And God Said...
Hello, welcome to my page for Bible study. It is my sincere hope that you will open your Bible and see for your self the truths contained within it. There is no substitute for personal exploration of Biblical truth.
I developed this page because I see more and more people confused about the will of God. Some have given up on it all together, and left it in the hands of theologians or their preacher to decipher it for them. However, we live in a time when we cherish individual freedom of expression to the extent that we want to apply it to the Bible as well. This thinking is so very dangerous and I am going to show you why for these reasons:
2 Timothy 3:16,17
When God has spoken, it has always been to the benefit of man. God has never given directives in order to oppress or to demean mankind. The psalmist asks of God, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor." (Ps 8:4-5)
Of all the creation, God created man "in His own image." He breathed into man "the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Man was the crown of God's creation. He gave man dominion over all the creation, and placed him in control. God gave man a special position in a garden called Eden along with a specially created companion to be a help to him.
Then God gave man some special commands. Commands which could be obeyed with absolutely no effort. Commands which would be to the benefit of man at that time. No where do we find that God was trying to withhold blessings from man. God asked that man simply refrain from eating of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Then, the "Father of lies" enters the picture, and seduces Eve to partake of the fruit which God commanded them not to eat, and she gave some to Adam, thus sin was entered into the world.
If you look at Genesis three, you find God set in motion the plan to redeem man from sin. Here the inspired writer notes, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Gen 3:15) God says to Satan, I will cause division between you and the woman (representative of Christ), thy seed and her seed (Jesus). He (Jesus) shall bruise thy head (a death blow) and you shall bruise his heel (a non-fatal wounding) Later we find in Paul's second letter to Timothy, "Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God; who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus BEFORE TIMES ETERNAL." (2 Tim 1:8-9)
The word used by Paul here in the original Greek language would translate,
1) without beginning and end, what has always been and always will be
2) without beginning
3) without end, never to cease, everlasting
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "We speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought: but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, (even) the (wisdom) that hath been hidden, which God foreordained BEFORE THE WORLDS UNTO OUR GLORY:" (1 Cor 2:6-7).
This beautiful scheme of redemption, born in the mind of God before times eternal, and fulfilled through the gift of His only begotten Son Jesus, is marvelous indeed. Note: "So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world: but when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (Gal 4:3-5) There was a specific time in the mind of God when His Son would come into this world to complete the redemptive process. Nothing was by chance, nothing was done by mere happenstance. Jesus did not fail at Calvary. It was the greatest victory the world has ever known, and because of His victory over death, we, with Paul, ask, "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 15:55-57)
Jesus, who knew no sin (2 Peter 2:22 John 14:30), but became sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21) died on the cross just as God had designed it. If you go back to the wonderful imagery presented by Isaiah the prophet you get a glimpse into the life of our Saviour. "He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isa 53:3-5) Since Isaiah wrote this about 750 years before Jesus was born, you might ask yourself, how could God allow this to happen to His Only Begotten Son? The answer is found later in the chapter. Look at verse ten, "Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see (his) seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand." (Isa 53:10)
Jesus paid the price for your sin and mine on the cross. This the good news of the gospel. This is the amazing grace of an Almighty God. This is mercy at its purest. This is the hope upon which we look to a heavenly home. This is the event we memorialize on the first day of the week. The death, burial and resurrection of Christ constitute the gospel message (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). It is to this gospel that we MUST be obedient if we are to partake of its blessings. We are blessed to be called of God through the gospel. "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thess 2:13-14)
Paul wrote, "Blessed (be) the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly (places) IN CHRIST:" (Eph 1:3) You can only get into Christ by believing in Him, John 8:24; repenting of sin, Acts 17:30,31; confessing Him as Lord Matthew 10:33,34; Romans 10:9,10, and being buried with Him in Baptism Mark 16:15,16; Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:26,27; 1 Peter 3:21. There is no other way to salvation except the way the Lord set forth in His inspired Word. Men may debate, challenge or change whatever suits their religious ideology, but it will never change the mind and will of God.
In 2nd John verse 9, we are warned,"Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son." Yet, so many in the religious world today seem oblivious to this warning. There are many who feel free to meet in councils to decide what their particular stance or belief will be for "their" church on religious issues. While they meet, God has already decided long ago what everyone's stance should be. I know people say, well, "that's being narrow-minded." I want to be as "narrow minded" as the word of God allows, and no more.
If you look at Biblical history, God is always exact in what He wants. He does not spend time giving long lists of minutiae of things He does not want. For instance, God told Noah to build an Ark of gopher wood. Can you imagine rehearsing with Noah all the kinds of wood He did not want used. However, many today add to God's word with this logic, saying, God did not say we could not, therefore, it must be okay to do it.
Lets's look at some examples of what God did say, and notice the exactness of God. Get out your Bible and turn to Numbers chapter twenty. There God tells Moses to "speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink." (Num 20:8)However, Moses was so angry with the people for their constant complaining that he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Well, they got their water, but Moses received severe punishment. This great leader, who had brought this rebellious people out of bondage was told by God, "Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." (Num 20:12) You mean Moses could not enter the Promised Land? That is exactly what God said to Moses. Now, do we want to take that kind of risk with our eternal home doing what we want to do in the way we want to do it?
Look at 1 Samuel fifteen where Saul, king of Israel, is given explicit instructions by God. God said, "Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." (1 Sam 15:3) But Saul, "and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs-everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed."(1 Sam 15:9) So, God sent His prophet Samuel to see Saul and ask why Saul had disobyed His direcitves. Saul wanted to say he brought back some animals for religious reasons (to sacrifice to God). Samuel gave him God's message, ""Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." (1 Sam 15:22-23) Christians are a "royal priesthood" awaiting a crown of righteousness. What small rebellion against the will of God would we accept in exchange for that crown?
Then in 1 Chronicles 13, we are introduced to a man named Uzzah. There is not much known about him except in these brief verses, but the lesson to us is powerful. Long before this incident God had given the task of carrying the Ark of the Covenant to the sons of Levi. This was the priestly tribe, and no one but those from the tribe of Levi could touch the Ark of the Covenant. Because of sin on the part of Israel, the Ark of the covenant ended up in the hands of the Philistnes. Now, David the king has decided to go and retrieve it. He circumvents God's will by having a new cart built to transport it. God had willed that it be born on the shoulders of the sons of Levi. So, we are already headed for disaster. After they get it back, they were on their way back, and this fellow Uzzah thought the Ark of the Covenant was going to fall from the cart, so he reached out and touched it. Uzzah was NOTof the tribe of Levi.And the scripture says, "the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Uzzah, and he smote him, because he put forth his hand to the ark; and there he died before God." (1 Chron 13:10) Are we beginning to understand, GOD MEANS EXACTLY WHAT HE SAYS?
Irregardless of the persuasions of men, God's word will stand and we will be judged by it. We will not be judged by what we felt was right, or by what the preacher said was right, or what the governing body of the church said was right, but ontly what God's word says is right. Jesus said, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I spake not from myself; but the Father that sent me, he hath given me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life eternal: the things therefore which I speak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak." (John 12:48-50) The apostle John was allowed to glimpse into a scene of the judgment bar of God in that final day. He writes by inspiration,"And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is (the book) of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, (even) the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire."(Rev 20:12-15) Folks, if we fail to keep the commandments of God revealed in the first "books," we can forget about our names being written in the second book, the book of life.
Now, let me back up here lest someone get a fatalistic view of God. God's desire is expressed in a letter from Paul to Timothy.He wrote, "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim 2:3-4) Peter records,"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)Now, what will you do with Jesus, my friend?
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