Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ... Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given unto us. Rom 5:1-5 NKJV
Grace To You
Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil 1:2
God nature is perfect. The essence of God's divine nature is love and righteousness. He is the source of a divine love called “agape” love. This is a love of unmerited favor. It is a love that is offered to all of mankind through God's grace. God's divine nature is also the source of righteousness in the world. His nature is the source of all goodness, love, truth, and wisdom. God's divine nature is so awesome that we cannot fully comprehend God. His nature is a great mystery to us that He reveals to mankind at the right place in time. See below for Biblical commentary and scriptures concerning God's divine nature. Key Bible verses: 1 John 4:17, Psalms 33:5, 1 John 4:8, Colossians 2:3, and Colossians 2:2.
The Perfection of God's Divine Nature.
God’s nature can be summed up in two words: love and righteousness. God is the only one that is perfect and only through discovering and growing closer to Him, can we be made perfect in righteousness. See Scripture Commentary:1 John 4:17 advises us how to obtain the perfect nature of God.
“Thus says YEHOVAH, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer,YEHOVAH of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
Isaiah 44:6
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand has stretched out the heavens...
Isaiah 48:12-13
“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am YEHOVAH, And besides Me there is no Savior.
Isaiah 43:10-11
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,”
Rev 1:11, 17, 2:8, 22:13
If you will open your Bible and read the passages from Isaiah in context you will see that they are a powerful personal testimony. YEHOVAH, Himself, is speaking. He boldly proclaims that He is God! He is not just a god, He is the only God, and He offers proof. His proof is His Omniscience. He knows all things and He has no rivals, not men or false gods. He knows and has declared the truth about the beginning and the end. The Bible is full of His prophetic revelations about the past and the future and none has been proven false. So, YEHOVAH'S testimony is trustworthy.
YEHOVAHdeclares that He is the ONLY GOD. There was no god before YEHOVAH and there will be no god after YEHOVAH. He is the ETERNALLY EXISTING "I AM." To be clear, in the Bible, YEHOVAH has revealed Himself as existing eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All Three Persons of the Godhead are YEHOVAH. They are One God in three Persons: the Trinity.
YEHOVAH is the CREATOR of heaven and earth! He tells all about His creative activity in Genesis. He says He spoke everything into existence in six days and rested on the seventh day. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all evident in the creation process.
YEHOVAH says He is the King of Israel. Jesus, in His resurrected body, will reign over this renovated earth in the city of Jerusalem for 1000 years and then over the new earth for eternity! Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead in human form but the Trinity will abide with believers forever.
YEHOVAH is also the Redeemer of mankind, and the Only Savior. Jesus died on the cross to reconcile us with the Father. When we believe in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the Holy Spirit brings us into the body of Christ and guarantees eternal life.
Reading these three verses you find two critical concepts: belief and unbelief. Our place in eternity depends on belief in Jesus or unbelief concerning Jesus.
A believer is not currently condemned and will not be condemned in the future. He will not be called before YEHOVAH'S Great White Throne for judgment and perish eternally. He has now and will continue to have everlasting life. His name is written in the Book of Life. He will stand before the Bema Seat of Jesus Christ to receive rewards for good deeds done after salvation, or he will lose rewards if He has no acceptable deeds. Either way, he has everlasting life with YEHOVAH, Angels and all Believers because he was saved by grace for Jesus' sake.
On the other hand, an unbeliever is currently under the wrath of YEHOVAH for rejecting the sacrifice made for him by Jesus, God's Son. He is condemned to perish. His name is not written in the Book of Life and all his evil deeds are recorded in a book which will be reviewed when he appears for his trial and sentencing at the Great White Throne judgement. He will never experience life. All who go to that judgement will be cast into the Lake of Fire with Satan, fallen angels, demons and unbelievers to suffer for eternity. This is called the second death. See Revelation 20:10-15.
If you have not believed in Jesus before now, I urge you to consider your situation. YEHOVAH (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) loves you! Jesus died for you!
If you sense the Spirit of God drawing you through His Word, please respond to Him. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He paid your sin debt you will be saved. Today is the day of Salvation and there is no other Savior. Please put your trust in Him and call on Him today.
May you experience peace, joy, love and everlasting life!
All scriptures are from the NKJV but I have removed "the LORD" and reinserted YEHOVAH to restore God's Name to His Word as He intended it to be there originally.
Before I came across the following article posted online by Dan Nordquist, I was considering writing a blog myself to share some of the end time prophecy information I've been learning of late. However, when I found this article, it made me realize there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The site said it could be freely published as long as the content is not changed and the website link is included. So, I am passing along the full length article and trust it will be a blessing to you.
I realize it is a lengthy article but it's well worth your time. Feel free to print it and read it in multiple sessions if need be. (I have bold typed points I wish to emphasize.)
Will Islam rule the world?
If so, is it OK to be a Muslim instead of a Christian?
Is Islam in the Bible?
The Religion of the End Time in Bible Prophecy.
The religion of the end time will be one where the false prophet will deceive the whole world and cause the world to worship the Antichrist by doing miracles such as pulling fire from the sky. This religion already exists but will be made universal by the power given the Antichrist and the false prophet by the devil. The Bible doesn't specifically tell us what that religion will be called, but we can determine what it will be by looking at the facts. The world is pretty much dominated by Christianity and Islam (over half of the world's population combined). While Hinduism comes in a close third, it doesn't look like it will matter in the end time.
Christianity today is full of churches proclaiming that all religions worship the same God and therefore we should embrace them. The Catholic Church promotes that idea with Interfaith doctrine and goes as far as to state, in the Catechism, that the Muslims worship the same God as Christianity; and therefore, will enjoy the same salvation equally. This means that they think it doesn't matter if you are a Christian or a Muslim, and that you can find salvation through either religion.
The Muslims, on the other hand, have no such belief. In fact, Muslim doctrine teaches that Jesus is just a prophet, not the manifestation of God in the flesh, and that He will return at the end time to teach Christians the Muslim way and convert them. The prophecies of the Bible and the Muslim prophecies concerning the Antichrist (the Muslim Mahdi) and the false prophet (the Muslim Jesus) mirror each other but the good guys of Islam are the bad guys of the Bible. This is a very good indication that the Antichrist will rise as the Mahdi of Islam and will unite the Christian world with him via the false prophet and create a global Islamic religion. The Bible tells us that this end time religion will be forced upon people or they will be killed if they refuse. The Muslim prophecies tell us that the Muslims will kill any who won't convert to Islam.
The Bible tells us that the world will be fooled by the false prophet performing miracles in the sight of men, like pulling fire from the sky. The false prophet will seem to everyone to have Godly power and will fool everyone into worshiping the Antichrist.
Is Islam really a true religion worshiping the same God as Christianity?
I had to ask myself this question: who is the God of Islam? Is it really the same God that Abraham worshiped as they want us to believe?
Kaaba at Mecca (Wikipedia Image)
It is asserted by Muslims that Mecca's Arabs are descendants of Ishmael, the son of Abraham. They also claim that Ishmael settled in Mecca where he, along with Abraham, built the Kaaba and passed on the religion of the true God to his offspring. It is believed that throughout time the Ishmaelites perverted the worship of the true God, not by abandoning their belief in him, but by adding other gods in their worship, thus perverting the religion of the God of their father Ishmael. It is actually provable that this is not true, as I will show you.
In the Old Testament, near Israel's beginnings, worship of a false God called Baal began and consisted of worshiping the heavenly bodies, of which the moon is the largest in the sky. The Biblical and historical evidence shows that the Moabites worshiped Baal. The pre-Islamic and Muslim sources show (a) that the Meccans took over the idol Hubal from the Moabites and (b) that Allah and Hubal are actually identical. Thus, whether the Meccans are Ishmaelites or not, the evidence is still strong and sufficient to conclude that Muhammad's Allah is actually Hubal, i.e., the Baal of the Moabites and thus not the God of the Bible. Muhammad incorporated the characteristics and names of various other gods into his new monotheistic message about Allah, but he apparently started the construction of Allah with Hubal, the chief god of the Meccans.
The pre-Islam pagan Arabs worshipped the Moon-god Allah by praying toward Mecca several times a day; making a pilgrimage to Mecca; running around the temple of the Moon-god called the Kaaba; kissing the black stone; killing an animal in sacrifice to the Moon-god; throwing stones at the devil; fasting for the month which begins and ends with the crescent moon; giving alms to the poor, etc.
If you have read the news in recent months, you know that modern day Muslims practice these very rituals.
The Muslims are worshiping the same false god that people have been worshiping since early times as far back as Israel's beginnings.
Most importantly, Muslims say you don’t need to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved! Muslims will admit that Jesus Christ was a true prophet, but deny that He was the Messiah (although some Western Muslims will say He was anointed), they will deny that He was God manifested in the flesh as of the Son of God (John 1:14), and they will deny that He died on the cross and rose again. Does that make sense? Absolutely not. That belief cannot be truth because Jesus Christ Himself said He was the Messiah! John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. That would make Him a false prophet according to the Muslim beliefs!
The word Islam means "submission". Not only in the sense of submission to Allah, but in the sense of making everyone submit to the rule of Islam. Islam is about subduing the world and making it submit. The Muslims believe that Mohammad is the exemplar of right conduct. They aspire to be like him in the same manner that Christians aspire to be like Jesus. Mohammad said to spread, through warfare, the rules of Islam. Mohammad became increasingly violent during his career and spent 10 years in Medina creating an army to overthrow his homeland, Mecca, after he was ran off by the pagans in 622 AD. He killed thousands of people and subdued Arabia through war. Muslims are encouraged to commit acts of heroism in combat. They are promised that those who kill and are killed will be rewarded with paradise. This is the basis for suicide bombers. They believe that since they are killing while they are killed that the sin of suicide is covered by the martyrdom of their action and, as such, they will be rewarded in heaven. Islam is a religion of political rule, a system of government. It is not about a personal relationship with Allah, it is about bringing the world under submission to its rule.
The Quran (Koran) was written over time during the life of Mohammad (conveyed or recited by him). He started as a peaceful man, but as time went on he changed many of his values. As he became increasingly violent, his writings matched his attitude. The correct interpretation of the Quran is to take any conflict in doctrine, of which there is a whole lot, and replace an older verse with the latest one, supplanting its meaning with the more recent version in a process called abrogation. The problem is that the Quran is compiled from the longest Sura to the shortest, so it's nearly impossible to know which conflicting verse to believe or obey. The Muslims have a whole committee of scholars to interpret the Quran and decide which verses were written first and the succession of them to the last.
If you think Islam is a religion of peace, as they claim, just look at all the wars they are involved in today, in Europe, China, Africa, etc., and the mindset of Muslims as a whole as they chant "Death to Israel, Death to America", while they are working toward their goal of subduing the world. Islam is a religion of peace only when they have conquered the world and subjected it to the rule of Islam. Also, if the son of the ruler of Hamas says that Islam has no moderates, then I believe him.
Do they really expect us to believe they worship the same God that Christians do?
The religion of the end time in Islamic prophecy vs the Bible
There is ample evidence that the Islamic religion will be the false religion of the End Time used the by Biblical Antichrist. Here's why I think so:
The Islamic/Muslim prophecies are a parallel but opposite mirror of Biblical prophecy concerning the End Time. The Muslim good guys are the Bible's bad guys.
The Muslim prophecies listed here are found in the Quran and the Sunnah. Some believe Mohammad was possessed by a demon who gave him these parallel prophecies (Mohammad actually said that he feared he was possessed), but it could simply be that he had a copy of the book of Revelation and patterned this all after the Bible so as to look authentic. Personally, I believe he was either possessed or given this information and guided to build the Islamic religion by a demon or the devil himself.
Take a look at the following list:
Bible: The Antichrist is an unparalleled political, military, and religious leader that will emerge in the last days.
Islam: The Mahdi is an unparalleled political, military, and religious leader that will emerge in the last days.
Bible: the False Prophet is a secondary prominent figure that will emerge in the last days who will support the Antichrist.
Islam: the Muslim Jesus is a secondary prominent figure that will emerge in the last days to support the Mahdi.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet together will have a powerful army that will do great damage to the earth in an effort to subdue every nation and dominate the world.
Islam: The Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus will have a powerful army that will attempt to control every nation of the earth and dominate the world.
Bible: The False Prophet is described essentially as a dragon in lamb's clothing.
Islam: The Muslim Jesus comes bearing the name of the one that the world knows as 'The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ." Yet the Muslim Jesus comes to murder all those who do not submit to Islam.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet establish a new world order.
Islam: The Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus establish a new world order.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet institute new laws for the whole earth.
Islam: The Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus institute Islamic law all over the earth.
Bible: The Antichrist is said to "change the times."
Islam: It is quite certain that if the Mahdi established Islam all over the earth, he would discontinue the use of Saturday and Sunday as the weekend for days of rest and replace them with Friday, the holy day of Islam. Also, he would most certainly eliminate the Gregorian calendar and replace it with the Islamic calendar used in every Islamic country.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet will both be powerful religious leaders who will attempt to institute a universal world religion.
Islam: The Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus will institute Islam as the only religion on the earth.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet will execute anyone who does not submit to their world religion.
Islam: Likewise, the Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus will execute anyone who does not submit to Islam.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet will specifically use beheading as the primary means of execution for non-conformists.
Islam: The Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus will use the Islamic practice of beheading for executions.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet will have a specific agenda to kill as many Jews (and Christians) as possible.
Islam: The Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus will kill as many Jews as possible until only a few are left hiding behind rocks and trees.
Bible: The Antichrist and the False Prophet will attack to conquer and seize Jerusalem (the battle of Armageddon).
Islam: The Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus will attack to reconquer and seize Jerusalem for Islam.
Bible: The Antichrist will set himself up in the Jewish Temple as his seat of authority (the abomination of desolation).
Islam: The Mahdi will establish the Islamic caliphate from Jerusalem.
Bible: The False Prophet is said to do many miracles to deceive as many as possible into supporting the Antichrist.
Islam: The Mahdi, himself, is said to control the weather and the crops. His face is said to glow. We can also assume that since Jesus is viewed as having been empowered by Allah to work miracles when He was here on earth the first time, He will most likely be expected to continue to do so when He returns.
Bible: The belief at the time of Muhammad (and still believed by some people today) was that the Antichrist is described as riding on a white horse in the Book of Revelation.
Islam: The Mahdi is described as riding on a white horse (ironically in the same verse in Revelation).
Bible: The Antichrist is said to make a peace treaty (with many) with Israel for seven years.
Islam: The Mahdi is said to make a peace treaty through a Jew (specifically a Levite) for exactly seven years.
Bible: Jesus the Jewish Messiah will return to defend the Jews in Israel from a military attack from a vast coalition of nations led by the Antichrist and the False Prophet (the battle of Armageddon).
Islam: The Dajjal, the Islamic Antichrist, will gain a great Jewish following and claim to be Jesus Christ and fight against the Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus.
Bible: The Antichrist spirit specifically denies the most unique and central doctrines of Christianity, namely the divinity of Jesus, the incarnation of God in the flesh, and the substitutionary death of Jesus on the Cross.
Islam: Islam doctrinally and spiritually specifically denies the most unique and central doctrines of Christianity, namely the divinity of Jesus, the incarnation of God in the flesh, and the substitutionary death of Jesus on the Cross.
Bible: The primary warning of Jesus and the Apostle Paul was to warn Christians of the abundance of deceit and deception in the last days.
Islam: Islam is perhaps the only religion on earth that practices deceit as one of its tools to assist its own ascendancy. It actually has a specific doctrine which allows and even calls for deception to be used to achieve its desired end.
Bible: From the Bible and history we learn that the final Antichrist empire will be a revived version of the empire that succeeds the Roman Empire.
Islam: The empire that succeeded the Roman/Byzantine Empire was the combined Holy Roman Empire in parallel with the Islamic Ottoman Empire.
Bible: When the Antichrist emerges, a system will already exist poised to receive him as a savior and to give allegiance to him.
Islam is already the second largest religion and will at present growth rates become the largest religion within a few decades. Islam awaits the coming of the Mahdi with universal anticipation. The Catholic church and many Christian churches believe that the Muslims will be saved just like Christians will be, and believe that they worship the same God as Christianity. It's a very short step to convert to Islam if that is believed to be the truth.
We can see that the whole world will be fooled by the false prophet and the Antichrist, including the Muslims. The Muslims will believe it is their Mahdi, while the rest of the world will follow the interfaith movement into believing that being a Muslim is the same as Christianity in that we all worship the same God and therefore will enjoy the same salvation. As stated, the Catholic church has already included Islam as part of God's people and many Christian churches are following this belief. This means that everyone who is fooled by this will think it's perfectly OK to convert to Islam.
What will the world of the end time look like?
The nations of the end time
The empires of the world from Babylon to today were foretold and since we live in a time where history proves what those prophecies were, we have the unique pleasure of seeing prophecy unfold.
The book of Daniel gives us two symbolic pictures of the end time governments.
In one perspective we see that there will be 4 kingdoms in existence at the end time and they will exist when Jesus returns, conquers them, and sets up His kingdom on the earth. These kingdoms mentioned specifically are Britain, Russia, Germany, and the final government of the New World Order that the Antichrist will rule.
In the other perspective we see that the Medes and the Persians rule after Babylon, then the Greek empire, then the Roman, and finally the Holy Roman / Ottoman co-empires. Both of these final empires together comprised the total area controlled by the Roman Empire. From the Bible and history we learn that the final Antichrist empire will be a revived version of the empire that succeeds the Roman Empire.
The Bible tells us that this final (divided, co-empire) will be used as the world government of the Antichrist and his false prophet. The Antichrist will bring the Muslim world together, reviving the Ottoman empire, while the false prophet will bring in Europe, reviving the Holy Roman empire, and the two will unite them as one. The Bible tells us that the Antichrist will rule the whole world, but it also says that during this last 3.5 years he will be fighting wars as he conquers more and more nations. Not all nations will fall under his rule in so short a time (the area which is now Jordan is one that is specifically mentioned to “escape out of his hand”, among others), but he will rule the last world dominating empire.
The Bible tells us that some of the nations that exist today will exist when Jesus returns and that the Holy Roman / Ottoman Empires will be revived and be united in the New World Order that the Antichrist will use to rule the world.
Islam is predicted in the Fourth Seal of Revelation.
In Revelation 6:1-8 and Zechariah 6:1-8, we're given a warning of the spirits that will be controlling the world in the last days. The pale/green horse of Revelation and the grisled and bay horses of Zechariah tell us about the spirit of Islam.
The pale horse went south and Death sat on him and Hell followed him and he was given power to kill with the sword and hunger and the beasts of the world. The Southern Hemisphere contains most of the poverty stricken nations. War, crime, revolution, hunger and beasts of the earth are more prominent in the more backward nations of the third world. The last 100 years have seen more death than the entire history of man (wars, abortions, etc.) The passage in Zechariah splits the pale/green horse in two; into the grisled and bay horses. That makes this prophecy easier to understand in that it has two components: Islam and Death. A very interesting thing about this horse is that the meaning of the original Greek word is interpreted as “pale” in the King James Bible, but the word chloros (khlo-ros'); also means greenish, or pale green. This word (chloros) is also used in 3 other places in the Bible: Mark 6:39, Revelation 8:7 and Revelation 9:4. In all three of these other places it was interpreted correctly as green. This horse was also given power over the fourth part of the earth. Since we know these horses are spirits, it is very, very interesting that the color of Islam is green (their flags, etc.), and that there are 1.48 billion Muslims (Islam followers) in the world today. That’s almost exactly one fourth of the world population. This horse went south; and 96.5% of the world’s Muslims are in the Southern Hemisphere, in Africa and Southern Asia. Can Islam be defined as “Death”? I’ve seen arguments that the terrorists are only the “radicals” and poor Muslims being recruited, but if you look at the history of the men that hijacked the planes on 9/11, they came from middle class and wealthy families. The attacks that are happening everywhere, the suicide bombings, the masses of Muslims chanting, “Death to Israel, death to America”, are not only the poor and radical, it is the mindset of Islam as a whole. Look at what happened recently in Palestine. They knowingly elected a terrorist organization into their government! And, given what we know about Islam and how it will be used by the Antichrist, the term “death” here may be referring to the “second death” of Revelation where those that are not saved come before God on judgment day.
What we're waiting for in the near future
The event we're looking for right now, that could happen very soon, is the Confirmation of the Covenant. The confirmation of the covenant is this: there will be an international agreement to confirm the status of Jerusalem and the permanent borders of Israel. These things are being fought over right now with the Palestinians. The Bible says that the Antichrist will confirm the covenant along with many others for 7 years. This event will be the beginning of the last 7 years of Daniels 490 years. It may be hard to identify the Antichrist at that time because he will be just one of many.
Approximately 8 months (.7 years) after the Confirmation of the Covenant, the Antichrist will begin to take over the world.
The Antichrist and the false prophet will team up around this time.
The Jewish temple will be rebuilt and animal sacrifices will be resumed by the Jews.
Jerusalem will be “surrounded by armies”, which is likely a picture of it being policed by UN and/or other forces to force peace in the Middle East.
In the midst of this last 7 years (three and one half years in), the Antichrist will cause the animal sacrifices being performed in the rebuilt temple to cease, and will cause the “abomination of desolation” by either claiming to be God or acting in the place of God. That is when we will definitely know who he is.
The false prophet will cause the world to worship the Antichrist. This will be made possible by the power given him by the devil himself. He will perform miracles before the world, like pulling fire from the sky.
God's two witnesses will begin their prophecy at this time. They will not be able to be killed for the whole 3.5 years but will be killed at the very end.
The Bible tells us that they (the world) shall say, “peace and safety”. This is the call of the New World Order. The Antichrist will come in the name of peace to take over the world, and the Bible says that the people of the world will be thinking they've finally made it, reveling and partying, proclaiming that mankind has finally done it and brought peace to the world!
The Antichrist will implement what's called the mark of the beast. It will very likely be a RFID type of system. They can put a chip under your skin today and they even have a tattoo ink that is RFID capable, so maybe that will be utilized. What's certain is that this will be forced upon all people and you won't be able to get a job, buy food, go to the doctor, have a bank account, or pretty much have any way to “buy or sell” unless you submit. This will undoubtedly come with some sort of oath or pledge of allegiance to the Antichrist and his government. It may even mean conversion to Islam. This will also be a superhighway straight to hell. Any person who takes the mark of the beast is condemned by God. It will be a horrible time for the people who worship the one true God, Jesus Christ. This is what is termed as the Great Tribulation.
The Antichrist will “cause craft to prosper”. He will “understand dark sentences”. There will very likely be many people who will start to use dark and evil power to perform sorcery and witchcraft.
So, will Islam rule the world?
According to the prophecies of the bible, I believe it will. If you want more detailed and in-depth information, please go to www.prophecyandtruth.com and read chapters 7, 8 and 10.
I am a Biblical Creationist. I believe God created the universe and life on the earth by His Word out of nothing in six twenty four hour days some thousands of years ago. Why? Because it is the clear teaching of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Does the earth have an appearance of age? Yes. Did it have an appearance of age on the day it was created? Only in the sense that things were created in a mature form. By this I mean an adult animal would take a number of years to mature if it hadn't just been created as an adult. Adam and Eve would have taken years to reach the age they looked if they hadn't been created as adults. The same with plants and trees and the earth and the sun and the moon and the stars and the light traveling to the earth from heavenly bodies, etc.
Those who speak of a trickster God say the appearance of age in something brand new is a deception. They fault God for making it difficult to determine the age of something brand new and say He is, therefore, dishonest. My response is, "How can God be dishonest when He revealed His involvement in creation to us?" Yes, He created things mature and then He told us He did!
Evolutionists speak of billions of years because no one really relates to how long that is. It's so long, they think maybe anything could have happened in that amount of time. Really? Think about it, no matter when the first physical object came into being, it was in a moment of time. Nothing was there and then something was there. And, how did it get there? Someone created it. And, since God was the only One around and He told us He created everything we see, I choose to believe Him.
Every other voice that is raised to explain the existence of the universe and the beginning of life is guessing based on the evidence they see. None of those who push evolutionary theory can create anything out of nothing. None of those who promote evolutionary ideas can bring anything to life-- not even with their brilliantly created minds and working with everything else God has already created.
Science is supposed to be based on repeatable experiments. Evolution isn't based on science. It's based on fanciful arguments submitted by end time scoffers who refuse to believe what God has told us about creation.
I could talk about the complexity of the eyeball or polystrate fossils or the historical evidence for dinosaurs living among men, but unbelievers refuse to believe no matter what evidence is presented to them. Why? Because they deliberately choose to reject God's Word and everything that validates it.
Let's look at some excerpts from 2 Peter 3:2-15 in the NLT. The Apostle Peter is speaking to the church of his day and we need to be reminded as well.
I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Heb 11:33 NLT
Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.
God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 2 Peter 2:5
Note: Those same scoffers who reject Biblical Creation also refuse to believe in the flood. Again, though massive amounts of evidence support a worldwide flood and cultures the world over tell stories of a worldwide flood, these modern sceptics condemn themselves by rejecting God's Word. And the saddest part is that by refusing to believe what God has said in the past they render themselves incapable of believing what He warns us of concerning the future.
And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. ...
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed...what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward ... to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. 2 Peter 3:7-13
Note: Jesus, Who created everything to start with has promised to create a new heavens and a new earth where only the righteous will dwell. Won't it be wonderful then! Yes, I am a Biblical Creationist. I believe God created everything that sin has marred and He will do it again for our eternal joy in relationship with Him and all of the redeemed.
And so, dear friends... make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 2 Peter 3:14
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.
We are living at a time in history when evolution is trumpeted far and wide. Our schools use textbooks which call it a theory but teach it as an unassailable fact. Teachers, college professors, and even scientists are censured and excoriated if they question its validity at any level. Museums are filled with preposterous exhibits purporting to display factually accurate depictions of the evolutionary development of animals and even "homo sapiens." And, the media is saturating our society with the "billions of years" lie of evolution.
These times remind me of David's lament in Psalm 11:3, " When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Well, he doesn't advise us to head for the hills or to keep our mouths shut. The contextual answer is we can remember that God is in charge and He is watching. Therefore, we need to live righteous lives and trust Him to deal with the wicked in due time. And, the practical answer is, we can continue to stand on and share the truth revealed in His Word. And, in that light, I want to talk to you about God's Good Creation.
The Universe Was Spoken into Existence by Jesus
In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:1-3
"...by (Jesus Christ) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." Col 1:16
First, notice who existed prior to creation. John says, "in the beginning" (the starting point in eternity for the creation process) the Word (Jesus) existed. He existed with the Divine and as the Divine. The eternally existing Divinity dwelt in the Perfection He had in Himself. Nothing had been created so there were no angels, good or bad, as yet.
Next, John and Paul both testify that Jesus Christ created all things! All things in heaven and on earth. All things seen as well us unseen! All things inanimate as well as animate- including all powerful beings, mortal (human) and immortal (angelic).
By faith we understand that the universe was perfectly fit together by the spoken word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Heb 11:3
Notice the connection between faith and reason! "By faith we understand." It's not that we merely have a hope or a theory. Since the universe is a single, intricately designed unit, wherein every part operates in an orderly fashion as it is governed by ordained physical laws, we have evidential reason to firmly believe that it was created by a powerful, intelligent Being.
And, a Being powerful enough and intelligent enough to create and govern such a magnificent universe is surely capable of revealing Himself to us and telling us about His creative activity; which is exactly what He did. Thus, "by faith we understand" that Jesus spoke everything in the universe into existence. He said it. It's demonstrably reasonable. I believe it. That's faith! And that's loving God with "all your mind!"
No random process could have caused the intelligent design we see throughout the universe. No random process could have created the laws governing the universe. There are no missing links. All reasonable, un-tampered-with evidence, points to the truth revealed in God's Word. There was nothing but God and then Jesus spoke and everything came into existence as He called it into existence.
In a matter of six days God created a mature, fully functioning universe including the angelic beings and the earth and all its life forms with Adam and Eve to rule over it. God's revelation to us in this verse alone completely voids any claim concerning evolutionary progressionism wherein the things that we see are supposed to have evolved from primitive matter to a more complex state over a lengthy period of time.
This verse says the things which we see came into existence instantaneously out of nothing according to the spoken command of Jesus.
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. Exodus 20:11a
The Angels Were Spoken into Existence by Jesus.
Praise Him, all His angels...all His hosts...sun and moon...all stars of light...heavens of heavens... waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for He commanded and they were created.Psa 148:1-5
Christians often speak as if they believe Satan has been around a lot longer than mankind. They imagine that he and myriads of angels were faithfully serving God for eons before God created man. They even suppose he must have fallen before Adam and Eve were created. I say, according to the clear teaching of scripture, they need to think again. These misconceptions demote man from his unique position as God's original image-bearer and heir- the very purpose of creation. The universe was created as man's habitat. The earth was created to be his home. Angels were created to minister to "the heirs of salvation."
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit? Heb 1:14
Unlike the special, personal, creation of Adam and Eve as individuals by Jesus, Himself; notice that all these celestial creations of God were created on command. Their creation was instantaneous and impersonal. He spoke. They came into existence.
Also notice when the heavens and angels were created. In His discourse with Job, God asked him, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:4-7 In the beginning God created the heavens (atmosphere, outer space, God's place) and the earth. ...So the evening and the morning were the first day. Gen 1:1,5
Since the angels 'shouted for joy' when God 'fastened' the foundations of the earth and 'laid its cornerstone', they must have been called into existence by God early on the first day of creation.
God's Creation Was Completed and Very Good on the 6th Day.
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Gen 1:31 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
Note: God says everything was finished in six days. He didn't just get things started and then let things evolve, they were perfectly formed and functional. He even placed mating barriers between species to maintain their physical integrity. (Barriers- not links!) And since God said that everything- including the heavenly host- 'was very good', it clearly means Lucifer and his followers could not have fallen yet. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens... Gen 2:4
The Word of God tells us His Story about His Good Creation! And, no matter what other voices declare otherwise, we can rely on His veracity. This is our true foundation.
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