In The Beginning

[SeniorSeeker]

[size=x-large]In the Beginning[/size]

Memory Text: "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16, NKJV).

This Week's Study: Matt. 19:4; Job 38:4-7; Deut. 32:10, 11; Psalm 19; John 1:1-13; Rom. 5:12; Isa. 66:22.

Matthew 19:4
4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female

Job 38:4-7
4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Deuteronomy 32:10-11
10 "He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings

Psalms 19 To the Chief Musician, A Psalm of David

John 1:1-13 The Eternal Word
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

n/t

 

[Mike Chgo area]

n/t

 

[lud]

I like 4.54 billion years. I am a Christian, and you can be a Christian and believe in evolution guided by the Grand Architect of the Universe.

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

Evolution and Creation are mutually exclusive, if one be true then the other is a lie.

The big problem is the origin of sin.

According to evolution death, through a certain process, brought man into being. Lesser beings died out and, over long ages, somehow produced an ever improving model until man finally came to be.

Thus death existed LONG before mankind did, and so the Scriptural claim that man's sin brought death is shown to be false according to the evolutionary theory.

But the Scriptures clearly teach that death came because man sinned.

If evolution is correct, then in reality God created man by means of death, and thus the claim that sin brought death is not true. The whole truth of salvation through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour is thus thrown into confusion.

If the Scriptures are not true on the creation account, then they are untrustworthy and who could then say what was true and what was false?

The whole of Scripture stands or falls on it being true and the very Word of God.

Evolution and Creation are mutually exclusive, if one be true then the other is a lie.

We must trust the Word of God over the word of men every time.

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

n/t

 

[lud]

Wow, quite a theory!

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

Lud, old mate, this is not some sort of theory but rather the clear teaching of the Scriptures.

Death was not intended by God and was brought about by the sin of our forefather as the Scriptures clearly teach, as follows:

Gen. 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man,

 

[SeniorSeeker]

Amen Brother!

 

[7centsworth]

Amen SeniorSeeker and Amen C nyal de kaye!

 

[lud]

ok, great. amen.

so you like take the bible literally???? serious??

you believe in young earth creationism, like dr. dino, kent hovind?

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

Yes, I do and I speak for myself, for God was, is and will always be.....there are no ands, ifs or buts about Who He is and Who Jesus is: For He is the Messiah (God with us) by being born in the flesh of man but was perfect in that he had no sin being fully man and fully God but born of a Virgin, who knew not a man intimately, but was overshadowed by God's Holy Spirit and conceived Jesus, Who lived and died for all sinners that we might be saved and living with Him, eternally! By opening yourself to God and giving Him your all, you will know without a doubt that He is the Creator of all things and rules the world, although satan has been allowed to rule the earth for a short time to cause so much evilness and wickedness among mankind but he, too, will meet his end when he is cast into the Lake of Fire where all sinners and unbelievers will be unless they truly accept and believe in Who Jesus is and that He is the Savior of all by asking Him to show Himself to us and to come into our hearts by confessing we are a sinner, Who will cleanse away all our sins by forgiveness through His precious shed blood and the washing of His Holy Living Word and Jesus is the Living Word! Amen! Believe in Jesus and accept the truth of the Bible and ye shall be saved! Amen! Ma Betty

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

I have not heard of Kent Hovind and do not know anything about him, so I cannot respond to that. But, whoever he may be, he is irrelevant to this discussion.

The answer is "yes." The Bible is meant to be taken literally. How desperately we want words like "If we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" to be literal.

How many great promises are there that we desperately want to be literal? Thousands.

The Scriptures are to be taken literally and thus even a child can understand the wonderful truths of God.

The interesting thing about your comment Lud is that you do not respond to the question of the origin of death. I am not interested in winning a point, but rather in making the following point so clearly outlined by God in the Scriptures viz: Death came because man sinned.

If that be true then the evolutionary theory collapses. If it is not true then the Word of God collapses. The idea that God created mankind through the death of many lesser beings is surely a nonsense.

Death came because of sin and Christ died to redeem us from it. Denying the origin of death as outlined in the Bible throws the whole of the Scriptures into turmoil.

In the New Testament St Paul shows the literal interpretation of Scripture when he argues that sin brought death. He links it to the life and death of Jesus our Saviour; and it irrevocably is. This passage is from Romans 5 "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned ... For if, by the trespass of the one man, (he is referring to Adam) death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God

 

[lud]

origin of death?

listen, when you die, you die. death comes because your earthy body wears out, or you have some unfortunate calamity, like getting blown to bits by an IED.

i am a christian but see the creation story as a story, written several thousand years ago, by a man, or woman. these people didn't have any scientific understanding, they needed simple explanations for complex things to soothe their minds. I believe in God and the teachings of Jesus, so I am a Christian.

the old testament was around for a long time, but the new testament? well, that was thrown together by a bunch of former pagan Romans several hundred years after Jesus lived.

listen, the vision of Christianity that you people see, is my vision's greatest enemy.

 

[lud]

Furthermore, regarding the bible the the creation fable and it's sexism, I think it is horrible!! first and foremost of all, God is God, not He, Him or Heavenly Father, just God!
Now, for the treatment of women. Well, poor conceptual first woman, Eve. Womankind, through her, has taken the rap for bringing evil into this world by coercing poor conceptual first man, Adam, to eat from the tree of "knowledge." If i was God, I would have destroyed them both, made a couple more, say Bill and Edith, and left the tree of "knowledge" out of the stinking garden!

 

[f75tom]

I'm with LUD on this one.
I've got a question for you guys-what if Adam had not eaten from the tree of knowledge? We would have quadrillions of people roaming the earth without death. Death is good-it leaves room for new life. If nobody died, there wouldn't be room for more generations. How would you sustain life with that many beings on this earth? How would you take care of someone thats 4000 years old-talk about a lot of disposable depends/diapers

As far as the theory of evolution-lesser forms are dying out every year and becoming extinct. Dinosaurs were here long before 4000 years ago, and you can't tell me that man co-existed with them. I just want to hear your sound theories-blast away.

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

mankind living longer during the time of Adam and Eve was because the earth was made perfect until sin entered the world by satan's lies and deceiving ways....he twisted God's warning words in just a way that he fooled Eve and Adam was right there with her and should have stopped her....because man is the head of woman and God is the head of man!

The reason they grew older back then was no pollution was in the Garden of Eden and then when cast out of the Garden lest they would live forever, it took longer for them to die but they did die! No one lived to be 4000 years old and if man had not sinned and lived in the Garden forever....there would be no need for depends as perfectness in God would have been with no corruption on earth or in man! God would have provided room for all to be with HIm, forevedr! Because sin entered the earth by Adam, Jesus came to set man free and is referred to as the second Adam but being perfect He never sinned! He could and did take all our sins' stripes upon the cross and then lived again after His death!

If you are a true Jesus believing Christian than you would know by God's Holy Spirit within you that the Scriptures are true for He leads us into all truth by our asking, seeking and searching! We have to believe in Jesus' virgin birth, death and resurrection to be a Christian and then we are led by the Spirit into the absolute truth of God by reading and studying the Bible! The Bible was written by those who were led by the Holy Spirit of God to write the Old Testament and then the New Testament was the new Will of God after Jesus died and set us free from the Old Testament men's laws which were written for men of that day! I'm sorry but you err in many, many ways! I cannot say you aren't a Christian but your words and thoughts seem to predict otherwise! The good tree of a Christian is known by the good fruit it bears and the fruit of the sinners is bad to the core! I hope you seek God and ask for guidance, direction and godly wisdom by studying His Word diligently to show yourself approved as a workman of God Jehovah the Almighty and all knowing God Who created the Universe and all things! His love through Jesus Christ as our blessed Savior and Lord forgives us of our sins when we ask forgiveness and tell Him we are sorry and mean it! Amen! Ma Betty

 

[lud]

wow, if you are literally reading the bible, how did you come up with all that? are you using joseph smith's "seer stones?" amazing theory.

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

and Jesus created the World and Universe! Joseph Smith is not in whom we believe, but speaking for myself, he is not Jesus and I personally don't believe what man has written in their books but what God says in His Holy Word the Bible! If man contradicts the Bible than they err just like you seem to be doing! You are arguing instead of quoting scriptures to prove your point like Bro Martin is doing! You are a sad case indeed! We are firm believers on here, so what you say won't matter to most of us, so prove your ideas and thoughts by the Bible if you are a true Christian???!!! Ma Betty

 

[lud]

So,Mormons are not Christians?