creation

Eternal life

Psalm 119:89 states, “Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” “The ‘word’ of God indicates God’s thoughts and will” (H1697). Therefore, it may be concluded that God’s thoughts and will do not change based on temporal activities on earth. We know from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that God decided who would be adopted into his family through Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5). What that means is that before God had even conceived the idea of creating the planet that we live on, he had already thought out his plan of salvation and predetermined who would be saved. God’s ability to think and choose things that are linked to temporal activities is possible because his existence is not limited by time. In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John records his visit to God’s throne in heaven. John said:

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:6-8)

The four living creatures describe the Lord God Almighty as someone “who was and is and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). The words was, is, and is to come refer to “the Eternal, as a divine epithet of Christ” (G3801). John’s gospel begins with a discussion of the eternal existence of Jesus Christ. John said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3). Jesus “is called the logos (G3056), ‘word,’ the term used by the Greeks in reference to the governing power behind all things. The Jews used the term to refer to God. Jesus created everything that is (v.3) and later came to dwell among his creation (John 1:14). There are two main verbs that contrast what Jesus had always been and what he became at his incarnation. There is ēn, the imperfect of eimi (G1510), ‘to be,’ which could be translated as ‘had been.’ This verb is found in every instance in this passage where Jesus is referred to in his eternal state of being (vv. 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 15)…The second verb is egeneto (the aorist form of ginomai [G1096], ‘to become’). It refers to becoming something that one was not before. The Lord Jesus became that which he was not before, a physical being (v. 14)” (note on John 1:1-17). What Jesus had always been and what he became at his incarnation correspond with the was and is of his divine epithet, but the is to come was still in the future at the time of John’s visit to God’s throne room in heaven.

The Hebrew word that is translated forever in Psalm 119:89, ʿowlam (o-lawmˊ) is properly translated as “concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; (generally) time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practical) eternity” (H5769). ʿOwlam is derived from the word ʿalam (aw-lamˊ) which means “to veil from sight” (H5956). Eternity is veiled from our sight in that we cannot think or imagine what it will be like in the present. Jesus used parables to teach his followers about the kingdom of heaven. After he had told them the parable of the sower, Matthew’s gospel tells us, “Then the disciples came and said to him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ And he answered them, ‘To you has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand’” (Matthew 13:10-13). “Jesus spoke in parables to explain spiritual truths, but those who had already rejected Jesus did not have divinely enlightened minds with which to perceive these truths, and no amount of explanation would make them understand” (note on Matthew 13:10-17). Paul explained in his first letter to the Corinthians that the man who is “governed only by his fallen nature is unable to fully understand and apply spiritual truths because he does not possess the indwelling of the Spirit of God” (note on 1 Corinthians 2:14). Paul said, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Greek word that is translated spiritually, pneumatikos (pnyoo-mat-ik-oceˊ) means “non-physical” (G4153) and is derived from the word pheumatikos (pnyoo-mat-ik-osˊ). “Pneumatikos always connotes the idea of invisibility and of power. It does not occur in the Old Testament or in the Gospels; it is in fact an after-Pentecost word. In the New Testament it is used as follows: men in Christ who walk so as to please God are ‘spiritual,’ Galatians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 2:13b, 15; 3:1; 14:37…the resurrection body of the dead in Christ is ‘spiritual,’ i.e. such as is suited to the heavenly environment, 1 Corinthians 15:44; all that is produced and maintained among men by the operations of the Spirit of God is ‘spiritual,’ 1 Corinthians 15:46…The spiritual man is one who walks by the Spirit both in the sense of Galatians 5:16 and in that of 5:25, and who himself manifests the fruit of the Spirit in his own ways. According to the Scriptures, the ‘spiritual’ state of the soul is normal for the believer, but to this state all believers do not attain, nor when it is attained is it always maintained…The spiritual state is reached by diligence in the Word of God and in prayer; it is maintained by obedience and self-judgment” (G4152).

Jesus’ conversation with a rich young ruler began with a question about how he could obtain eternal life. Matthew’s gospel states:

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22)

Jesus’ question, “Why do you ask me about what is good?” (Matthew 19:17) was meant to point out that salvation from eternal death is not the result of something we do, but “it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Jesus told the young man that he could only enter life by keeping the commandments. Basically, what Jesus was saying was that keeping the commandments can get you through the door of eternal life, but in order to get past the judgment seat of Christ you must be perfect or what the Apostle Paul referred to as being “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10, 16-19).

Psalm 119:93 states, “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.” The Hebrew word that is translated given me life, chayah (khaw-yawˊ) speaks of reviving or preserving life (H2421). The King James Version of the Bible translates chayah as quickened in Psalm 119:93. Paul used the word quicken in Romans 8:11 where he talked about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (KJV). The Greek word that is translated quicken, zoopoieo (dzo-op-oy-ehˊ-o) is used “of resurrection life” and “of the ‘changing,’ or ‘fashioning anew,’ of the bodies of the living, which corresponds with, and takes place at the same time as, the resurrection of the dead in Christ” and “means to enable to respond to His voice immediately. Once born again and indwelt by the Holy Ghost, one does not have to wait to be able to respond. Response comes fully and instantaneously.” God’s precepts are things that have been divinely appointed or you might say things that God has issued a mandate that they must occur, “divine intervention in the normal course of events to bring about or fulfill a divine intent” (H6490/H6485). In that sense, never forgetting God’s precepts give us life because the process of remembering what God has done in the past to intervene in our lives involves the quickening of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his disciples shortly before his death and resurrection, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:25-26). An example of the Spirit’s quickening is recorded in John’s gospel. John 2:13-22 states:

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

The disciples weren’t able to grasp the meaning of Jesus’ words until after he was resurrected. John said that they remembered what Jesus said, and as a result, “they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:22). Believing is a necessary element of eternal life. The Greek word that is translated believed, pisteuo (pist-yooˊ-o) means “to have faith” (G4100). In his letter to the Romans, Paul said that Israel did not succeed in reaching a law that would lead them to righteousness, “Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works” (Romans 9:31-32) and then, went on to say:

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:5-17)

Paul acknowledged that there was a type of righteousness that was based on the law that could revive a person’s life, the implication being that it was merely an extension of physical life (Romans 10:5; Leviticus 18:5; H2425), but Paul made it clear that the type of righteousness that is based on faith is necessary for a person to be saved. “In the Christian sense, soteria (which is translated saved in Romans 10:10) is deliverance from sin and its spiritual consequences and admission to eternal life with blessedness in the kingdom of Christ” (G4991). Paul said that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ.

The eternal nature and power of God’s word was demonstrated in his creation of the heavens and the earth out of nothing (Genesis 1:1). It says in Genesis 1:2-3, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” God’s ability to change the condition of his creation by speaking or commanding something to happen was at the heart of his decision to free the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. Exodus 3:7-8 states, “Then the LORD said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” God’s personal involvement in the Israelites’ situation was based on his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:1-21). God’s promise to rescue Abraham’s descendants (Genesis 15:14) was the reason why he went to such great lengths to preserve the Israelites’ lives (Deuteronomy 7:8) even though all the people rebelled against God after hearing the voice of the LORD speak the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Exodus 32:1-6).

Psalm 119:67 states, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.” The Hebrew word that is translated afflicted, ʿanah (aw-nawˊ) has to do with being responsive (H6030) and suggests that we are more sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s influence after God has disciplined us for committing a sin. This seems to be true in the case of Peter, who denied that he knew the Lord three times (Matthew 26:69-74), but was the first apostle to preach the gospel after the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-41). Peter’s sermon resulted in about three thousand people being saved (Acts 2:41). At the conclusion of his sermon, Peter stated, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Luke went on to say:

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:37-41)

The phrase cut to the heart meant that the people were under the Divine influence of God’s word (G2588). Speaking of salvation as entering God’s rest, Hebrews 4:11-13 states, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” The word of God’s pierces our heart by bringing to our minds the things that we’ve done that need to be forgiven. It says that the word of God can discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). In other words, our way of thinking is evident to God by our response to his word.

When he was asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37), Peter told the people that were under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). The three steps of repentance are: 1) new knowledge, 2) regret for the previous course, displeasure with self, and 3) a change of action (G3340). When Jesus described himself as the true bread from heaven (John 6:32), the Jews grumbled because they didn’t see Jesus as the Son of God, but as the son of Joseph (John 6:41-42). Jesus tried to explain to them the concept of communion, but it went right over the Jews heads (John 6:52-59). Afterward, John tells us, “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.’ (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’” (John 6:60-69). The Greek word rhema (hrayˊ-mah), which is translated words in John 6:68, refers to an oral narrative. “The significance of rhema, (as distinct from logos) is exemplified in the injunction to take ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,’ Ephesians 6:17; here the reference is not to the whole Bible as such, but to the individual scripture which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in time of need” (G4487). Peter said that Jesus had the rhema of eternal life; indicating that, in order to be saved and have eternal life, the Holy Spirit must bring to your mind the individual scripture that makes you want to repent and have your sins forgiven.

Paradise

The first Hebrew word that appears in the Bible, re’shiyth (ray-sheeth’) is translated “in the beginning” (Genesis 1:1), but it’s literal meaning is “the first, in place, time, order or rank” (H7225). Re’shiyth corresponds to the temporal aspect of starting something new or expressing oneself through a willful act. It says in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” What this means is that at some specific point in time, when time actually first started to exist, the first thing God ever did was to create the visible sky and the air we breathe, as well as, the invisible heaven where he lives and a planet that he named Earth (Genesis 1:10). The Hebrew word translated created in Genesis 1:1, bara’ (baw-raw’) can only be associated with God because “Only God can ‘create’ in the sense implied by bara’. The verb expresses creation out of nothing, an idea seen clearly in the passages having to do with creation on a cosmic scale” (H1254).

Genesis 1:2 records the state of Earth when it was first created. It says, “The earth was without form, and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Hebrew terms that are translated “without form,” (H8414) “void,” (H922) and “darkness” (H2822) all suggest that Earth was in a negative state before God caused life to exist. It could be that the natural state of the universe is desolation and waste unless or until God intervenes. It says in Genesis 1:2 that “the Spirit of God” was hovering over the waters that covered the entire planet. The Hebrew word translated hovering, rachaph (raw-khaf’) means “to brood” (H7363), inferring that God wasn’t happy with the situation on Earth and was contemplating what to do about it before he took action.

The first six days of recorded history depict what took place when God transformed the Earth into a paradise where mankind could enjoy the fruits of his labor. It is important to note that the things that took place in the first six days, which are recorded in Genesis 1:3-27, don’t have anything to do with the creation of Earth, but only what God did to cause life to exist on our planet. The difference between what happened when God created the universe and what he did to cause life to exist afterward is that we don’t know how God created the universe out of nothing, but we do know that life came into existence by way of God’s spoken words. Genesis 1:3 states, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

The unusual thing about the light that God caused to exist on day one was that it didn’t come from the sun, moon, or stars. These things weren’t brought into existence until day four (Genesis 1:14-19). The initial source of light in the universe was God himself. Revelation 21:23 indicates there will come a time in the future when the sun and moon will no longer be needed on Earth “for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” God’s glory is associated with his attributes and power as revealed through creation (G1391). God’s superior power and position is attested to in Psalm 148 which illustrates the grandeur of God’s creative work and shows us that the purpose of everything that exists is to glorify God. It says, “Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away” (Psalm 148:5-6).

The Hebrew word that is translated established in Psalm 148:6, ‘amad (aw-mad’) refers to something or someone that is meant to worship God. The changeless and immovable nature of things that ‘amad alludes to is associated with “the changelessness of ever-existing being, a quality that only God has in himself” (H5975). One way to look at ‘amad’s connection with creation would be to see that God’s eternal existence requires that other things also exist eternally. God’s original plan was to create an eternal paradise that would accommodate his own and mankind’s need for a place to live forever (Ephesians 1:9). The heavens and the earth were designed by God to be eternal dwelling places or houses where he and man would always co-exist (Ephesians 1:14).

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians began with a description of the spiritual blessings that every believer in Jesus Christ receives. Paul stated, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6). Paul indicated that God selected everyone that would receive his gift of salvation or eternal life through Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world. In other words, God’s plan of salvation was set in motion before there was ever a need for it from a human perspective. God’s primary objective was to have a family that would exist eternally.

Adam and Eve could have fulfilled God’s objective of having an eternal family if they had never sinned. Genesis 2:15-17 states, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'” God’s original commandment to man was meant to protect him from the effects of sin; separation from God and spiritual as well as physical death. The reason why the consequences of the original sin were so severe was probably because God allowed Adam to exercise his free will and therefore, to disassociate or essentially to disconnect himself spiritually from his creator. God told Adam that he would die if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17) and it was his responsibility to share that information with Eve. It’s possible that Adam didn’t tell Eve exactly what God said or that she didn’t fully comprehend what death meant, but she was still accountable to God for her sin.

Psalm 148:11-13 indicates that everyone is expected to honor God and to submit themselves to his will. The psalmist stated, “Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above the earth and heaven.” The Hebrew word translated majesty in this passage, howd (hode) refers to the superior power and position of kings. In every use of the word howd “the one so described evokes a sense of amazement and satisfaction in the mind of the beholder” (H1935).

Genesis 1:26 indicates that man was made in God’s image. It states, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let him have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” The Hebrew word translated likeness, demuwth (dem-ooth’) “signifies the original after which a thing is patterned” (H1823). Adam was not a clone of God, but his physical appearance may have resembled Jesus’ who was the exact representation of God in the form of a man. The Hebrew word translated image in Genesis 1:26, tselem (tseh’-lem) signifies a replica or statue (H6754). What this might suggest is that when God formed Adam out of the dust, he was in a sense making an image of himself, somewhat like a self-portrait that captures the essential physical characteristics that make identification possible.

The glory of God was not transferred to Adam, but it is implied through his action of creating man in his own image that God wanted to share his power and position with mankind. God said that Adam was to have dominion over every living thing (Genesis 1:28). The Hebrew word translated dominion, radah (raw-daw’) means to tread down or subjugate (H7287). One of the things that differentiated Adam from the rest of God’s creation was that he was given a free will, meaning he could decide for himself what he wanted to do. The only restriction God placed on Adam was that he could not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Adam was forbidden to eat from this particular tree because eating its fruit would give him the experience of evil, and therefore, the knowledge of both good and evil (H3045).

The Hebrew word translated evil in Genesis 2:9, ra’ “combines together in one the wicked deed and its consequences. It generally indicates the rough exterior of wrongdoing as the a breach of harmony, and a breaking up what is good and desirable in man and in society. While the prominent characteristic of the godly is lovingkindness (H2617), one of the most marked features of the ungodly man is that his course is an injury both to himself and to everyone around him” (H7451). God’s plan of salvation was put in place before the foundation of the world to counterbalance the effects of humans’ sinful nature. Paul told the Ephesians that God in his insight and wisdom knew that mankind would fail and made a way for everyone to be redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7-8). According to this plan, God intends to unite all things in heaven and things on earth to Christ at the end of time (Ephesians 1:10).

According to the Apostle Paul, God’s provision of salvation was set forth “according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7-8). God’s grace is his unmerited favor that manifests itself as “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life” (G5485). Although grace is related to sins and is the attribute of God that they evoke, “God’s eleos (H1656), the free gift for the forgiveness of sins, is related to the misery that sin brings. God’s tender sense of our misery displays itself in his efforts to lessen and entirely remove it — efforts that are hindered and defeated only by man’s continued perverseness.” Grace is activated in an individual’s life through belief. Paul said of Jesus, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

It is possible that if Adam had been left alone in the garden of Eden, sin would not have entered into the paradise that God created on Earth, but God said that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone, so he created “him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 1:18). Adam and Eve were created by God as distinctly different individuals with the intention that they would be joined together into a single entity that he referred to as the flesh. In order for them to accurately represent God, there needed to be “a loving unity of more than one person” (H6754). The way this unity was to take place was through a process of leaving and cleaving. It says in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” Jesus reiterated the importance of leaving and cleaving in his teaching about divorce and added, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6).

The Greek word translated joined together is derived from the words zeugos (dzyoo’-gos) which means a couple or a pair of anything (G2201) and sun (soon) which denotes union by association or companionship (G4682). Adam and Eve were created by God to be constant companions that were inseparable for life. It says in Genesis 2:25 that “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Perhaps the most important aspect of the paradise that God created for mankind was that there wasn’t supposed to be any shame or feelings of worthlessness in it. Nudity was the natural state of man and was probably meant to reveal the beauty of the human body as a tribute to God’s masterful creation, somewhat like how the Mona Lisa reflects Leonardo De Vinci’s remarkable talent.

The fact that Earth existed as a desolate, barren planet before it was transformed into a magnificent world where beauty and life were possible suggests that God always meant to transform lives rather than make them perfect to start out with. We know that God planned in advance to save mankind (Ephesians 1:4) and expected to recreate the world that he initially established (Revelation 21:1). What this means for us is that we have to accept that we need God’s help to make things right. Paul prayed for the Ephesians “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:17). Paul’s prayer alludes to the fact that Jesus made it possible for Christians to have the knowledge of good and evil without the punishment that goes along with it.

Paul’s prayer identified God as the source of enlightenment. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would have the eyes of their hearts enlightened and would know the hope to which God had called them” (Ephesians 1:18). The Greek word translated enlightened, photizo (fo-tid’-zo) means to shed rays, i.e. to shine or to brighten up (G5461). Photizo is also translated as give light and bring to light. Having our hearts enlightened means that we are able to understand God’s word and can apply it to our own individual circumstances. Paul’s statement about knowing the hope to which God has called us is most likely a reference to accepting God’s gift of salvation, indicating that Paul wanted the Ephesians to become believers.

Paul was convinced that God was able to and would save anyone that wanted to have a relationship with him. Paul’s reference to “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19) emphasized that God has no limitations when it comes to saving people. Paul said, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13) and also indicated that Jesus was given “all rule and authority and power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:21). Paul described Jesus as “the last Adam” and said that he “was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). What Paul probably meant by that was that Jesus was able to undo the effects of the original sin. As a result of being born again, anyone who wants to can go to heaven and have fellowship with God. Paul stated, “As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:48-49).

If you would like to have a relationship with God, you can do so by simply praying this prayer and meaning it in your heart:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite you to come into my heart and life. I want to trust you and follow you as my Lord and Savior.

If you prayed this prayer, please take a moment to write to me at calleen0381@gmail.com and let me know about your decision.

God bless you!

The garden of Eden

The garden of Eden was representative of the idyllic state God intended man to live in. In his original creation, everything God made was good and was meant to be sustained for ever. It was only because Adam and Eve sinned against God that things began to deteriorate. After the earth was cursed, the garden of Eden became restricted and was guarded by angels. It says of Adam in Genesis 3:23-24, “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

It can be assumed that the garden of Eden still exists somewhere in the world, but the fact that it is inaccessible to man means that only God and his angels knows where it is. It is possible that the Assyrian Empire was established near, or perhaps just outside the entrance to the garden. In his parable of the cedar of Lebanon, Ezekiel referred to the Assyrian nation as a tree in the garden of Eden. He said, “The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his bough, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in beauty. I have made him fair by the multitudes of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God, envied him” (Ezekiel 31:8-9).

Perhaps the link between the Assyrian nation and the garden of Eden was the origin of human civilization. If Eden represented the ideal state, then Assyria was most likely the opposite, a degenerate pagan center of idolatry. The Assyrians were know to be cruel and were merciless to their enemies. The Assyrian campaigns against Israel and Judah were the most traumatic political events in the entire history of Israel. “The brutal Assyrian style of warfare relied on massive armies, superbly equipped with the world’s first great siege machines manipulated by an efficient corps of engineers. Psychological terror, however, was Assyria’s most effective weapon. It was ruthlessly applied, with corpses impaled on stakes, severed heads stacked in heaps, and captives skinned alive” (Assyrian Campaigns against Israel and Judah).

God’s reference to the garden of Eden in his parable of the cedar of Lebanon may have been intended to show the Assyrians as the end result of the fall of mankind. It could have been that the illustration was also an attempt to associate the Assyrians with Satan’s effort to challenge God’s sovereignty. Setting them up as the chief among sinners, God’s overthrow of Assyria demonstrated that there was no power that could stand against him. He said, “I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth. They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen” (Ezekiel 31:16-17).

The Creator

One thing Isaiah made perfectly clear about God was that he alone created the world in which we live. Isaiah declared of the LORD, “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:25-26).

God’s sovereign control over his creation and ownership of its people and resources entitles him to do as he pleases with those who rebel against him. Using his chosen people as an object lesson in judgment, God showed everyone his ability to carry out his divine decrees and his willingness to forgive anyone who would repent.

As if speaking to the entire world; past, present, and future; Isaiah proclaimed judgment upon idol worshippers. He said, “Thus saith the LORD the king of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God…Is there a God besides me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any” (Isaiah 44:6,8). Idols were merely man-made images designed to take the place of God (Isaiah 44:17).

The primary issue God wanted to clarify was his ability to restore Jerusalem after the captivity of his people was completed. As far as God was concerned, it was a done deal. The LORD even named the pagan ruler who would facilitate the rebuilding of his temple and called Cyrus his anointed (Isaiah 44:28-45:1). Only God could do such an astonishing thing as to have the king of Persia fund Jerusalem’s rebuilding project.

God’s sovereign rule over every aspect of life was established when he declared, ” I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). God left no doubt about the source of his children’s punishment. Rather than blame the devil for the Israelites willful rebellion, God placed the responsibility for sin on each individual’s shoulders. The only hope for salvation was an intentional turning to God.

The LORD declared, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). This invitation was given to everyone, regardless of race or nationality, because all will be held accountable for their acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ (Romans 14:12). Anyone who thinks he can live outside of God’s sovereign control is mistaken. According to the creator of heaven and earth, there is only one way to be saved. He said, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Isaiah 45:23).