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We did not evolve from a big bang out of nothing, no. We were created by an all-knowing and loving God.
It is said that knowledge is power, and it is. Therefore, it follows that if I had all the knowledge, I would have all power: I would never be sick, poor, or depressed; I would never be anxious, sad, or lonely; every day would be a beautiful postcard-perfect sky; and, of course, I would never die. If I had all knowledge, this is the way it would be.
The God who created us all has all knowledge, and originally designed His creation to live forever, happy and satisfied, in a garden Paradise where every day, we would have awakened to a beautiful, postcard-perfect sky. The God of all knowledge could obviously do such a thing, and He did.
One should not think of immortality as fantastical, Sunday School foolishness—oh no! Immortality has now entered the lexicon of medical science, and scientists now theorize that immortality is a very real possibility. Billions of research dollars are being spent to attain this immortality, an immortality devoid of God, His Christ, and His Bible. Fat chance!
If you want fantastical, consider this: The conclusion of the BORN AGAIN earthly journey is an immortality in Paradise where every day is a beautiful postcard-perfect sky. Revelation 21:1-5:
1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Dear friend, have you yet to be BORN AGAIN as Jesus declares in John 3:3?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
In just a few moments, I will invite you to follow me in a simple prompt, and if you follow from your heart, everything changes for you today. Today, all your sin and shame will be expunged from your record. You will be washed spotlessly clean. Today, all of Satan’s chains of bondage in your life will be broken. You will be entirely free. Today, your journey to immortality begins and it ends in a beautiful postcard-perfect sky. Here is the prompt I promised: Click onto Further with Jesus for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.
GOD SAID, Genesis 2:17:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
GOD SAID, Genesis 3:6-13:
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
GOD SAID, Romans 8:1-2:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
MAN SAID: So, where are all the “God-inspired truths” in the Book of Genesis?
Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature 1240 that will once again contend for the beautiful Book. Each of these soul-winning features are archived here in text and streaming audio for your edification and to be used as ammunition in the battle for the lost sons and daughters of Adam. Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one.
Thank you for visiting. May the glory of God’s love and mercy shine upon you and your home.
You have arrived at the GodSaidManSaid “Genesis Series;” this is Part 20. Each of these features begins with the following information from the first feature:
According to a 2006 issue of Discover magazine concerning the deceased Carl Sagan: “Sagan approaches religion like any phenomenon. He isn’t on a quest for life’s meaning, for a comforting philosophy, or even a guide to how we should treat the neighbors. Sagan seeks truth of a demonstrable kind. As a puckish example, he wonders why the book of Genesis didn’t include God-inspired truths…” [End of quote]
I recently reviewed an advertisement from a magazine called Free Inquiry that also has a problem with the God of Creation and the first book of the Bible, called Genesis. Under the heading “Is God Big Enough for the Universe,” Free Inquiry writes:
The authors of Genesis proclaim that God made the heavens and earth in less than a week. This feat must have amazed these Bronze Age authors, even though they thought the heavens extended only so far as the sky above them. Of course, they did not know what stars, planets, or galaxies were. We now know that the universe is so much bigger and so much more complex. [End of quote]
The BORN AGAIN scratch their heads in bewilderment. Did these folks actually read the book of Genesis? I suppose they did, but God’s revelation is only revealed to the humbled hearts of the children of faith. This GodSaidManSaid series will be called “The Genesis Series.” It is our intention to travel through the entire book of Genesis and publish one major God-inspired truth after another. We will be pulling from previous GodSaidManSaid features and adding the latest information as we go.
The pattern is set in the beginning in the book of Genesis, and life will predictably follow that pattern. In etymology, the study of language, there is a foundational premise known as the law or rule of first occurrence, which states that the proper definition of a word is established in its first use. For example, the meaning of the word “man” is established in its first use in Genesis 1:26:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
The first man, Adam, the progenitor of all mankind, is defined as a direct descendant of God. All humans from Adam forward make up mankind, and each individual of that group bears the image and likeness of God. The pattern is set in Genesis Chapter One, and billions of replications have been the outcome.
The pattern is set in Genesis. Biologists have now established that all humans on this earth are the offspring of God’s very first woman, whom they know as mtDNA Eve. All of her resulting daughters have followed her mitochondrial DNA pattern. Biologists have also established that all humans on this earth are the offspring of God’s very first man, whom they know as Y-Chromosome Adam. All of his resulting sons have followed his Y-Chromosome pattern.
When a woman marries a man, she takes his name—for example, Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. This pattern is established in Genesis 5:2:
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
Skeptics looking for God-inspired truths in Genesis should note that the patterns of life and death are established here, but these secrets are only revealed to those with ears bowed down to hear.
The dreadful law of sin and death follows a specific pattern, which was established through an act of unbelief and disobedience. mtDNA Eve believes Satan’s words over God’s, eats of the forbidden fruit, and gives it to Y-Chromosome Adam, who also eats. That very day, they died according to the dire warning given by God in Genesis 2:16-17:
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
There are two deaths man must encounter: The first death is physical; the second is spiritual in nature. The first death is pretty self-explanatory: Your body physically dies. The second death occurs when one is spiritually dead, dead unto God and beyond His mercy and grace. Revelation 21:7-8:
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The pattern is set in Genesis Chapter Three. Unbelief in God’s Word and the disobedience that followed opened the door to the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). The law of sin and death is known to science as the Second Law of Thermodynamics, or the Law of Entropy. This law states that everything degrades from order to disorder, from life to death. The pattern was set in Genesis.
The day our grandparents followed the devil’ s lead and ate of the forbidden fruit—an act of unbelief and disobedience—the pattern of the law of sin and death was established. The very definition of “sin” is established in Genesis: The absence of faith in God’s Word. The pattern is established in Genesis Chapter Three. Romans 14:23 defines sin:
for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
The day our grandparents ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, innocence—what Corinthians calls "the simplicity”—was lost, and it can only be restored by miraculous intervention. II Corinthians 11:3:
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Natural, carnal, deadly traits—life-shortening traits—became standard fare for the fallen. The very day Adam and Eve ate, immortality was lost, they were cast out of Paradise and banned from eating from the Tree of Life. Things were different, really different.
The day they ate, a pattern of deadly, life-ending traits began to manifest themselves for the very first time:
🍒 SHAME: Adam and Eve recognized they were naked, and tried to cover their nakedness with aprons made of fig leaves. Their awareness of their nakedness was the first visible manifestation of their sin. Nakedness represents sin. The fig leaf aprons would not endure, so God brought a blood sacrifice. He made them clothing from animal skins to cover their nakedness, which was a shadow of the blood sacrifice Jesus Christ would make on Calvary. Jesus Christ is known as the Lamb of God. John 1:29:
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
🍒 FEAR: Adam and Eve experienced fear for the very first time when they heard the voice of God. In response to this fear, they hid themselves. Genesis 3:9-10:
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Adam and Eve experienced fear for the very first time. The pattern was established and this fear spawned a host of deadly, life-shortening phobias.
🍒 COMMUNION LOST: Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve could communicate directly with God—the God of light and love, the God who inhabits the praises of His people. The day they ate, this communication was lost. This is the ultimate life-shortening dilemma.
🍒 ACCUSATION: When God questions Adam, Adam points the finger at both God and Eve, stating, “the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Adam did not take responsibility; he did not cry out, “God forgive me! I have sinned!” He was well aware of the deadly curse attached to eating of the forbidden tree. Eve, likewise, blames someone other than her unbelief; she blames the serpent. “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat,” she says.
Adam and Eve had opened wide the door to the law of sin and death. For the first time, man would experience deadly life-shortening traits and tendancies including:
🍑Unbelief;
🍑 Shame;
🍑 Fear;
🍑 The accusatory finger;
🍑 Anxiety;
🍑 Uncertainty;
🍑 Danger;
🍑 Stress;
🍑 Sickness;
🍑 Pain;
🍑 Suffering;
🍑 Sorrow;
🍑 Lust;
🍑 Lies;
🍑 Robbery;
🍑 Slothfulness;
🍑 Covetousness;
🍑 Bitterness;
🍑 Unforgiveness;
🍑 Hate;
🍑 Murder;
🍑 Rape;
🍑 Adultery;
🍑 Fornication;
🍑 Homosexuality;
🍑 Confusion of face. Daniel 9:7-8:7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
The pattern was established in Genesis. The law of sin and death began its reign.
Adam and Eve could not pass on the immortality they lost to their progeny. All of their offspring would be spiritually stillborn. Ephesians 2:1-7:
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
We were dead in trespasses and sins! The only solution for man was to be BORN AGAIN—born a second time, this time of the Spirit of God.
We were sold by our parents under sin. Romans 7:14:
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Isaiah 50:1:
Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
We needed to be bought back. We needed someone to redeem us. We needed a Redeemer. Revelation 5:9-10:
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
The remedy for man’s fallen condition is to reverse course. We fell because of unbelief and disobedience, but we can rise again through faith and obedience to God’s Word and His Christ. We must be BORN AGAIN, just like Jesus said! It is so childlike simple! The end result of such a conversion is immortality and a beautiful postcard-perfect sky.
The pattern was set in Genesis, a book filled with God-inspired truths.
GOD SAID, Genesis 2:17:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
GOD SAID, Genesis 3:6-13:
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
GOD SAID, Romans 8:1-2:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
MAN SAID: So, where are all the “God-inspired truths” in the Book of Genesis?
Now you have THE RECORD.
References:
Authorized King James Version
Blumner, R., Free Inquiry