January 1, 2012

"God Saw That It Was Good" (1/1)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 1-3.

“God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10).

Six times, the record of Creation tells us that God saw His work as good. These came after God created or ordered something – the creation of light (v. 3-4), separation of the dry land from the seas (v. 9-10), creation and growth of plants (v. 11-12), ordering of the sun, moon, and stars (v. 14-18), creation of sea life and birds (v. 20-21), and the creation of land animals (v. 24-25). At each point, the text indicates that God saw His progress and that it was good.
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June 17, 2011

The “Miracle” of Birth

Baby yawning

It is common to hear people speak of the “miracle of birth.” The birth of a child is truly an amazing event that is only possible because of our Creator. Yet the term miracle is often misused and abused by people to simply describe something incredible or coincidental. The miracles described in the Bible, however, are different. Speaking in Biblical terms, is it accurate to describe birth as a miracle?
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January 7, 2011

Did God Use the “Big Bang” to Create the Universe?

Space

For a long time there has been a conflict between the teaching of the Bible and the beliefs of the scientific community in general over the origin of the universe. On one hand, you have the Biblical account of God creating the universe from nothing in six days. On the other hand, you have a theory held by many scientists that says the universe came into being when a ball of matter of unknown origin exploded (”Big Bang”), sending particles shooting through space, which eventually, somehow, formed planets and stars, bred life, and, over millions of years, through a long string of lucky mutations, those first single-cell organisms evolved into every living thing that we see in the world today.

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July 12, 2010

By Your Providence

Sunset

God’s providence is something that many people take for granted, yet do not have a definitive way to explain it. We often resort to a “who knows” approach in trying to explain providence, citing the example of Mordecai as he spoke to Esther about her position as Queen: “And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

If we are going to talk about God’s providence, instead of taking a “who knows” approach, allowing anything and everything to be attributed to God, we should endeavor to speak where the Bible speaks. What does the Bible say about providence?
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January 14, 2010

All Continues Just as it Was

When Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles were there to witness the event. Afterward, two angels appeared to them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Christians today “eagerly wait” for the Lord to return, as the angels said He would, and bring the faithful home to heaven (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

That was about two thousand years ago. Yet we remain watchful, knowing that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Peter 3:10). But there are many today who will ridicule this idea. They say we should live as we please here because this is the only life we will have. We should not be surprised that there are such people. After all, Peter wrote about them in the first century. As the apostle began discussing the day of the Lord, he wrote, “Knowing this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
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December 21, 2009

How Much Does God Hate Sin?

Flight of Lot

Sin is not taken very seriously by many in our society. People ignore it, make excuses for it, and joke about it. This casual attitude is in stark contrast with the way God views sin.

There are three examples from the book of Genesis that clearly demonstrate to us just how much God hates sin. We will briefly look at each of these examples as well as how they compare with God’s view of sin under the gospel age.
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November 24, 2009

Know Well the Condition of Your Flocks

Sheep at sunset

Our country is in the midst of a recession. The economic outlook for the future is uncertain. Unemployment continues to rise. The national debt is ballooning at an astronomical rate. Naturally, people are worried about their financial situation, both for the present and the future.

Despite all of this, we have the responsibility to provide for ourselves (2 Thessalonians 3:10), our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and be able to help those in need (Ephesians 4:28). Paul told us of the importance of working hard so as to not be a burden to anyone (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8). But how can we do this if the economy collapses?

Christians ought to first consult the Bible to see what instructions are contained there that would relate to this economic crisis. The proverb writer has a very important reminder for us that we should notice, particularly with the current progression we are seeing in this country.
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