Genesis Chapter One

I have thought it fitting to begin a personal journey through the Bible together, to see what we may glean through our studies, beginning with the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Before we open our Bibles and begin to study and apply the word of God I feel compelled to add this in: that I do not have all the answers. In reality, I have precious few answers for the deep mysteries of the word of God, and His plan for mankind and the universe. I understand salvation, and that the universe will eventually be reconciled back to God through Christ, and that all will be made new, eternal, and sinless. I do not know, nor will I pretend to know, why God chose this exact way of redeeming men and women; what I mean is why did He make earth thus, populate it with our race, and allow sin it’s entrance, and to run its course as it largely has. I will dispel the illusion or delusion that sin surprised God. No, He fully knew that Adam and Eve would sin, just as He knew Satan would sin, but created him nonetheless. Why? God has His reasons, and His reasons and wisdom are perfect, so I am obliged simply to agree that God is wiser than I am, and He knows what He is doing. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever,” Deuteronomy 29:29. To fully know the mind of God one would have to be God, even if He deigned to explain Himself to mortal man, whose frame is dust, Psalm 103:14. Therefore cease striving to understand all His ways. “Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33. See also Job 11:7; 15:8; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Isaiah 55:8-9 for further examples of our inability to understand God and His works.

Christmas and the Messiah

Greetings again. I am posting one of my wife's letters which she has invested time and love into writing, to edify her family about Christmas's origins and Jesus' unique role as Messiah. I want to share what she wrote for them, so please recall the context it is written in if it seems to be personally addressed (it is).

The Miracle of the New Birth

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,” Matthew 16:24.
“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,” John 3:5.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new,” 2nd Corinthians 5:17.
The essence of the new birth, and becoming a new man in Christ Jesus are not merely mystical statements muttered by Christians. This is what I presently desire to consider, and delve into. But a disclaimer before I continue: the new birth and spiritual regeneration are entirely the work of the Holy Spirit within a man. He implants a new life within those who have accepted Christ by faith. It is an eternal life, a spiritual life, begotten by the Spirit and interested and desirous of the things of God. We are truly and literally born again. Our old life, with its condemnation and sin, is nailed to the cross, and our sins are no longer counted against us, but imputed to the One who died for them on the tree. To this end the work, and the glory, belong solely to God. He holds the breath of life, and breathes it into us.