she is frequently texting her friends or else checking to see what texts she has received.  Sometimes she can't walk fifteen feet without stopping two to three times to do this!  That is being addicted.  The tail is wagging the dog. 

That is all for today beloved.  I hope to continue tomorrow as long as I have internet access.  May Christ bless you and keep you.

~Eric

Wed, Sep 21st - 1:08PM

GOD IN CREATION

I wish to look into Ephesians chapter five and take a look at what it has to add to our study about God's involvement in creation.  We know that we believe God was present at, and carried out, the creation of our universe.  But what are the further ramifications of accepting that concept/premise?  Has God given to us further insights which radiate out from that specific point in time?

"Be imitators of God therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people (Ephesians 5:1-3)." 

We are urged to become imitators, followers, of God and thus live a life of love which will be an exact reflection of how Christ loved us.  We are reminded that Jesus willingly gave Himself up for us, He was not coerced or forced in any manner into being crucified.  The Roman soldiers could not have seized Him unless He allowed them.  But then, we are told that we are to strive towards living lives of purity.  We are to avoid all hints of immorality, greed, or any other kind of impurity.  That is a very high order of living.  But this is the type of life which God expects His called people to strive towards, with His help.

"Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.  For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.  Therefore do not be partners with them(Ephesians 5:4-7)." 

We find here more instruction on what kind of conduct is acceptable in the eyes of God.  Obscene, profane speech filled with sexual innuendoes is to be avoided at all costs.  We are told flat out that immoral, impure, and greedy people have absolutely no place reserved for them in the kingdom of God.  We are not to closely associate ourselves with people who practice deception, indulge in foolish imaginations, and generally are disobedient to God.  To remain constantly in their presence is to risk becoming exactly like them. 

Now we come to the section of which I am keenly interested in.

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:8-10)."

I would suggest that you go back and reread Genesis chapter one.  Notice that there was nothing but darkness until light was created.  Light divided the darkness.  Light revealed what was being created.  This line of thought also appears in Colossians 1 and I Thessalonians 5.  For next time, ponder this concept that you were once darkness before you came to accept Christ Jesus.  But then you came into the light of God.   You are now a child of light if you exhibit the illustrated fruits.  Your life's conduct ought to be filled with goodness, truth, and righteousness for there should not be idolatry and wickedness dominating your life anymore.  You should be actively seeking out what pleases Christ Jesus.  Are you? 

That is all for today my friends.  Hope to find you back here once again!  Grace and peace of Christ Jesus be yours this day.

~Eric

Mon, Sep 12th - 10:08PM

GOD IN CREATION

Sat, Sep 10th - 4:12PM

GOD IN CREATION

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them.  For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:18-21)." 

These four verses inform us that the entire universe is a revelation of the power and deity of God.  We are taught here that that which may be known of God is already evidenced in us.  That the invisible things of God from the very creation of the earth are to be clearly seen for they are understood by those visible things that were made.  So we learn that there is a connection between the visible world and the invisible world; we can learn things about the invisible realm by carefully observing our visible realm all around us.  This is where science provides us with valuable data.  The issue always is how do we interpret the data given to us by scientific endeavors.  Because of science we know that what we see with our eyes can be quite misleading.  A table appears to be solid wood, hard, and durable.  The reality is that the wood is composed of mostly empty space and that the energy bonds which hold the molecules and atoms together are helping to provide the characteristic of hardness and color.  So science can provide us with data which reveals the truth about God and us.  It is up to us to properly interpret this data so that we do not become mislead about reality. 

Verse 20 informs us of the deity of God, of His composition.  If we wish to understand how God's Holy Spirit operates and can move through this universe unimpeded, then we are directed to consider the wind.  It can not be seen except by its effect upon other objects.  Pentecost was an event where the Holy Spirit moved in a fashion like both wind and fire.  So we can observe the Holy Spirit's movement through His effect upon various people around us, and upon us as well.  If someone changes their conduct and character dramatically, it could very well evidence the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

By studying our natural world carefully we can find evidence of His eternal power.  It is the answer to the question of what powers our universe.  It answers the question of how could a "Big Bang" even possibly have happened.  God has provided the energy required for chemical bonds which hold matter together.  Without His energy none of the stars in our night time skies would twinkle nor would our sun give off light and heat.  Christ Jesus created all of that and now sustains it all with His unlimited power.  The bottom line is that men of science are especially without excuse to rejecting God as real, as are the rest of mankind.  To claim that everything has happened by chance and by mutation is a pipedream which defies logic and mathematics.

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen (Romans 1:22-25)."  

Here is the condemnation of mankind's egotism and rebellion against God.  Wisdom is defined in our dictionaries as being accumulated philosophic or scientific learning: knowledge.  Or it is the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; insight.  Perhaps we discover the deeper meaning by checking the definition of "wise" which means marked by deep understanding, keen discernment, and a capacity for sound judgment; exercising or showing sound judgment; synonyms are sage, sapient, judicious, prudent, sensible, sane.  We are given the impression that to be wise is to exercise good judgment and restraint, to be able to reach sound decisions and just conclusions, and above all else to remain levelheaded and rational in our actions and words. 

Mankind believes that it is becoming wiser every day through the discoveries of science.  Not necessarily.  Yes, we are gaining new information/knowledge almost daily.  But that is not what wisdom is.  How we use the knowledge is much, much, more important than the fact that we have gained it.  Will we ever know if using atomic energy to end the second world war was the wisest choice?  It can easily be argued that by doing so the genie was let out of the bottle, never to be put back in ever again, or that Pandora's Box got opened and the world could never be the same again.  And so learned men of science continuously gather ever more knowledge about our universe, and claim that they have become wise when in actuality they have become fools for believing that they now understand how the world operates. 

Verse 21 informs us that because people have all of the knowledge required to know God is real but they do not choose to glorify Him nor to even be thankful for having the world around them, they have become vain in their reasonings about how everything began and their foolish heart has been darkened.  Don't forget that phrase, "their foolish heart was darkened."  We are going to run across that again. 

Because the majority of people today have changed the glory of God into something considered to be repugnant, they have been allowed to revel in uncleanness of conduct.  Unbelievers claim that God enjoys eating babies, enslaving millions of people, preys upon those of weak intellects.  They even claim sometimes that God enjoys our suffering and is a sado-masochist.  These are the sorts of lies that these verses are alluding to.  These are the sorts of imaginations/reasonings that unbelievers have thrown in the face of God since the Garden of Eden was closed to humanity.  Cain felt that God was playing favorites and had engaged in the classic cat and mouse play with him.  Vain reasonings which then lead to being allowed to simply wallow in the "mud" of sin.  Today we must contend with claims that homosexuality is something which God created and that it is noble, and good for humanity.  That which is wicked will be claimed to be good while that which is good is claimed to be wicked.  All has already been prophesied by God in His Word. 

So we must realize that mankind in general has turned its back upon God and the truth, has changed the truth into a lie, and have chosen instead to worship human efforts rather than the worthiness of God our Creator. 

Next time I shall continue with verses 26-32 of Romans one and bring out the aspects of this ongoing issue of whether or not God created homosexuality to be something good.  Hope you come on back to continue this study with me.  Be happy, grow in Christ, pay close attention to what I have written, live in harmony and peace.  May the God of love and peace be with you on this weekend during which we remember the events of September 11th ten years ago, and keep the families of those lost on that day in our prayers.

~Eric

Sun, Sep 4th - 7:17PM

GOD IN CREATION