Blog Archives - Created through Him

Created Through Him

We are kept by God

5/11/2012

15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of (Genesis 28:15).

God’s sovereignty is evident in the sureness of His stated promises. Promises that are declared by God will occur. In this verse God is promising to Jacob that he will be kept and protected by God. God will bring Jacob to the place He desires him to be and into a land he desires him to posses. God promises us that we will be kept as well. We are kept by God’s promise through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. God’s desired outcome is our salvation and He promises the fulfillment of this outcome will be due to God’s action of justification. God justifies us. This is the good news of the Gospel and reason for true hope.

Nothing is too difficult for God

5/10/2012

14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son (Genesis 18:14).

There is nothing that is too hard for God to accomplish. He accomplishes the seemingly impossible. It was, in human terms, impossible for Sarah at her age to have a son, and yet that is exactly what occurred. Through God’s sovereign action, Isaac was born and through Isaac God’s promises were fulfilled. We would do well to remember that even when we seem to be up against impossible odds or unfortunate circumstances, God is able to cause things to work out for the good. Sometimes it is hard for us to see this since we have a very finite view, but God works things out from an eternal perspective. Nothing is too hard for the Lord; we should then seek Him for strength and hope in all things.

God's promises

5/9/2012

1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3).

It is often that case that when God exercises His sovereignty by asking for obedience, the response by God is a promise. God’s promises are an extension of His will and they often are accompanied by a blessing. So the promise leads to a blessing. In the case of Abraham, God promises Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation that blessing would come to the world though Abraham as a result. God’s sovereign selection of Abraham and subsequent fulfillment of the promise are a prime example of the workings of God in this world. The world is blessed through Abraham in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

God's commands

5/8/2012

21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he (Genesis 6:21-22).

God’s sovereignty is not always easy to understand. God is in control and therefore the frame of reference for decisions is His will, not our own. When God commands He is exercising His authority. God’s command to Noah was to prepare for the coming flood. Noah responded to God’s command by obedience. This obedience could not have been easy. It involved a lot of work and because Noah knew why he was preparing, I am sure it was a strain on Noah’s soul. However, God in His sovereignty is just and all that He commands is for our own good and His Glory. Our response to God then ought to be like that of Noah, who responded to God’s command through obedience.

God Provides

5/7/2012

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so (Genesis 1:29-30).

The sovereign God of all creation is a God of order and provision. God provides. In the beginning, God provided plants for both Man and animals to eat. There was no death so neither Man nor animals ate meat. The harmony and order of nature was part of the original creation. While we know now that since the Fall of Man, that the original order and way of things is tainted, there is still a semblance of order and God still does provide. God’s sovereignty results in graciousness. It is God’s will that one-day His creation be restored to its’ original form and order, we wait in joyful hope for this time.

In the image of God

5/6/2012

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1:27).

The sovereign act of God in creating man in God’s image is a detail we should not overlook. We were created in the image of God and therefore bear a mark of the Creator. This mark is not an outward appearance but rather an inward part of our very being. We are in the image of God. As the image bearer of God, there is a certain relationship that is natural. This natural relationship is by design. God in His absolute sovereignty, wanted part of His creation to be a reflection of Him. This gift of being the image bearer was imparted to us as part of who we were created to be. We know that the Fall of Man in Genesis 3 led to a marring of Man as the image bearer. However, God’s sovereignty mandates that this marring could not be permanent. This must be so since the act of creation is a decree of God. That decree says that Man is in the image of God. What God created in His image, will in the end, be restored as the true image bearer. We know that Christ as the second Adam, altogether Man, altogether God, is the ultimate image of God in Man. It is therefore through Christ that we are restored to our original created form; in the image of God. This is a blessed hope and a true assurance.

Elohim the Sovereign of Creation

5/5/2012

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

A good place to start with the examination of the sovereignty of God is the beginning of scripture. In Genesis 1:1 God created. The Hebrew word for God here is Elohim. Elohim is the first name of God provided to us and in the context of the sentence it means, Creator. But there is also a connotation of ownership and judgment. The first sovereign act of God, in time, is to create. To create is to own. To own is to be sovereign. This kind of ownership is total. Nothing is outside the control of the One that created this universe. The application of this knowledge to our lives should be profound. The God that created us, is the One to whom we are accountable. We are literally His creation. We are not our own; neither our bodies, nor our minds, nor the earth we utilize, nor the air we breathe. Elohim is the Sovereign God of ALL creation.

By His knowledge

5/4/2012

20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew (Proverbs 3:20).

It is by and through God’s knowledge that all of creation functions, nothing is beyond His grasp or providence. The coming of the Messiah was no different. According to the eternal counsel of God, the plan for Christ to come as Messiah was an everlasting and eternal plan. God so clearly described the plan for Christ, that there is scarcely book in the bible that doesn’t discuss the topic. We have spent over two-months discussing many of the Messianic prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Unless one believes Christ never existed, it is literally impossible for Christ to not be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And I will remind you, that believing Christ never existed is not a logical belief. There are 66 books of scripture written about Him. There are accounts of Him in non-scriptural historical books and writings. Our calendars are based on the life and death of a Jewish Carpenter from a small town in the Middle East. He has changed millions of lives over the centuries. Countless people have given their lives in defense of and for Him. Some of those that gave their lives for Him were eyewitnesses and would have known whether He existed. They died with the knowledge that He was who He claimed to be: The Great I Am; Creator, Savor, Redeemer, everlasting God the Son.

Having discussed the Messianic prophecies we will shift focus in the coming days to the Sovereignty of God. The Sovereignty of God is one of the topics that is also spread throughout the Bible.

Malachi 4:6 prophecy

5/3/2012

6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:6).

16And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:16-17).

In this final prophecy from the Old Testament, the purpose of the forerunner to the Messiah is further described. He was to prepare the way for Christ by helping people get themselves ready to accept the message of the Gospel. What is really interesting about this prophecy is that it is repeated in the New Testament as a prophecy; Malachi foretold about it, and in the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist’s father was told of his son’s destiny by an angel before John was even born.

John the Baptist did indeed prepare people for the coming of the Messiah. When you consider the topic of evangelism today, remember you may be preparing the way for another individual to accept Christ. There is no higher calling on the planet than to prepare another to accept Christ. In tomorrow’s post, I will do a synopsis of the prophecies concerning Christ as Messiah.

Malachi 4:5 prophecy

5/2/2012

5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD (Malachi 4:5).

1In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:1-2).

Malachi describes the coming of a prophet. The prophet is like Elijah. Elijah called the people of Israel to repentance. The New Testament identifies the prophet as John the Baptist. John set the stage for the ministry of Christ. John, like Elijah, called the people to repentance. Christ then came and provided the way for the repentance to be effective. Christ removed and accepted the penalty for sin allowing the true forgiveness of sin to be realized by all who earnestly call upon Him. John the Baptist reminds us that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Created Through Him