The Bricklayer Builds

As we witness the beginning of this earth, we have seen a being existing before time willing into existence time and the heavens and the earth from nothing. For the finale to the first day, He commands that there be light. The next day continues with His grand creation of an expanse running horizontally between two bodies of water and He names the expanse 'heaven'. Now we rise to a new day, the third day of creation.

God continues to lay the foundation of the habitation He planned the greatest of His creations which He planned - man. We pick up in verse 9 of Genesis chapter 1.

And God said (commanded), "Let the waters (remember from v. 2 that the waters covered the entire earth) under (not above) the heaven (the expanse) be gathered together (bound or collected) unto one place, and let the dry land (dry earth not mud) appear (be seen): and it was so (it happened). Notice here that when God tells something to happen, it does. Not only does it happen, it does it instantly with no arguing. Example for us, do you suppose?

The third day of creation is not over yet. Observe. And God called (named) the dry land Earth (firm land); and the gathering together(collection) of the waters called (named) he Seas (seas): and God saw that it was good (it pleased God in its completeness or perfectness). When God makes something, it is perfect or complete and pleasing. All I ever make are complete messes.
And God said (commanded), Let the earth (firm land) bring forth (produce) grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind (species), whose seed (offspring) is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so (it happened). Which came first, the seed or the grass?
And the earth (firm land) brought (did as it was told) forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind (species), and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind (species): and God saw that it was good (it pleased God in its completeness or perfectness).
And the evening and the morning were the third day (The end of the third day).

Another busy day as our God builds the habitation for man, adding two more blocks to the foundation. We see firm land and grass, herbs that produce its own seed, and fruit trees that produce their own seed. A very important fact that we should not over look is that these all produced seed or offspring according to itself. The offspring looked like its parent (for lack of a
better word). In other words, grass did not produce fruit trees, neither did fruit trees produce herbs. We also witness the instantaneous obedience of the creation to the will of the Creator as we read the phrase "it was so". God, being our Creator, has the right of our, the created, immediate obedience. More on that topic later, I promise. Final thought on this passage: Not only does God command and it happens but it is perfect/complete and pleasing. Watch the sun rise some morning and say that it is not beautiful. How magnificent is our God!?!

Christian

Every Artiste Needs Atmosphere!

We left off with our Creator bringing forth light for this world that He was creating. And we noted that all that dwell here on earth from the tiniest plant to the mightiest animal need light to function an grow. Let us continue our journey through the event that began all events.

Now, when God beheld the light that He had created, He saw that it was good, beautiful, sweet, best, bountiful, or perfect. So it pleased God and He set it apart from the darkness by calling the light day and the darkness night. Then it says: "And evening and morning were the first day." God here does two very important things for us. First, he defines His terms. Light equals Day and Darkness equals Night; and that one full day requires an evening and a morning. Why evening first? Let me suggest to you that it is because the darkness was here first (see verse two). Second, God establishes the first boundaries of time. He sets forth that evening and morning were the first day. I refer to this because there are those who disagree as to the definition day in this verse claiming it is possible that the days could have lasted several thousand years so that man and all life could all evolve (this is the theory of theistic evolution). You and I know that a day is 24 hours. Since God recorded His word in terms that man could comprehend: day is a literal 24 hours and therefore not an abstract 24 eon period of time. Back on topic: God records that evening and morning was a day and the first one ended with the heavens and the earth being formed and light being created and separated from the darkness. What an eventful first day!!

Notice that it does not say that God stopped creating and took a nap. No, He continued His work. For now it was time for another aspect of this wonderful creation, Atmosphere!! And no, we are not talking about mood. God kept to His plan for a habitable place for man. Another block of the foundation that is required for all things on this earth to function and grow is atmosphere. Without atmosphere the earth would simply be a ball devoid of life floating through space. So God said "Let there be a firmament (expanse) in the midst (middle) of the waters and let it divide the waters form the waters." Imagine a dam which separates the water of the lake from the water of the river. This expanse was not a vertical one but a horizontal one, for the next verse shows the location of the expanse. "God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under (location) the firmament (expanse) from the waters which were above (location) the firmament: and it was so." Now we have atmosphere. Some believe that the waters above the expanse created a tropical rainforest effect. But I digress.

Remember that we talked in the last paragraph about how God defined His terms? Well the next verse does exactly that again. "And God (creator) called (named) the firmament (expanse) Heaven (sky). And the evening and the morning were the second day." There is that time line again. I want you to also notice that it was God, not man, that named these items: Light, Darkness, Day, Night, Heaven, and more to come.

So at this time we have three parts of the foundation required for man to live. They are: 1.) a place to live, 2.) Light for functioning and growing, and 3.) atmosphere also for living, functioning and growing. How awesome is our Creator who by His power causes things to appear from nothing, by His thought worlds are formed in their smallest detail, and by His presence things are provided for man.

Christian

The Saga continues

We have inventors, we have artists, we even have smart people. But nothing in this world can hold a candle to the one that made us all. As we continue our journey through the first chapter of Genesis, we can see these aspects of people displayed in spectacular relief by our Creator.

Notice that in the first verse as we discussed the other day, that God existed before time and before the physical. For it says, "In the beginning (when time began) God (already there) created (means "1. To bring into being; to form out of nothing; to cause to exist. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.) the heavens (the universe) and the earth (locally, the planet we live on). We already, in the introduction, discussed how this verse introduced us to God in His power, eternality, and His wisdom. Yet lets take a closer look. Even our most renowned of inventors can not say that they created their contribution to our society. They had to take materials that were already present in this world and turn them into a different form. Yet here we have God bringing into existence this world by His will. How awesome is our God!?!

But the drama that is creation continues to unfold. Watch it with me. The second verse of Genesis one says that, though the earth and heavens were formed, the earth had no form (was desolate and worthless) and was dark. It also says that there was a Spirit of God. Strong's exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew and Greek, defines Spirit here as "
by resemblance, spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions)" So now we have God, and the Spirit of God. It is interesting to note that in the Hebrew the word which we translate God in Genesis 1 is Elohim and is a plural word used in the singular sense. But I digress. So the earth was desolate, or worthless and it was dark. It also had water, deep water.

So God, as He planned for man an habitation, had some work to do. All things that on this earth dwell require something to function and to grow. Even man (in the broadest sense of the word and not regarding gender) needs vitamin D to function efficiently. So God, in the third verse, says "Let there be light." Then something happens that again demonstrates God's power. It says, "and there was light". There have been many times I have said "Let there be light." but nothing ever happened until I or someone else flipped the switch. And this was done for the purpose of a functioning and habitable place for man to live. What an awesome God!

Christian

Introductions

I would like to begin by stating I am young and know a little. God has blessed me in many ways and I strive to be a good steward of those blessings. But let God be the judge of my efforts. Not much of an introduction I'll grant you.

Introductions are a fundamental part of life. We are introduced to our parents at birth; introduced to books good and bad; introduced to people, to seminars, to sermons, etc. So why would it surprise one to know that the greatest book on this earth introduces us to the greatest being in the whole of creation: our Creator?

As we open the Bible and begin to read the first verse of Genesis, we find that we are introduced to God. As we continue through that first chapter, God is spectacularly introduced to us. Read with me if you will:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. If we were to apply our grammar skills to this sentence we see that "In the beginning" is a prepositional phrase denoting time; "God" is the noun (Person, place, thing, or idea) or object of the sentence; "created" is the action or verb; "the heaven and the earth" are the direct objects of the action. What does all this mean to us and what does it have to do with the topic of introductions? In this verse we are introduced to the eternal nature of God ("In the beginning God"); His omnipotence or power ("created the heaven and the earth"); and to His omniscience or knowledge of how to create things that work.

As we continue to read down through this chapter in Genesis, we are impressed with the thought, planning and purpose displayed by our Creator. Here we have God creating light and darkness, day and night, atmosphere, land, water, plants, birds, fish, animals all for His final and most glorious creation: Man. God, the most awesome, the most powerful, the most supreme being planned this world for man and planned man for something even greater. What an introduction!!!

Christian