‘Prayer is the recipe for mental and emotional health. Pray about everything! Pray about ‘the ordinary’ things of life! ‘Talk to Me about ALL your concerns’- says God!
Anxiety kills your prayer life! Anxiety should be replaced, step by step, with an active, diligent, spiritual effort to pray! God wants you to talk to Him! Think healthy! Think about Jesus! Find Him inside all lovely, precious and beautiful things… Force your mind to think well, to dwell on the Word, by the power of the Spirit… Reject sinful thoughts immediately! Eventually, you will end up with peace and joy, thanksgiving, worship and a wonderful life style of prayer. Anxiety and prayer are opposites. Chose prayer and anxiety will go away leaving behind a mind and a heart fully protected by the peace of God ‘that passes all understanding’. This peace of Jesus is high above all common sense, much more than words can say. You shall encounter the God of that peace, the Prince of Peace Himself!
Question: what happens when you pray? Look at our Lord! When our Lord Jesus prayed, the heavens opened! The Spirit came down with His infusing power from above. The Father spoke into His life, like only a Father could speak: words of love, of family identity and confidence, of assured future and destiny. Prayer was the invisible foundation of the successful ministry of God’s Son on earth (Lk 3:21-23).
The intimate relationship with God, prayer and thanksgiving, these are foundation stones in your Christian life. The secret of success is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He gives you contentment, peace, joy, divine wisdom, divine health, anointing for ministry and favor with men. Prayer is the source of power to remain active, to prosper and be fruitful in all situations, especially in the difficult ones. Prayer changes you and your surroundings. Prayer makes you to be like Jesus! What a privilege!
‘Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled, undisturbed well-being) will be with you’ (Philip 4:9, AM)
(In the picture a little girl from our church in Nigeria, praying to God)
IN THE BEGINNING GOD (PART 8 ) – THE GOSPEL IS GENESIS 3
During the Sunday service Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter 3. She said that Genesis chapter 3 is absolutely essential in understanding the Bible and the history of man. Here we see how sin entered humanity. For the first time, we are presented with the Gospel of Christ. If you study the history of man, there is no better explanation of why things happen the way they do, except you believe the doctrine of the fall of man and the doctrine of the original sin.
THE FALL OF MAN also called the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. The doctrine of the Fall comes from a biblical interpretation of Genesis, chapters 1-3. God created Adam and Eve perfect. They were innocent concerning sin. But God allowed their free will to manifest. Obedience meant life. Disobedience to God’s command meant death. God gave Adam a covenant of works. He broke the covenant. God then sent His Son Jesus Christ with a covenant of Grace. We believe Jesus Christ, that He died for us. Grace means unmerited favor. If Adam, as perfect as he was could not keep the covenant of works, God knew that we cannot keep it. That is why Grace is introduced thru Christ. That is why salvation in Christ cannot fail. We are saved by Grace, thru faith in Jesus Christ, in His death on the Cross. Salvation in Christ is eternal!
THE ORIGINAL SIN: The fall of man affected all humanity and even the creation. Adam broke God’s law. He sinned! He was our representative on earth. This sin has affected all humanity. All Adam’s descendants are born sinners. The nature of the first sin: man refused to submit himself to the will of God, to have God decide the course of his life. He wanted to be independent from God. Devil’s pride entered man. Pride means to remove God from the center of man’s heart and replace Him with self. This first sin affected the whole man, body, mind, emotions and will. It corrupted man. Thru sin, sickness and death entered humanity. Sin reveals itself in the mind mostly as unbelief; in the emotions as fear and restlessness; and in his will as pride! “As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:10, 23). In Greek, the word ‘sin’ means ‘to miss the mark’, to fail to be fulfilled, to be disappointed in life. All unbelievers, no matter how wealthy or famous, are never satisfied with their success or possessions. The words ‘fall short’ mean failure to obtain something precious, failing the exam of life, becoming inferior, demoted, being too late to catch the train of life. God is a God of glory. Glory is what makes God, God. Glory is a combination of beauty and power. It is life shining like the light. God made man to be ‘in His own image’. Man was created to be covered with God’s glory. Sin separated man from His God and the glory was removed. Man discovered himself to be naked. Glory covers! Sin exposes! “The LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering” (Is 4:5). Jehovah ‘will create’. In Hebrew, this is the same word as in Genesis 1:1. ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…’. In Christ, God’s glory is restored. It will manifest as a cloud and smoke by day, to protect from the heat, from the temptations of life. God’s glory over His people, over His church will also be as ‘the shinning of a flaming fire by night’. This describes a weapon of light and fire; like a flash, a sharply polished blade, a sword moving over the church. This picture reminds us of the cherubs stationed at the gate of the Garden of Eden, blocking men to re-enter, to eat from the tree of life (Gen 3:24). Mount Zion is the assembly of God’s worshippers (Heb 12:22-24). They are inside the garden of life now, and God’s glory protects them from the outsiders. They will never be found naked or rejected. In Christ, they are ‘accepted in the Beloved’ (Eph 1:6). God sacrificed the pure Lamb and used the bloody skins to make covering for man (Gen3:21). Blood was shed for glory to come back and to cover God’s His people. The unbelieves are always naked and ashamed before God. But there is total protection for the children of God! Glory to God!
WHAT IS MAN? I read on the internet that Yale University biophysicist Harold J. Morowitz says that the human body is worth $6 million. And that price covers only the raw materials – hormones, proteins, enzymes, etc. The intricate work of fashioning the material into human cells might cost six thousand trillion dollars. And assembling these cells into a functioning human being would drain all the world’s treasures. Oh, Lord, “when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:3-6). In Hebrew, the word ‘mindful’ means to remember, to think about. To ‘visit’ it means to inspect, to oversee, to care. Man is sinful, an enemy to God. Man is weak and useless to God. Even so, God who created man, loves man, and God saves man from himself! Christ took flesh upon Himself to die for man. Man is a reflected glory of God! This is a great mystery! Glory to God!
THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN FOR ADAM AND EVE
The serpent questions Eve about God’s law. He plants seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind, about God’s power and goodness. It gives the impression that God does not have the power to kill them, even if they disobey His law. The devil also makes Eve dissatisfied with God’s provision. He gives the impression that God does not love them enough by restricting them to eat from the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. The idea is that God wants them to be foolish, like slaves. Also, the devil injects pride in Eve’s mind. Suddenly, Eve looks foolish. But this is a reminder of the power of sin, the sinfulness of sin. Deceived, Eve gives the fruit to Adam who eats it also. We are told that Adam was not deceived like his wife. He disobeyed God’s law. His sin is more of rebellion. That was his fall. When Adam saw that Eve eat the fruit and did not die immediately, he was encouraged to eat too. Because Adam was the leader of the home, he now must take responsibility for both of their sins. The doctrine is called the Fall of man or of Adam, and not of Eve. “Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Tim 2:13, 14). In the Garden, Adam and Eve had fellowship with God. This fellowship was to be the source of their faith and all knowledge. Not the fruit of that tree. Just imagine the sound of Jehovah Elohim walking in the early evening, when the weather is pleasant, when the wind blows softly, after the heat of the day. God comes as the owner of the Garden to fellowship with His people. In the past, they Adam and Eve waited happily for these daily visits. But after the fall, Adam and Eve hide behind the trees. They were ashamed and afraid. They did not know that God sees thru any covering. No man can hide before God. They feared the judgment of God! “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13). Once they eat the forbidden fruit, their eyes ‘are opened’. They became ‘like God’. But not exactly! They now know there is good and evil, God and Satan. But this knowledge was not to their advantage. This illegal knowledge, gained thru sin, became their bondage. The devil became their master. God alone knows good and evil, but He is free from evil. The knowledge of evil in Adam corrupted him. He lost his innocence. It is only in Christ, that we regain what Adam has lost. We regain the innocence, purity and power of the Spirit. But we gain more than that. As children of God, we now know good and evil, but we are free from the power of evil. We are now like God, holy and righteous! We love God and we hate evil! What a transformation! Glory to God! Immediately they sinned, Adam and Eve felt a sense of loss, fear, nakedness, and shame. At the beginning, the glory of God covered them. Now, that glory is lost. They now feel afraid, exposed. When God comes to fellowship with them, they are afraid, and they hide behind the trees. They forgot that God created the trees too! Trees stand for excuses not to have fellowship with God. There is now fear of punishment and death. They try to repair the damage they have done. They use fig leaves to cover themselves. These fig leaves are a symbol of man’s success in this world to hide his sinful nature. There are ‘leaves’ of religion, education, philosophy and art. But nothing and nobody can hide sin and shame except the Blood of Jesus! Jesus died naked so that we can be covered by His Blood and the glory that it represents! Lastly, God’s Grace manifests! The Gospel of Christ Crucified and Resurrected is introduced! Grace is always greater than sin! God is still speaking to man! In Judgment there is mercy! The Bible is the most practical book. It tells the story of God and of humanity. Genesis 1-3, this is the history of humanity. It is not an allegory. It is not fiction! Man has disobeyed God and God is searching for man, to save him. As sinners, we all know the sense of failure. We all search for happiness outside God, but we cannot find it! The Gospel brings us out from behind the trees. God’s voice is still calling you by name: “Where are you?” Why are men so unhappy, so helpless? Because the devil is their master, and he controls this world! That is the only explanation! The tragedy of man is that he only sees the visible. Only in Christ we can be set free, from the bondage, the pollution and power of sin! That is why Jesus died! There are two types of history running parallel: The visible and the invisible. The natural man sees only the visible history. The spiritual man sees both. That is his advantage and wisdom. The child of God sees God as the Creator, and the Sustainer of the universe. But he also sees God as His heavenly Father, Savior and Redeemer! The believer sees God and the world thru the eyes of faith. The Gospel tells us the truth: we all fell with Adam. We are born sinners. We cannot help ourselves. We are destined to die and go to hell. That is why God sent His only begotten Son to die in our place. The world hates the truth. The natural man hates to be told that he is a sinner. He loves the offer of free salvation, but he hates to humble himself as a man who offended God. Here you see that God’s plan of salvation was made by God even before Adam was created. In a way, God created Adam and Eve as a ‘bait’ to expose and condemn the devil’s wickedness. In Genesis 3 you see evil and grace side by side. “The law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom 5:20). The word ‘abound’ means to increase, to spread, to become greater. In the battle against sin, Grace always wins! God (Jehovah Elohim) calls Adam: “Where are you?” Even in disobedience, even with a broken heart, God is still searching for Adam. Man cannot escape from God! Even from the God who created him, but he broke his heart! This is the Gospel! “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them” (Gen 3:21). Adam was hiding behind the trees. These are people and things we use to hide behind them. Because of inferiority complex and guilt, we hide behind famous people, hobbies or interesting things of the world. That is why people are addicted to TV shows and entertainment. They idolize others who are more intelligent, more beautiful or wealthier than they. These are the trees. We are always interested in others. Because we are sinners, we are busybodies and restless. God made clothes for them. Not from leaves, but from animal skins, possibly from lambs. Behind these simple words of ‘fashion design’ blood is shed. For the first time, Adam and Eve see God killing an animal. They have never seen death. Now they see it. They committed sin but another one died in their place. This is the Gospel of Christ Crucified! Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden. Just imagine the feeling… out of the beautiful, happy and safe, garden, made by God for them!!! They are now in the world, lonely, afraid, guilty, confused. In the Garden, they exercised dominion over all the creation, in the name of God. Now, they are now under the dominion of satan. They are rejected by God! There is a hope that one day, God will help them. But until then, they are alone.
THE CURSE IN THE GARDEN AND THE GOSPEL ANNOUNCED “So, the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Gen 3:14, 15)The serpent is cursed more than all the animals because he cooperated with the devil. In the previous two verses, God talks to Adam and Eve, asking them why they had disobeyed His command and had eaten from the forbidden tree. But now, God turns to the serpent and without asking any question, He curses it! He doesn’t ask the serpent what he did. He doesn’t look for a confession or to engage in debate with the serpent. Apparently, Satan either possessed a snake created by God, or he took the form of a snake. Everything in this life, good or bad, has consequences. It is the natural and spiritual law of sowing and reaping. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Gal 6:7-8). But the curses of God in Genesis 3 are not like that. This is God’s judgment upon a serpent that He created! As the Almighty God, The Judge of the Universe, God has the right to do what He wants to do with His creation. God, Jehovah Elohim, the Judge of all the universe, is speaking! Fear God! Sin offended God! Sin violated God’s Word and God’s glory! It ruined man and his descendants! Thru sin, man surrendered the dominion God gave him, to Satan. God manifests His authority by cursing the snake. God can never be the victim of Satan. Even in this tragedy, God is still God, and He speaks! The curses demonstrate God’s sovereignty! God was sovereign before and after the fall of man! Nothing can change that! Praise the Lord! In Genesis 3 verse 14 you have the curse of the natural serpent. In verse 15 you have the curse of the supernatural Satan. God actually curses the animal. The animal has no sense of sin. The animal was simply used by Lucifer, by Satan. But God curses the animal anyway. God has a purpose in cursing the serpent! God cursed the serpent more than all the animals, domestic (represented by the cattle) and wild (represented by the beasts of the field). God is specific why He cursed the serpent. God said: “Because you have done this”. Because the serpent co-operated with Satan, God curses all the natural snakes. The devil wanted to rise above God (Is 14: 12-15). The snake will crawl on his belly, never to rise again! The crawling of snakes is a reminder of God’s judgment over Satan! Snakes are an abomination to God and to man! “Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth shall be an abomination. It shall not be eaten. Whatever crawls on its belly… these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination” (Lev 11:41, 42). Serpents are the most hated animals on earth. God said: “Dust shall you eat!” Snakes do not eat dust. They eat insects and little animals. But the words ‘eating dust’ represent total defeat. About Christ it is said: “Let the nomads of the desert bow before Him and His enemies lick the dust.” (Ps 72:9). It’s a symbol of being totally defeated and brought low, down to the lowest! In Christ, our enemies will lick the dust of our feet. “Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations and set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders; Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.” (Is 49:22, 23). In Christ, our victory against the forces of darkness, is sure! In the future, when God will make a new earth and new heavens, the animals will live in peace with one another. They will all be vegetarians. They will not eat one another again. But even in that new world, the snakes will still crawl on the ground and eat dust. There is no redemption for the devil! “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the Lord” (Is 65:25). The curse of God upon the natural and spiritual serpent is forever! God placed ‘enmity’ between the woman and her Seed, which is our Lord Jesus Christ, and the spiritual serpent and his seed. The word ‘enmity’ means a hostility that can never be settled. It is true that now, the devil is called the god of this world. But even then, it is not easy for Satan to rule over man. The Grace of God still rescues men from the bondage of sin. Once man repents of his sin, he runs to Jesus! The devil ‘bruised’ Christ on His heel. This is a picture of the Crucifixion. But with that ‘bruised’ heal, our Lord bruised, better said crushed, the head of the devil. Thru His death on the Cross, our Lord destroyed him who had the power of death. This is the Gospel we preach! This is our only hope and victory! Worship the Lord!!!
Daniel’s enemies rejoice that they have ‘killed’ him (Daniel 6). But their joy will not last! Please look at Brother Daniel!!! With his hands tied behind his back, surrounded by hungry lions, he looks, not at the lions, but up, unto God, unto Jesus!!!
Lesson: Obey God, serve Him faithfully! Please God and not man! Leave the consequences with God! Continue to look up unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith! Stop looking down at yourself or at the circumstances around you. God will surely save and vindicate you! The Lord who commanded the waves and the wind: “Peace, be still!”, is still speaking! May God, the Lifter of your Head, perform His miracle for you today! To God be all the glory!
IN THE BEGINNING GOD (7) THE DOCTRINE OF THE FALL OF MAN AND OF ORIGINAL SIN
During the Sunday service Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter 3. She said that Genesis chapter 3 is absolutely essential in understanding the Bible and the history of man. Here we see how sin entered humanity. For the first time, we are presented with the Gospel of Christ. If you study the history of man, there is no better explanation of why things happen the way they do, except you believe the doctrine of the fall of man and the doctrine of the original sin.
The fall of man, also called the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. The doctrine of the Fall comes from a biblical interpretation of Genesis, chapters 1-3. God created Adam and Eve perfect. They were innocent concerning sin. But God allowed their free will to manifest. Obedience meant life. Disobedience to God’s command meant death. God gave Adam a covenant of works. He broke the covenant. God then sent His Son Jesus Christ with a covenant of Grace. We believe Jesus Christ, that He died for us. Grace means unmerited favor. If Adam, as perfect as he was could not keep the covenant of works, God knew that we cannot keep it. That is why Grace is introduced thru Christ. That is why salvation in Christ cannot fail. We are saved by Grace, thru faith in Jesus Christ, in His death on the Cross. Salvation in Christ is eternal!
THE ORIGINAL SIN: The fall of man affected all humanity and even the creation. Adam broke God’s law. He sinned! He was our representative on earth. This sin has affected all humanity. All Adam’s descendants are born sinners. The nature of the first sin: man refused to submit himself to the will of God, to have God decide the course of his life. He wanted to be independent from God. Devil’s pride entered man. Pride means to remove God from the center of man’s heart and replace Him with self. This first sin affected the whole man, body, mind, emotions and will. It corrupted man. Thru sin, sickness and death entered humanity. Sin reveals itself in the mind as unbelief; in the emotions as fear and restlessness; and in his will as pride! “As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:10, 23). The temptation to sin came from the devil, a fallen angel. The devil possessed and used the serpent, an animal God has created. The devil tempted Eve first, possibly because she was the weaker one between the two. She was not the one who received the command directly. Adam was to teach her God’s command. She was not the leader of the home therefore she did not have the same sense of responsibility as Adam. The devil knew that if he can deceive Eve into sin, being the closest to Adam, and she may convince her husband to share in her sin. The devil’s evil plan worked. The man, God’s creation, God’s masterpiece was damaged beyond repair. The whole creation suffered from the fall of man. Because we are born sinners, we are unable to love God, know God or believe the Gospel. This explains why sin is universal. There is no other explanation why all men are born corrupt. Adam’s sin is transmitted to his natural descendants. “Like father like son”! The doctrine of original sin vindicates God when men blame Him for all the calamites in the world. The original sin creates a hunger for a Savior. The Holy Spirit uses it to direct our hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ! St Augustine (354-430 AD) was the first theologian who defined the original sin. Almost all the denominations (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal…) believe in this doctrine. Judaism, Islam and all other religions, reject this doctrine. They insist that man is born perfect and the environment changes man to make him sinful. This is an error. The truth is that man is born in a state of sin, as an enemy to God! A baby may look innocent but soon, he will manifest his hatred against God!
THE CURE FOR SIN! There is no cure for sin except the death of the Son of God, who became Man! Only Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, especially in His work on the Cross saves a man. There is no other Savior! There is no other salvation! This redemption planed and provided by God, even before the foundation of the world is called salvation. It is announced thru the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected. Adam was created under the covenant of works. He needed to obey God’s command to stay alive. But Adam failed to obey! He, a perfect man, in a perfect environment, failed to keep God’s command. Thru Christ, man is offered the covenant of Grace. Grace means unmerited favor. Jesus Christ is the called the second Man or the last Adam (1Cor 15:45-48). Unlike Adam, He obeyed God’s commands unto death. He obeyed God’s Law for us. He was not born into sin. He did not commit any sin. Jesus became sin for us, that is why He died. He was buried. On the third day, our Lord resurrected from the death. We are one with Christ, in a mystical union. We died with Him, we were buried with Him, we rose from the death with Him. Now, in Christ, we seat with Him in the heavenly places! This is the Gospel, the power of salvation to all who believe! Glory!
THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF SIN: Sin is a specific type of evil. Sin is a moral evil for which man is directly responsible and which brings him under the sentence of condemnation and death. Sin has an absolute character. Holiness is absolute and sin is absolute. There is no mixing between the two. The Bible does not know of a spiritually neutral ground. Sin is death and righteousness is life! Sin is not only related to offences against other people. Basically, sin is an offence against God and His law. Sin is breaking God’s law and God’s heart. Sin includes guilt and pollution. Man is born a sinner, guilty and morally corrupted. The headquarter of sin is the heart, which is the central organ of the soul. From there, sin influences the whole man. Sin manifests as sinful acts and habits. But sin is more than these. Sin is the total corruption resident in man. Sin is always evil. What are the results of the first sin? Man lost the image of God. He lost the true knowledge of God, the righteousness and holiness given to him by God. Man became totally depraved. Sin’s pollution affected every part of man, body, soul and spirit. Man, now, is not capable to know and please God. He becomes afraid of God and His punishment, which includes death. Man feels ashamed of being deceived by the devil. It affected Adam and his marriage with Eve. His conscience accuses him. Man is driven away from the Garden of Eden. Man feels rejected by God. Man has been trying to re-gain the paradise lost. But he is trying to do that by his power and wisdom. He can never go back to the tree of life. The only way to go back is thru the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! Christ went to the Cross!
THE FALL OF SATAN (The devil fell before Adam)
We continue to study the fall of man in the Garden. The devil possessed the serpent and used it to tempt Eve. To understand the power of sin we should look at who the devil is even before the fall of Adam in the Garden. This is what our Lord says about the devil: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (Jn 8:44). The devil was a murderer ‘from the beginning’. The devil was created by God long before Adam was created. He was once created perfect. He oversaw the praise the worship in heaven. Our Lord calls him ‘a murderer from the beginning’. It means that all his good deeds before what is called ‘the beginning’ were cancelled by God. The devil has no good testimony. He was a murderer and a liar, from the beginning. When he rebelled in heaven, he could not kill anyone. God created the earth and man on it. To prove that the devil is a murderer, God allowed him to ‘kill’ Adam and Eve, the crown of God’s creation. The universe could not have known how wicked the devil is before Adam was led to death by the devil’s temptation. Thru Adam, all mankind died. This murderer and liar, the devil, was the same who deceived Eve saying: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen 3:1). Eve did not know that ‘an armed robber’, the enemy of the God who created her, was talking to her. He pretended to be an innocent friend, passing by in the garden. You can see how the devil deceived Eve. She did not see the truth about his wickedness behind the pleasant question.
The devil was created perfect. Later, he became proud and wanted to take God’s place. One third of the angels created by God followed him in his rebellion. God threw them out of heaven to the earth. We are not given many details but just a glimpse of the tragedy that happened in heaven, long before Adam was created. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit” (Is 14:12-15). As you can see, the devil was once perfect, with wisdom and beauty. He was called ‘Lucifer’, the Son of the Morning. But once he became proud, he sinned. God sent him away from heaven. Our Lord said that before He became a Man on earth, He saw the fall of Satan. The word Devil means Slanderer and the word Satan means Accuser. The devil was a fallen angel even before God created Adam. In a way, God created Adam and Eve as a ‘bait’ for the Devil. Our Lord knew that the devil sinned and was thrown down from heaven. “Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Lk 10:18-20).
The devil is also called Dragon, The serpent of Old, Satan and the Accuser of the Brethren. Our Lord came to earth, He died in our place that we may be free from the judgment of sin and death. In Christ we have received much more that Adam lost thru his fall. In Christ, we have authority to fight and conquer the devil. Our weapons are faith in the Blood of Jesus shed on the Cross and the Word of our Testimony. To share a testimony is more than telling people that ‘God help me to buy a new car’. Thank God for your car. But, you need to share how the Word of God has worked in you, how it has transformed you. For a testimony to truly become a weapon, the Word of God must change your heart and give you an eternal value. A true testimony is telling people what God has done for you to take you to heaven. That testimony is a weapon. The devil fears it! We must speak more about the victory we have in Jesus! Halleluiah!
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God, day and night, has been cast down. they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (Rev 12:7-12). Lesson: God has a plan and a purpose for His creation. He is the Creator and the Redeemer of man! God created the universe! After man fell, God redeemed man, thru the Cross! God will punish sin and the devil! Halleluiah!
The Bible is the most practical book. It tells the story of God and of humanity. Genesis 1-3, this is the history of humanity. It is not an allegory. It is not fiction! Man has disobeyed God and God is searching for man, to save him. As sinners, we all know the sense of failure. We all search for happiness outside God, but we cannot find it! The Gospel brings us out from behind the trees. God’s voice is still calling you by name: “Where are you?” Why are men so unhappy, so helpless? Because the devil is their master, and he controls this world! That is the only explanation! The tragedy of man is that he only sees the visible. Only in Christ we can be set free, from the bondage, the pollution and power of sin! That is why Jesus died! There are two types of history running parallel: The visible and the invisible. The natural man sees only the visible history. The spiritual man sees both. That is his advantage and wisdom. The child of God sees God as the creator and the sustainer of the universe. He sees God thru the eyes of faith. The Gospel tells us the truth: we all fell with Adam. We are born sinners. We cannot help ourselves. We are destined to die and go to hell. God sent His only begotten Son to die in our place. The world hates the truth. The natural man hates to be told that he is a sinner. He loves the offer of free salvation, but he hates to humble himself as a man who offended God.
“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them” (Gen 3:21). God made clothes for them. Not from leaves, but from animal skins, possibly from lambs. Behind these simple words of ‘fashion design’ blood is shed. For the first time, Adam and Eve see God killing an animal. They have never seen death. Now they see it. They committed sin but another one died in their place. This is the Gospel of Christ Crucified!
Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden. Just imagine the feeling… out of the beautiful, happy and safe, garden, made by God for them!!! They are now in the world, lonely, afraid, guilty, confused. In the Garden, they exercised dominion over all the creation, in the name of God. Now, they are now under the dominion of satan. They are rejected by God! There is a hope that one day, God will help them. But until then, they are alone.
The devil spoke to Eve and addressed God as only Elohim, the Creator. He ignored the name Jehovah, which is the Covenant Relationship God. God spoke to Adam and Eve as Jehovah Elohim, the Husband Creator. But the devil was seducing Eve, implying that he is a better candidate to be her ‘husband’. She did not know that this new ‘romantic’ person called the devil, was a fallen angel. She did not know that she was speaking to an armed robber, a kidnapper. She was deceived to agree with the devil and to ‘marry’ him. In Christ, God is our Creator, Maker and Husband forever. Nothing can ever separate or divorce us. The Love of God in Christ is forever! Blood was shed for us to boast of His Love! Glory!
This is God’s promise to all who are in Christ: “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God. “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer” (Is 54:4-8). Oh, may the mercy of God locate you! May the Grace of God surround you! Worship the Lord!
This is a word of encouragement for the believer who is at the threshold of deliverance. You have prayed and trusted God. You are now waiting for your healing, your breakthrough or your deliverance. But suddenly things got worse. Please read Exodus 5. Prophetically this is a drama and you are an actor there. Choose your ‘role’! Pharaoh stands for the devil. Moses and Aaron stand for mature servants of God, leaders, pastors. The people of God represent the believers in Christ. The Egyptians are your unbelieving friends and relatives. They do not understand your desire to be free. If they do not get converted to Jehovah they will be left behind once the door of freedom is opened for you. This is the background story: The people of Israel have been in Egypt for more than 400 years. Initially things were good for them but later, they became slaves to the Egyptians and suffered greatly. God sees their pain and sends Moses in His name to be their savior. Moses confronts Pharaoh, the king of Egypt with the words: “Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness!” (Ex 5:1). Pharaoh rejects Jehovah’s word. He attacks God’s people. He increases the burden upon the slaves. From now on they have to work double for the same ‘salary’. The leaders of God’s people are under great pressure to perform the impossible. To please Pharaoh they oppress their own people. But they failed to perform. They are beaten and abused by the Egyptians task masters. Lesson: persecution coming from your friends and enemies shall increase just before your healing, your deliverance. Behind them is the devil who is trying to stop your progress!
Under pressure to work in such a negative environment of hopeless frustration and deep depression, the people of God make two mistakes. The first one is this: they go and cry to Pharaoh to make their labor lighter. Pharaoh refuses to listen to their pleas and even insults them saying that they are ‘idle and lazy’. Pharaoh calls their desire to worship Jehovah as ‘lies and vain words’. Lesson: the devil has no mercy. Never expect any good thing from the devil. He will try to kill you with work so that you forget to worship your God. You should cry to God and not to the devil. This is the second mistake: Rejected by Pharaoh, the people of God insulted Moses and Aaron. They blamed their leaders for their troubles. Lesson: if you are blind to God’s plan to heal you, to deliver you, to bless you, when trouble comes you will attack the man of God who brought you the good news of salvation and hope. Never insult your pastors! Bless and pray for them! Moses stands as a true man of God. In the past, when his people rejected him as their leader, Moses ran away from ministry. But this time he stands trusting God. He does the right thing: “Moses returned to the Lord” (Ex 5:22).
Moses prays to God who answers with an immediate action. This is not a time for only words! God promises to punish Egypt and they will know that He is God! “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord” (Ex 6:1, 2)
Child of God, these are some lessons for this season: God calls you to serve Him but your obedience must be tasted. You have to stand faithful even when you are lonely and rejected like Moses! Trust God who called you. Do not trust in man! Never complain! Do not slander your pastors! Pray for wisdom, for understanding of God’s plan in your life! God sees the end from the beginning. Pray that you see the end of the trial too! The joy you see at the end will empower you to endure! The devil hates God’s worship and God’s work. You must pay the price to be a worshipper or a worker for God! Trust God for the breakthrough! For miracles! For vengeance! You should know that before the day breaks the night is the darkest. Be encouraged! Forget the past! The devil is a liar and a loser! God has the last say! Press on into the light! Exercise your faith! Hold on to your hope! God is working something on your behalf! God is not a man that He should lie! This trial will not kill you! You shall come out of this fire stronger than ever! Your testimony has been approved by God! Both friends and enemies will see it! None can stop it! Let the weak say: I am strong! Let the sick say: I am healed! Let the poor say: I am rich! Let the oppressed say: I am free! Free to worship God! To the glory of God! Be filled with the Holy Spirit! In Jesus’ name, amen!
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal 6:9)
IN THE BEGINNING GOD (6) THE DOCTRINE OF THE FALL OF MAN
During the Sunday service Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter 3. She said that Genesis chapter 3 is absolutely essential in understanding the Bible and the history of man. Here we see how sin entered humanity. For the first time, we are presented with the Gospel of Christ. If you study the history of man, there is no better explanation of why things happen the way they do, except you believe the doctrine of the fall of man and the doctrine of the original sin.
The fall of man, also called ‘the fall of Adam’, or simply ‘the Fall’, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. The doctrine of the Fall comes from a biblical interpretation of Genesis, chapters 1-3. God created Adam and Eve perfect. They were innocent concerning sin. But God allowed their free will to manifest. Obedience meant life. Disobedience to God’s command meant death. God gave Adam a covenant of works. He broke the covenant.
This is a reminder that later, God then sent His Son Jesus Christ with a covenant of Grace. We believe Jesus Christ, that He died for us. Grace means unmerited favor. If Adam, as perfect as he was could not keep the covenant of works, God knew that we cannot keep it. Grace is introduced thru Christ. That is why salvation is Christ can never fail. We are saved, not by works, but by Grace, thru faith in Jesus Christ, in His death on the Cross. Salvation in Christ is eternal!
At first, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. It was their home, their paradise created by God specifically for them. They were happy as a husband and wife. They worked and took care of the garden. God, their Creator, visited them daily, in the evenings, to fellowship with them. This was their lifestyle. God put Adam in the Garden and commanded him “to tend and keep it” (Gen 2:15). These words mean that Adam was supposed to cultivate the Garden and to watch over it. In other words, Adam was to be a farmer and a watchman. God did not tell Adam about the devil, but the command to watch over the garden implies that there is an enemy outside there. Adam was commanded to protect the garden from enemies. This command was given to Adam before Eve was formed. That is why when both fell, God held Adam responsible for both of their sins. He was formed first. He was the leader of the home. God gave the law to him in particular. He was to teach Eve the law. But he failed to do so. That is why their fall into sin is called The Fall of Man or The fall of Adam. Adam understood the law of God. He was created intelligent. He was also created to love God and obey His commands. For Adam to disobey God’s command, he had to willingly choose disobedience. Sin was not an ignorant error. Eve was deceived into sin, but Adam disobeyed God willingly and knowingly. “Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1Tim 2:13, 14). There is a great lesson here: Husbands, fathers, pastors and leaders have a greater responsibility to protect their spiritual territory. Pray for your leaders!
The devil using the serpent tempted them into eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They both fell into sin. God curses the serpent and curses the ground. God does not curse Adam and Eve because He has already blessed them. But God gives His judgement: there shall be pain to the woman in the process of her being a mother. Also, God adds sorrow to the man in the process of his labor. At the same time, God announces the Gospel. The Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, will come one day and bruise the head of the devil. God clothes them with animal skins. Lastly, God expelled them from the Garden to prevent them from eating from the tree of life and becoming immortal in sin. Two cherubs with flaming swords were placed at the gate of the Garden to prevent them going back!
The serpent was ‘more cunning’ than any other animal that God has made. The word ‘cunning’ is also translated as shrewd, wise or prudent. Initially, the serpent was created innocent. God gave it more wisdom than He gave to the other animals. Possibly, the serpent could speak at that time. Eve does not look afraid to speak to the serpent. The devil possessed the serpent and use it to tempt Eve. This is reminder: Temptation is not a sin. Agreeing with the temptation and yielding to it, is sin. Temptation came from the outside. Eve obeyed the devil and broke God’s law. That is sin!
We are not given many details. We are not told how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden as husband and wife. It seems that they did not live long in the Garden as a husband and wife. The devil is not introduced as devil. The serpent is its victim. There is no explanation how the devil came to possess the serpent and tempt Eve. The devil knew God’s law in the garden. He starts the discussion with Eve using a question. “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen 3:1. KJ). The word ‘yea’ means a surprise. Questions are powerful on the human mind. They are like a hook. They arrest the thoughts forcing them to consider the question. Research show that for as long as the human mind thinks how to answer the question, it cannot think about any other thing. Human brain can only think of one thing at a time. Questions are selfish and possessive. They influence action. The devil knew that starting the discussion with a question, Eve’s mind will be manipulated to answer the question and forget every other thing.
Throughout His life on earth, the Pharisees bombarded our Lord with many questions. The devil was behind all those. But Jesus could not be manipulated by the devil. Each of His answers, even His silence, gave glory to God. For example, our Lord answered Pilate but refused to answer the Pharisees. “Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly” (Mt 27:11-14). It was the same with King Herod. “Then he (Herod) questioned Him (Jesus) with many words, but He answered him nothing” (Lk 23:9). What is the lesson? Questions can be spiritually poisoned arrows! They may be part of spiritual warfare! Be careful and discerning with people who ask you many questions? The devil may use the questions to try to rule over your mind. Do not allow these questions to penetrate your mind. Leave them on the altar of God. Remain calm! Pray for wisdom! Let the Holy Spirit help you deal with these questions!
“The Lord God” in Hebrew, is Jehovah Elohim. Elohim means God, The Creator. Jehovah means the Covenant Keeping God, the personal relationship God. Towards men, God’s title Elohim is more distant than the Name Jehovah, which reflects an intimate relationship. It is Jehovah Elohim that speaks to Adam and commands him to tend and keep the Garden. It is Jehovah Elohim that tells Adam to freely eat fruits from any tree in the Garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is Jehovah Elohim that makes a wife for Adam and invents the holy institution of marriage (Gen 2:15-18). It was the duty of Adam to teach Eve how to honor God by addressing Him with the proper names: Jehovah Elohim! It was the duty of Adam to teach Eve how to obey God’s commands! When the devil asks Eve about God’s prohibition, he only uses the name Elohim. He ignores the name Jehovah. He dishonors God by reducing His name. He tells Eve that God is only her creator, not a God who desires a relationship with her. He makes Eve feel that God does not care for her; that is a God afar off. The devil pretends to care for them more than God. Eve falls to the deception. She takes the devil’s example, and she too addresses God only as Elohim. Both the devil and Eve ignore the name Jehovah, the personal Covenant keeping God in their first conversation! As you can see, Eve was not watchful. That is how deception entered. Sin entered. Man fell in the Garden! Their lives will never be the same again!
But in the middle of this tragedy, the Hope of the Gospel is introduced. One day, the Last Adam, the Second Man, our Lord Jesus Christ will come, and He will obey all God’s Law. He will take man’s sin upon Himself and die on behalf of man. This is the Gospel of Christ Crucified and Resurrected! Once again, light shines in the darkness! God can never fail! Jesus is Lord! Worship the Lord!
”As the refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold man is tested by the praise he receives’ (PV 27:21)
This scripture has been on my mind… It is natural that men praise you for your gifts, for your good deeds and accomplishments. Sometimes the praise is genuine and at other times it is flattering and dangerous, to gain some illegal advantage over you. But whatever way it comes, praise is the fire of God to test your heart!!! We remember that Praise and glory belongs to God alone!!! Only God is worthy of praise! That is why we praise Him always! He does not share it with men. What then should you do when men praise you? When men praise you horizontally the right, safe and holy thing to do is to immediately send the praise up to God. Do not keep it. Do not swallow it. It will make you proud and foolish. It becomes spiritual poison to your soul. Selah!
In the scripture above we see that praise from men is like a furnace fire that refine the silver and the gold. Originally these metals contain impurities. That is why they do not shine. Once they pass thru the fire the impurities are burnt off and the pure metal shines for all to see. If it was silver it will shine as silver. If it was gold it will shine as gold. But if it was ordinary metal it will be revealed that it is not silver and gold. Spiritually speaking, the praise of men reveals the fool to be a fool! ‘ The promotion of a fool ends in his shame’ (PV 3:35). That is why I pray that promotion among men should not come to me and my family before God’s time for it! According to the Word of God, the praise of men is a test that reveals the best and the worst in men. It reveals who you really are behind the superficial golden glitter of fame covering your life. If you are a humble man the praise of men will reveal that you are wise and humble. If you are a proud and rebellious man the same praise of men will reveal that. Once praise comes you can’t hide your true self anymore.
When the women praised King Saul and David it revealed who these two men were in reality (1Sam 18:6-7). Young David ‘behaved himself wisely’ as he experienced success. He was humble during the unexpected fame in the King’s palace. He was a shepherd and a servant at heart. The reason given is that ‘the Lord was with him (1Sam 18:14). By contrast, when king Saul was praised he became angry and jealous with David. This was the door for an evil spirit ‘from the Lord’ to enter Saul. We often forget that before this time ‘Saul loved David greatly and liked him very much’ (1Sam 16:21). Their relationship as father and son started with love. But from this moment on, from the time the evil spirit of jealousy entered Saul’s heart, love died. Saul starts planning how to kill David. He became obsessed with David and did not stop this evil plan until he later died by suicide. When Saul saw that his children love David he became afraid of David (1Sam 18:1, 18, 29).
This is a spiritual law: love of men and fear of men are mutually exclusive. When love enters your heart fear runs away. When you fear men you can never love them again. What are the lessons? As a mother and a pastor I pray for my natural and spiritual children. I pray that they may be successful men and women. That is a good prayer! But I know that visible success comes with the praise and flattery of men. I know that this praise is a test to prove who they really are inside. That is why I pray that before visible success comes to them they may be changed from inside out. That they may be truly saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. I pray that they fulfil God’s plan for their lives. I also pray that in God’s mercy, visible success may be delayed until they mature spiritually so that they may be able to carry the burden of fame and wealth without breaking under it. I also pray for myself, to be patient as a mother and a pastor, as I witness the painful refining process going on in the life of my children. God’s time is the best! At last, we shall rejoice together and testify that the Lord has been with us as a family and a congregation. Glory to the Lamb of God!(from my notes August, 2018)
IN THE BEGINNING GOD / THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION (5)/ THE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE
During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter two She said that we shall go and revisit the beginning of creation. The way Isaac dug Abraham’s well (Genesis 26), we want to dig our Heavenly Father’s well of eternal life! The Bible starts with four simple words: “In the beginning God…”. The Bible takes it for granted that God exists and God is the creator of everything that is created. You cannot read the Bible without faith. You must believe these words. If not, to you, the Bible looks like a foolish book.
The doctrine of creation states that creation is a miracle. God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, formed and brought into existence everything outside of Himself. He did this out of nothing, just by the Word of His power. Everything God created was very good.
Just the way Isaac went to re-dig his father’s wells, covered by the dirt of the Philistines, so we shall search for the deeper revelation found in the story of Creation. The Word of God is simple. That is why even the children understand it. But the evil spirits of religion have confused and complicated many people. This complication is a religious seduction. The intent of the devil is for us to forget the simplicity of Christ! We need to reject these demons of religion, to dig deeper and find the Water of Life, bellow, which in fact, is our Lord Jesus Christ! This process is part of the preparation for revival. As you read the story of Creation, you should have a feeling that you have heard these things in the past. But the anxiety of life, the cares of the world, the pollution of empty religion have covered the revelation. We should dig to find the water of life again! Spiritual warfare should not be strange to a believer! Jesus is Lord!
THE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE
God gave two ordinances to mankind: To keep the Sabbath Day and the perform the institution of marriage. The Sabbath was given to preserve the Church that will be born later. Marriage was given to preserve mankind. God created marriage between a man and a woman to display His glory and for their good! Marriage is part of God’s original creation. It is an ordered, covenant relationship between a man and a woman, in the presence of God, who become one flesh, but keeping their individual personalities. Thru the marriage ceremony, the man and the woman become husband and wife. There is an order or distinction of roles within marriage. A covenant is a formal agreement between one or more people, to do or not to do something specified. Thru the marriage ceremony, the man and the woman make a covenant before God and people, acting as witnesses, that they shall live as husband and wife, for as long as they live on earth. Marriage has a spiritual, a sexual and a social component. The marriage should be between a man and a woman who are both believers in the Lord Jesus Christ! The couple pledges to serve God together, in private and in public, and to be sexually faithful to one another until death.
God created Adam from the earth. The meaning of the word ‘Adam’ is ‘The Son of the earth’. Out of Adam’s rib, God made Eve, who will be his wife. The meaning of the word ‘Eve’ is ‘The Breath of Life’. Marriage was invented by God before the fall of man. It is part of God’s original creation. There was no idea of divorce when God made Adam and Eve. God says: “I hate divorce!” (Mal 2:16). Primarily, marriage is a symbol of the relationship that exists between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
*We see God’s image is in the plurality and unity of marriage. God said, “Let us make man in our image,” and then the text says, “male and female, he created them” (v. 26, 27). When God made man, He made a plurality. He made a man and a woman. He said they would become “one flesh” (Gen 2:24). The Trinity, they are one and yet still individual persons. When a couple gets married, they are meant to demonstrate this. Marriage demonstrates two individual people becoming “one” for the rest of their lives while maintaining their individuality.
*We see God’s image in the area of authority and submission. In the Trinity, God the Son submits in all things to God the Father and the Holy Spirit submits to both (John 5:19, 14:26, 15:26). There is perfect submission in the Godhead. In the same way, when God made man and woman in his image, there was meant to be order in the relationship. “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (1Cor 11:3). God made the husband-and-wife relationship to mirror the Godhead specifically in the area of authority. Therefore, Ephesians 5:24 calls for wives to submit to their husbands in everything.
*We see God’s image in the area of love. “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Husbands love your wives! The submission of the wife happens in a perfect loving relationship with her husband. Throughout eternity, the Godhead has always dwelled in a perfect relationship of love and authority. The Father loves the Son and the Son willingly submits to the Father. The Father does not oppress the Son and forces Him to submit. He loves the Son, and within this perfect love, the Son submits to God. The Holy Spirit loves and submits to both. The husband is called to love his wife as Christ loved the church (Eph 5:25-27). How did Christ love the church? He died for her! He also teaches her the Word of God. The husband must love his wife sacrificially and lead his wife spiritually. He leads his family to a Bible preaching church. He leads family devotions. He is the pastor of the home. He serves his wife and edifies her with his words. The wife honors him as her head and submits to him in everything (Col 3:18).
This is a redemptive picture of the gospel. With so many troubled marriages ending in divorce, the glory of God has been greatly dimmed. It is no surprise that so many people doubt God’s existence or are falling away from him. In marriage, it should be our desire to reflect God and bring glory to him since that was his original plan. The Biblical marriage is between one man and one woman. God must be at the center. Marriage on earth is a symbol of the marriage between Christ and His Bride (Eph 5:22-33). Marriage is a mystery. The ideal marriage is between two believers in Christ. It must have spiritual foundation to have eternal value.
What is God’s plan and purpose for marriage?
1-To serve God together; to agree in prayer and worship God together! The main purpose why God created the institution of marriage is so that both husband and wife are holy. In the original pattern of marriage, holiness comes before happiness. Happiness is a by product of holiness.
2-For Companionship and love
The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ (Gen 2:18). God has put a deep desire in mankind for intimate companionship. Adam named all the animals but did not find one that is suitable to him. This is when he felt lonely. God made a helper to him, comparable to him. No animal can be a mate to a man. In Hebrew, the word ‘helpmeet’ means someone who can stand face to face with man, who can be his mate or counterpart. The word ‘helper’ in Hebrew is ‘ezer’. It is the same word used for the Holy Spirit!
God gave the gift of singleness to some to allow for a deeper devotion to God and his work (1 Cor 7:32). Many singles (Like Jesus, Paul) have accomplished great work for God. But this gift is not for everyone. God wants most people to have a mate: someone to fellowship with, to dream with, to serve God with.
3-The Couple will Make a New Family Unit with God at the center
“For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). In Hebrew the word ‘leave’ means to let go of. The word ‘cleave’ means to catch by pursuit, to cling by force. “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD” (PV 18:22). It is the man who does the seeking. He is “the hunter”. The woman prepares herself to be found by him. Both have a part to play in the dating process and marriage later. God said that a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife. In marriage, a couple is starting a new family unit. This does not mean that they are no longer their parents’ children, but it does mean that the priorities of a man and woman have changed. Their priority must now be their marriage. They are always called to honor their parents and even care for them in old age (1 Tim 5:4, 8), but they must honor their spouse first. Even Jesus left His Father to come to earth to find His Bride. his is the pattern for a successful marriage: The man and the woman must LEAVE – TO CLEAVE – SO THAT THEY BECOME!!! The man must leave the authority of his parents to go and cleave to his wife. The new unit called marriage has a stronger bond than the natural relationship between parents and children. To marry, there is a change of authority! The woman leaves the authority of her parents to go and submit to the authority of her husband. Without ‘leaving’ there is no ‘cleaving’ and therefore there is no ‘becoming one’.
3-To Raise Godly Children
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). “Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth” (Malachi 2:15). God’s command for people is to be fruitful and multiply. It is not just children he wants but godly children. One of the parents’ highest purposes is to teach their children the Bible, to help them grow in character, and to help them find their spiritual gifts and calling in serving the Lord. The bond between the husband and wife is stronger than the bond between parents and children. As parents, we train our children to know and serve God. We also prepare them to leave our nest to go and marry. There is a time to hold and there is a time to let go. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Pv 22:6)
4-To Establish and Build His Kingdom
After telling Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, God told them to have dominion, to subdue and rule over the earth. They were to be co-rulers over God’s creation and to be stewards of it. A godly marriage is a powerful weapon for the kingdom of God. The powerful prayer of agreement works best in the marriage. Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Mt 19: 18-20). They build the kingdom through raising godly seed, corporate prayer, service to God’s church, missionary and evangelism of the world.
JESUS AND MARRIAGE. Jesus affirmed, honored and commended Marriage. His every allusion to marriage not only reaffirms it but strengthens it. Although He is clear that marriage is a created institution for this world (Luke 20.27), He is also emphatic that it is an honorable institution to be respected by all (Matthew 19.6; Luke 16.18).
“The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.” (Matt 19:3-12)
According to our Lord, the greatest hindrance to a successful marriage is the hardness of heart. This hardness is a sin quite common even among the believers. The heart is the center of the feelings, of the total personality. Unconfessed, unrepentant sin hardens the heart (Heb 3:7-11). The hardness of heart is defined as an un-sensitive heart, merciless, stubborn, un-teachable, harsh, wicked, and cold blooded. Religious hypocrisy leads to hardness of heart (Mk 8:13-21). We repent and reject every form of hardness of heart! Holy Spirit take control! In Jesus’ name! Worship the Lord!
This Sunday service, Pastor Richmond Leigh continued preaching from the Book of Ephesians on the subject of spiritual warfare: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:10-12)
Pastor Richmond Leigh said that to live successfully the Christian must be engaged in spiritual warfare. You must recognize the existence of the devil which is able to possess human beings (the unbelievers) or to influence them (the believers). You need to know that there is an enemy in this world and you must fight him. This is a call to battle! If you refuse to do spiritual warfare you will surely backslide. There are evil forces outside there that fight against you! They hate you! You cannot ‘settle’ with the devil! The evil spirits want to destroy your testimony. To live a successful Christian life you must fight and defeat them in the name of Jesus! Each time you win a battle God will reward you. You cannot afford to be ignorant about these wicked evil forces. The Lord spoke a parable about a king who went to battle unprepared. He did not understand his enemy and underestimated his power (Lk 14:31-33). You should not be like this king who went to war unprepared. You need to know the ‘wiles of the devil’, his tricks and manipulations. Failure to do so will result in defeat. The devil will capture you and make you his slave. According to the Bible, who is the Devil? He is the enemy of God. He is the chief of all evil powers that are set against us, the believers. He is known by many names: Beelzebub (Lk 11:15), Belial (2Cor 6:15), The Liar (Jn 8:44), The god of this world (2Cor 4:4), The Strong man armed (Lk 11:21, 22), The Tempter (Mt 4:3), The Great Red Dragon (Rev 12:3), The Accuser of the Brethren (Rev 12:10), Satan, That Old Serpent (Rev 20:2)… The devil is a person. It is wrong to think of the devil as just an influence. He has a superhuman personality. He is bigger and stronger than man. The devil has power. The name ‘devil’ means a traducer, a slanderer. He speaks only falsehood and wickedness. Satan means an adversary (the one who opposes you). On your own you cannot defeat the devil. Only in Christ you can fight and defeat him. Remember that the devil is not God. The devil is a created being. He is created by God. Also remember that on the Cross, The Lord Jesus Christ defeated the devil for us (1Jn 3:8).
Child of God, be filled with the Holy Spirit! Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! Put on the whole armor of God and in the name of Jesus, go and defeat the devil! You can do it! For the glory of God! Worship the Lord!
(Sermon preached by my husband, Pastor Richmond Sisan Leigh, on the 20th of August, 2017)
IN THE BEGINNING GOD / THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION (4)/ ADAM AND EVE (Genesis 2)
During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter two She said that we shall go and revisit the beginning of creation. The way Isaac dug Abraham’s well (Genesis 26), we want to dig our Heavenly Father’s well of eternal life! The Bible starts with four simple words: “In the beginning God…”. The Bible takes it for granted that God exists and God is the creator of everything that is created. You cannot read the Bible without faith. You must believe these words. If not, to you, the Bible looks like a foolish book.
The doctrine of creation states that creation is a miracle. God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, formed and brought into existence everything outside of Himself. He did this out of nothing, just by the Word of His power. Everything God created was very good.
Just the way Isaac went to re-dig his father’s wells, covered by the dirt of the Philistines, so we shall search for the deeper revelation found in the story of Creation. The Word of God is simple. That is why even the children understand it. But the evil spirits of religion have confused and complicated many people. This complication is a religious seduction. The intent of the devil is for us to forget the simplicity of Christ! We need to reject these demons of religion, to dig deeper and find the Water of Life, bellow, which in fact, is our Lord Jesus Christ! This process is part of the preparation for revival. As you read the story of Creation, you should have a feeling that you have heard these things in the past. But the anxiety of life, the cares of the world, the pollution of empty religion have covered the revelation. We should dig to find the water of life again! Spiritual warfare should not be strange to a believer! Jesus is Lord!
1-God has created all things in six days and rested on the seventh day! God does all things for His pleasure and to manifest His glory! “All things were created through Him (Christ) and for Him (Christ)” (Col 1:16). Creation is God’s work. It is separated from Him. God is not equal with His creation. God is greater than it! As the Potter is greater than the vessel of clay so God is concerning His creation. God created both the visible and the invisible realm (the angels). Creation manifests His power and glory! It does not manifest His Goodness and Grace! That revelation came only thru the Lord Jesus Christ!
2-God does not need the creation to live! God is independent of His creation. He is self-existent and self-sustaining! God’s name Jehovah means “I AM”. He introduced Himself to Moses as I AM. “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Ex 3:14). The name I AM is a verb. It means To BE. It means action, activity and life! The burning bush is a sign that God does not depend on His creation to exist. God was like the fire in the bush. It was burning by Himself! It was not the bush that was the fuel for the fire. That is why it was not consumed. The fire in the bush was not in any way dependent upon the bush for its energy to burn. What is the Lesson? God is not dependent on His creation. God is All by Himself! But creation is dependent on God. Creation cannot control God. It is God who controls and sustains creation.
(Pantheism is a religion/ philosophy that equates the creation with God. They say there is no personal God; that everything is God. One of the best known ‘disciples’ of pantheism is A. Einstein. He was a Jew, born in Germany. He later became a US citizen. He is considered to be the greatest physicist of all times. In 1921 he won the Nobel Prize for physics. He said: “The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. I do not believe in an afterlife. One life is enough for me”. When he died, the doctor removed his brain for research, what made him so intelligent).
3- God made man in His image and gave him dominion (authority) over everything. God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply! There was no bareness in God’s creation! God made man from the ground and breath His breath in him. This is how Man became a living being. God commanded man to take care of the garden. God did not make Adam to be idle in the Garden. God gave man work to do. All Adam’s work was easy and profitable. Can you imagine a work, a business, where there is no loss and no cheating? This is how Adam’s work was to be. He freely gave him all fruits to eat except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God made Adam and Eve to be the crown of His creation! It is His last work before He rested! All creation was for Adam (who is a symbol of Christ). God created man with a body and a soul God said that it is very good! Animals do not have souls. God gives spiritual understanding to man. He knew God and understood God. God gave man a conscience that will tell him what is good and bad. Man was animated by the life of God! God prepared the garden and put man in it. This was the best place of creation. Man is like God and represents God. Man is unique and special in God’s creation. Man is God’s messenger and ambassador. Adam was created intelligent. He named all animals. Adam was creative. Adam understood the world in which he was placed. He knew God’s will. The law of God is written in the heart of every man (Rom 2:12=16). God invented marriage. God made a helpmeet for him. Can you imagine a marriage where both husband and wife are without sin? This is how Adam and Eve enjoyed marriage. God is a Trinity. Man is created for love and fellowship. That is why it was not good for man to be alone! Lesson? God made man to work, to rest, to worship God and to love one another. God gave Adam ‘dominion’ over the rest work of His hands. The word ‘dominion’ means to have sovereign power and supreme authority. Adam was given dominion over all the animals, insects and things that crawl on the ground. That includes the microbes, viruses and parasites. No virus had the power to enter Adam’s body to make him sick. After the fall, Adam lost this dominion because the devil took it from him.
In Christ, we are to be like Adam, and even more than Adam. In Christ, we regain the dominion lost. Sickness, poverty mentality and addiction to failure should not have dominion over us. Sin should have no dominion over us! As believers, King Grace now reigns in our lives! We must rule over our circumstances in the powerful name of Jesus! The evil spirits of the Philistines have tried to hide the gains we have in Christ. We must dig thru this ‘dirt’ and find the water of life and hope beneath the rubble. God help us! Worship the Lord!
IN THE BEGINNING GOD / THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION (3)/ THE SABBATH DAY
During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter two She said that we shall go and revisit the beginning of creation. The way Isaac dug Abraham’s well (Gen 26), we want to dig our Heavenly Father’s well of eternal life! The Bible starts with four simple words: “In the beginning God…”. The Bible takes it for granted that God exists and God is the creator of everything that is created. You cannot read the Bible without faith. You must believe these words. If not, to you, the Bible looks like a foolish book.
The doctrine of creation states that creation is a miracle. God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, formed and brought into existence everything outside of Himself. He did this out of nothing, just by the Word of His power. Everything God created was very good.
Just the way Isaac went to re-dig his father’s wells, covered by the dirt of the Philistines, so we shall search for the deeper revelation found in the story of Creation. The Word of God is simple. That is why even the children understand it. But the evil spirits of religion have confused and complicated many people. This complication is a religious seduction. The intent of the devil is for us to forget the simplicity of Christ! We need to reject these demons of religion, to dig deeper and find the Water of Life, bellow, which in fact, is our Lord Jesus Christ! This process is part of the preparation for revival. As you read the story of Creation, you should have a feeling that you have heard these things in the past. But the anxiety of life, the cares of the world, the pollution of empty religion have covered the revelation. We should dig to find the water of life again! Spiritual warfare should not be strange to a believer! Jesus is Lord!
“Thus, the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Gen 2:1-3). Today, we shall look at the meaning of the Sabbath Day. In six days, God created the heavens and the earth. He finished His work. He then rested on the Sabbath Day, sanctified it, separated it and declared it to be holy! This is part of God’s original creation, even before sin entered humanity. For us, the believers, Sunday is Sabbath Day. By coming to the house of God, praising God, and hearing the Word of God, we declare that Sabbath is God’s Day. In the past, the Jews considered Saturday to be Sabbath. Some churches worship God on Saturdays. But for us, Sabbath is Sunday, which is also called Resurrection Day. Our Lord died on the Cross of Friday and rose from the grave on Sunday morning. Each time we come to church on Sunday morning we declare the Jesus died and rose again. This is the Gospel! Praise the Lord!
To remember the Sabbath day is one of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Ex 20:8-11).
We tend to forget God’s Word and God’s Day. We are commanded to remember it! To forget God’s Day is a sin! This forgetfulness is the dirt of the Philistines blocking the well of Abraham! We have no excuse to forget God’s command! For a believer, to stay at home on a Sunday morning, is sin! Except there is a problem beyond our power to control, we should go to the house of God and worship God every Sunday! This should be a holy habit! From Monday to Saturday, we can work and do business. But Sunday is different. We should not think that Sunday is the same as every other day. If you are a doctor or a nurse on duty, that is ok. For the sake of humanity, you can work if you are on call. But for the rest of us, no buying and selling should be done of Sunday! Keep it holy! Is God’s Day! As you can see, nobody in your house should work on Sunday; not the children, not the house helps, the unbeliever guests, or even the animals. Don’t expect your dog to bark and protect you from thieves on Sunday. God will do that! It may sound like a joke, but it is true! It is God’s Word!
“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ” And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God” (Ex 31:12-18)
The Sabbath is a sign of covenant between God the Creator and His people. God wrote this law with His finger. It was on the tablets of stones but now, it is written in our hearts. By coming to church on Sunday, you declare that you are saved, that you are a child of God; you are sanctified and made holy. Coming to church on Sunday is a sign, a forever sign that you have eternal life! God made many birds and fishes at the same time. But God created man one by one. Child of God, you are unique, special in the presence of God! By coming to church on Sunday, you declare that! In the Old Testament anyone who works during the Sabbath Day was to be killed. By going to work on the Sabbath, that one says that God has not finished His work. This is an insult to God! When Jesus died on the Cross He said: “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30). And salvation was finished! He then entered the eternal rest of victory! Christ Himself is the eternal Sabbath for His people! In the New Covenant, God does not kill us for committing sin. This is because Grace is greater than sin! But we should not willingly break or ignore His commands! A child of God is obedient to God’s Word! On the seventh Day God rested and He was refreshed. The word ‘refreshed’ also means revival. If there is any time at all that we may experience revival, it should be on a Sabbath Day! We too, like God, must rest and be refreshed. More peace, more joy, more passion for Jesus in our hearts! This is the work of the Holy Spirit! Praise the Lord!
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deut 5:12-15).
On Sabbath Day everybody is resting; the master and the ‘house-boy’; the mistress and the ‘house-girl’. As you can see, all people, rich and poor, educated or not, are equal before God during the Sabbath. God created them all. Before the Cross, the ground is level! By keeping the Sabbath holy, by coming to church on Sunday morning, you declare that you are no longer in Egypt, that you are no longer a sinner going to hell. You declare that you are a sinner saved by grace, which indeed you are!
Jesus declared Himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath (Mt 12:8). Many of His miracles were done during the Sabbath Day. He provoked the Pharisees, who represent religious spirits, and the dirt of the Philistines. The Pharisees added many rules for the people to obey during the Sabbath. They hated Jesus ‘breaking their rules’ thru miracles of healing. By doing this, they tried to prove that they are in charge of what happens on the Sabbath Day. They tried to take the glory for the religious services especially during the Sabbath. But Jesus proved that He is the Master or the Lord of the Sabbath. The religious Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus for bringing Lazarus from the dead. They also wanted to kill Lazarus, to remove any trace of the miracle (Jn 12:9-11). Jesus is proclaiming that He is the One who exercises authority even over the rules and regulations that govern the Sabbath day! As such, Jesus was proclaiming to the world, especially to the legalistic Pharisees, that He was greater than the Law and above the laws of the Mosaic Covenant because, as God in flesh, He is the Author of those laws. As Creator, Christ is the original Lord of the Sabbath. As the Creator is greater than His creation, so He has the authority to overrule the Pharisees’ traditions and regulations because He has created the Sabbath. Because Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, He is free to do on it and with it whatever He pleases. Worship the Lord!
IN THE BEGINNING GOD / THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION (2)
During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter two She said that we shall go and revisit the beginning of creation. The way Isaac dug Abraham’s well, we want to dig our Heavenly Father’s well of eternal life! The Bible starts with four simple words: “In the beginning God…”. The Bible takes it for granted that God exists and God is the creator of everything that is created. You cannot read the Bible without faith. You must believe these words. If not, to you, the Bible looks like a foolish book.
The doctrine of creation states that creation is a miracle. God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, formed and brought into existence everything outside of Himself. He did this out of nothing, just by the Word of His power. Everything God created was very good.
Just the way Isaac went to re-dig his father’s wells, covered by the dirt of the Philistines, so we shall search for the deeper revelation found in the story of Creation.
The dirt of the Philistines can be described as any scientific theory that denies the existence of God as the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. To understand the Bible, you need faith to find the revelation. Science, philosophy and psychology, are man’s ideas trying to describe God’s creation. These ideas have done a lot of harm to many people all over the world. There are 4 philosophical ideas that try to explain the history of mankind. They say that:
1-Mankind is gradually getting better. There is a gradual progress built into humanity. The Darwin Evolution theory has done much damage to many people, all over the world. It has affected the way people see life in general. There is a superficial optimism that life will be better. The advice is to improve the area of medicine and education. Interestingly, as an old man, Darwin regrated his theory of evolution. It was said that he became depressed and that he lost the joy of life. He said that he lost the wonder of life. He will read a poem, or he will listen to a song, and his heart was not moved anymore are the beauty in it! As children of God, may we never lose our wonder! Jesus!!! His name is Wonderful!
2-Mankind and civilizations go in circles. This is the Greek philosophy. It says that every empire and civilization start to build itself, then arrives to a peak, then it crumbles. Another one starts, and the circle continues.
3-The history of mankind is shapeless and scattered with no lesson to learn from it!
4-Mankind will come to an end. It is based on the second law of thermodynamics. They say that the world is like a clock somebody has turned on. It will come to an end and stop on its own. The second law of thermodynamics means that hot things always cool unless you do something to stop the transfer of energy. The roots of thermodynamics lie in efforts to understand the steam engines. Their heat always tends to dissipate, moving to cooler regions. To maintain the heat, you need additional energy to power it. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; the total quantity of energy in the universe stays the same. The Second Law of Thermodynamics is about the quality of energy. It states that as energy is transferred or transformed, more and more of it is wasted. The Second Law also states that there is a natural tendency of any isolated system to degenerate into a more disordered state called entropy. According to the scientists, this is the fate of the universe: The Second Law predicts the end of the universe “It implies that the universe will end in a ‘heat death’ in which everything is at the same temperature. This is the ultimate level of disorder; if everything is at the same temperature, no work can be done, and all the energy will end up as the random motion of atoms and molecules.” In the distant future, stars will have used up all their nuclear fuel ending up as stellar remnants or black holes. What a fancy theory? These unbelieves are willing believe anything, but they reject God!
All these theories have one thing in common: the reject God as the Creator of the universe. They reject that He is personally in charge of His creation. These are the theories of the scientific unbelievers! They also ignore the value of man created by God in His image. They ignore that the Creation has a story, to prepare man for the reality of redemption! They ignore the fact of sin! They ignore that the end of the world is not because of the second law of thermodynamics but it will happen when Christ shall come again. He will punish all sin. The devil and the unbelievers will be thrown in the lake of fire. God will create a new earth and a new heaven where we shall dwell together, forever and in love with our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ! These so called ‘scientific theories’ are a part of the dirt of the Philistines that we need to evacuate, to find the water of life bellow. The Bible is not the history of humanity! It is the history of creation and redemption! May we dig deeper! May we find the truth!
If these are all imaginations and lies, what is the truth? What does the Bible say about this universe? The Bible says that God has created all things! God maintains all things for His pleasure and to manifest His glory! God the Father has created all things thru the hands of God the Son. The creation is to give Him the glory and it is for the pleasure of God the Son. “All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:16). God spoke in the Old Testament thru the prophets. He speaks now thru the Son. Creation speaks! Do you hear its voice? “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb 1:1-3). Our Lord was slain before the creation. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8). God knew that man would fall into sin. God the Father designed the plan of salvation before the earth was formed. At the same time, God the Son agreed to die for sinners. This agreement was done before the creation. The chosen ones, the believers in Christ, were in God’s heart before the foundation of the world. God “chose us in Him (in Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph 1:4). This universe is the product of love! Sacrificial love. Every mountain, the sea, the flowers of the field, the butterflies, all have the seal of the Blood of the Son of God. The creation has the stamp of the Cross! What is the lesson? Child of God, trust God for the assurance and joy or your salvation! You should never fear to lose your salvation. King Grace has designed it. King Grace has completed it! Salvation is older than time! What is left for us now is to worship this great and mighty God, the Lover of our souls! Let Creation bow to the Creator! Worship the Lord!
Flowers and plants are created by God. I can see His glory in the choice of His colors, in the shape of the leaves, in the process of growth from little seeds. Creation speaks of the glory of God! I worship God!
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20)
I was born in Communist Romania in 1954. Like most of my contemporaries I was a convinced atheist. I did not believe in God. We were thought in school that there is no God, no devil, no heaven or hell. We were also told that there is nothing like the ‘spirit world’. This was our ‘destiny’: work very hard and leave something to our children. That was life as it was explained to us. I believed it! I met Richmond Leigh, my future husband, a Nigerian, in the medical school. We were classmates. We got married in the second year of medical school. We had two children, John and Alina. We graduated and came to Nigeria in 1980. We had Jemine, another daughter, in Warri. We both worked as doctors here between 1980 and 2000. When I came here, I was surprised how religious the Nigerians were (Christian, Muslim and Pagan). I saw their religion as an effect of illiteracy and poverty. I did not see a Bible before I came to Nigeria. My patients preached Christ to me. It always upset me. I ignored, resisted and rejected the religion of my patients. But against all odds, the Holy Spirit arrested me! He convicted me of my sins, especially of pride, unbelief and self righteousness. So, I became saved on the 14th of March, 1986, thru a crisis conversion. The old me died on that Cross where my Savior shed His Blood for me. A month later, the Holy Spirit filled me! Since then, my new life is a testimony to the grace and the power of the only Living God! My husband reconciled with God too. Both of us left our medical professions and entered into full time ministry. We founded Father’s House Bible Church, Effurun/Warri. (He is in heaven now).
What is the lesson? No religion, no doctrine, no teaching, no philosophy or social theory can stand against the name of Jesus Christ! Jesus always wins! To God be all the glory!
(In the picture, Richmond Sisan Leigh (Tali) and I; about 2000)
During the Sunday service, Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached from the Book of Genesis chapter one. She said that we shall go and revisit the beginning of creation. The way Isaac dug Abraham’s well, we want to dig our Heavenly Father’s well of eternal life! The Bible starts with four simple words: “In the beginning God…”. The Bible takes it for granted that God exists and God is the creator of everything that is created. You cannot read the Bible without faith. You must believe these words. If not, to you, the Bible looks like a foolish book. The doctrine of creation states that creation is a miracle. God, who alone is uncreated and eternal, has formed and given existence to everything outside of Himself. He did this from nothing by the word of His power, and all of it was very good. The first four words of the Bible are these: “In the beginning God”. These words place immediate emphasis upon God. They tell us from the very beginning, even before anything else in the universe existed, that God already was. Nothing brought God into being. Nothing gave Him existence. He was around long before anything else was. He was around long before there was even such a thing as time itself. God is above time. God created time. Though God is eternal and above time, He acts in our time with perfect precision. God is never too early and never too late. God’s time is the best. “He makes everything beautiful in His time” (Ecc 3:11).
The Doctrine of creation divides all men into two groups: Some believe it and the others do not! The unbelievers do not believe in God as Elohim, the Creator. They believe that the universe evolved from something else. The Darwin theory of evolution has done much damage to many people. It says that nature started with nothing and evolved into something. Darwin did not believe that God is a Person who designed and created the universe. For example, it says that a monkey, thru a process of evolution, became a man. It gives the impression that things change by themselves, always for better; that they improve on their own, without God, without a Designer and a Creator. There is no scientific proof to believe the theory of evolution. A theory is defined as a formal statement of ideas that are suggested to explain a fact or an event. It is an opinion, or an explanation made by men. This theory of evolution is a deceptive imagination. It is a lie, but many people believed it. It takes faith to believe in an invisible Creator. That faith is a gift from the same Creator. God has total authority over His Creation because He Created it. God is the Beginning and the End of all things. Faith alone receives and understands that and rises to worship God! “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Heb 11:3). Faith is believing God, that God exists. But it is even more than that. Faith ‘understands’ God! Only biblical faith ‘understands’ spiritual things even when it does not see them. God is pleased and rewards the faith that believes He exists, as the Creator of the universe. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6). This scripture speaks blessings upon those who believe the Doctrine of Creation! May you believe it! Amen!
We are told that the earth was “without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep”. In Hebrew, the words ‘without form and void’ are Ttohu -Va- Bohu”. They mean “waste and empty”; like a desert where life cannot exist. The sound of the words magnifies this picture of emptiness. God spoke light amid the darkness. Light is movement, action. Light is an electromagnetic wave seen by the human eye. Darkness is dead. Darkness does not move. Darkness is the absence of light. The Word of God creates light, a movement called life! It gives form to that which was without form. It gives life and meaning to that which was void. The Word of God goes forth in power and cannot come back ‘void’. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the Sower and bread to the Eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Is 55:10, 11). As you can see, the Word of God always produces results. It never loses its power to form and create. It accomplishes the will of God! Always! God does not speak careless, barren words. Never! You can see here the power of God! You can see the power of the Word of God!As we are praying for revival, we observe that each time there is a spiritual emptiness, a religious wilderness, it is something similar with “Tohu-Va-Bohu”. In Nigerian’ slang we say “Jaga- jaga”.
There are many problems in Nigeria: corruption in the government offices, the schools go on strike, the hospitals are substandard. Many tend to become disappointed and hopeless. But from this Book of Genesis, we see that the first thing God does when there is emptiness and hopelessness is to bring His Spirit closer to it. The Spirit of God starts to move upon the darkness. Even before God the Father speaks the Word of Creation, The Holy Spirit (Ruach Elohim) hovers over the chaos. The Spirit of God, broods over the dark deep waters. To brood describes a bird sitting on her eggs until the chicks are born. It also describes the mother bird coming to her chicks, to feed them, to protect them. It is the sound of the helicopter ready to land. To brood it means to anxiously and silently think about someone, trying to help him. True love broods. We are praying for revival. Each time God wants to do a new thing on earth, His Spirit starts to hover over a people, over a church. You can almost hear the fluttering of the mother eagle’ wings, over her eggs, covering them until they are born. As it was in the beginning, so it is now… The first two chapters of Genesis are important because they describe the earth and the creation before the fall of man. But this becomes a problem for the preacher. We are preaching the Gospel of Christ Crucified and Resurrected. Where is Christ in these two chapters? We know Christ as Savior. But without sin, there is no need for a Savior. We need the revelation of Christ in a world without sin. We need to see Christ as the Creator of all things. God the Father and God the Son created all things for their pleasure and glory! “All things were created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:13-16).
In Genesis 1 and 2, there is no sin. There is no promise of grace or salvation. It is like we do not need Christ. It is not easy to preach the Gospel from the first two chapters of Genesis. The Trinity created the world. We should see Christ preparing the stage for one purpose only: to reveal the Gospel. The Father created the world thru the hands of the Son! God knew that man would fall. The plan of salvation was done before the creation. Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8). We are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world but, was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Pet 1:19-21). Here you see the Sovereignty of God! He knows the end from the beginning! Halleluiah! The Trinity agreed on the Plan of Redemption even before Creation. Read Genesis 1 and 2 having Redemption in mind. The Redeemer creates the stage for His Redemption. He is the director of the drama. He puts the props and the lights in their places. The world is the stage for the Cross! It is a mistake to think that man fell, and God was surprised by it! Christ created man in the image of God. Why did God create the world as it is? It was for Jesus! It was for the display of His love at the Cross! God made water! Why? So that He can say: “I am the water of life”. Why did He make the birds? So that He can say: “look at the birds…”. He made the trees. What was in His mind? To make the wooden Cross. He made the iron in the ground. Why? To make the nails, to crucify Him. In Creation, God was looking ahead, preparing for the amazing salvation! The stage is set for the Redemption story. See The Trinity behind it all. Then you can bow and call Him Holy! Worship the Lord!
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1Cor 10:13)
This morning I want to encourage you… One of the best promises we have as believers in Christ is that when tempted, we shall not be left alone. This is the truth: God will be there in the furnace with you, helping you to find ‘the way of escape’ out of the fire. The way out of the cage is down, at the bottom. The humble believer kneels down, prays and finds it. But the proud one looks up, tries to climb out and will miss it. That is why proud men suffer much longer than the humble ones. Lesson: When you suffer, humble yourself and trust God! Soon the pain is over! All trials that come your way ‘are common to man’! These afflictions are suited to men, to what men can bear, not different than what other men experience in this life. Remember: God is faithful! His faithfulness is seen much clearer during times of temptations. God oversees your trial. He will not permit the devil to attack you until you break down, backslide or die. Your present pain will not be above or beyond your power to resist the devil and to remain faithful to God to the end. The faithfulness of God is the proof why all of us who are suffering one trial or another, are still alive and well. If not for God we should all be mad, admitted in a psychiatric hospital with deep depression. Surprisingly, we are able to endure, to bear pain, patiently waiting for God to reveal the way of escape. Lesson: because God is faithful to me, I will be faithful to Him!
The reason why temptations are so painful is that the devil attacks not only with sickness or poverty, but with many lies as well. These are some of the lies that you must resist and reject: Lie number one: ’God does not love you, that is why you suffer…’ This is a lie! If you are a child of God, then you should know that God’s love to you!!! In Christ, God’s love is unconditional and eternal. God uses painful things to discipline you, for your own good, but He will not take away His love from you. Lie number two: ’You may start well but you do not have the power to end well…’ This is a lie! The grace of God is sufficient to start and finish the race. Do not be discouraged! Lie number three: ‘If you are spiritually mature you will be able to avoid al temptations…’ This is a lie! The closer you get to God the more His light will shine on you. This light will expose your weakness and sins. You will become more sensitive to sin and temptations. Remember that Jesus was tempted, Paul was tempted and all believers will be tempted. Temptation is not sin. Backsliding in the middle of the temptation is sin! Stop trying to use ‘wisdom’ to avoid pain. Accept it as part of life. See the gain of pain! Pass thru the fire! Like Job, you will come out shining like gold! Lie number four: ‘Nothing good comes out of this temptation…’ This is a lie! Sin is useless but temptation is used by God to purify our hearts, especially the motives for serving Him. God will be grieved if you fall and backslide because of trials. God will be happy if you trust in Him always and stand faithful to the end!
Final Lesson: Be faithful to God! God rewards faithfulness and obedience! Give God all the glory! Praise God for your salvation, your testimony, your healing, your deliverance, your fruitfulness, your family, your anointing for ministry and so many blessings! This temptation is temporary but God is eternal! Jesus saves to the uttermost! In all things give thanks! Shout hallelujah!
George Washington Carver (1864-1943), was born a slave, but he managed to get an education as a scientist. His master, Moses Carver, was a German American immigrant, who had purchased George’s parents, Mary and Giles, from William P. McGinnis on October 9, 1855, for $700. When George was a week old, he, a sister, and his mother were kidnapped by night raiders from Arkansas. George’s brother, James, was rushed to safety from the kidnappers. The kidnappers sold the slaves in Kentucky. Moses Carver hired John Bentley to find them, but he found only the infant George. Moses negotiated with the raiders to gain the boy’s return, and rewarded Bentley. After slavery was abolished, Moses Carver and his wife, Susan, raised George and his older brother, James, as their own children. They encouraged George to continue his intellectual pursuits, and “Aunt Susan” taught him the basics of reading and writing. At that time he became born again! This is his testimony, in his own words: “I was just a mere boy when converted, hardly ten years old. There isn’t much of a story to it. God just came into my heart one afternoon while I was alone in the ‘loft’ of our big barn while I was shelling corn to carry to the mill to be ground into meal. A dear little white boy, one of our neighbors, about my age came by one Saturday morning, and in talking and playing he told me he was going to Sunday school tomorrow morning. I was eager to know what a Sunday school was. He said they sang hymns and prayed. I asked him what prayer was and what they said. I do not remember what he said; only remember that as soon as he left I climbed up into the ‘loft,’ knelt down by the barrel of corn and prayed as best I could. I do not remember what I said. I only recall that I felt so good that I prayed several times before I quit. My brother and myself were the only colored children in that neighborhood and of course, we could not go to church or Sunday school, or school of any kind. That was my simple conversion, and I have tried to keep the faith” Carver applied to several colleges before being accepted at Highland University in Highland, Kansas. When he arrived, however, they refused to let him attend because of his race. He prayed! He trusted God! He persevered. He worked hard! He earned money by odd jobs. Little by little people observed his humility, hard work, and his extraordinary creative mind. In early 1888, miraculously, Carver obtained a $300 loan at the Bank of Ness City for education. In 1890, Carver started studying art and piano at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. His art teacher, Etta Budd, recognized Carver’s talent for painting flowers and plants; she encouraged him to study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in Ames. When he began there in 1891, he was the first black student at Iowa State. He graduated with Bachelor degree in Agriculture. Carver received his Master of Science degree in 1896. Carver taught as the first black lecturer at Iowa State. He was the most prominent black scientist of the early 20th century. Both Simpson College and Selma University awarded him honorary doctorates of science in his lifetime. Iowa State later awarded him a doctorate of humane letters posthumously in 1994. His secret was his walk with God. He said that the hunger of his heart was to discover the secrets of the universe. But, he said, God said to me, ‘George, that’s too big for you. I’ve got something more your size. You take a peanut and work on that. And so he began to investigate what God has hidden in a peanut. He found over 330 different products that could be made from the peanut, revolutionizing the technology of his day. Dr. Carver became famous and wealthy. But in his heart, he always remained a simple, Bible-believing servant of God who relied upon Him to open his mind to truth. This beautiful testimony is to the glory of God and for your encouragement!
Green Pastures 