1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
Genesis 1:1-8
So begins the compilation, the book, that we call the Bible. In actuality it is more than a simple book but is a combining of 66 separate books, composed by more than 40 different authors over a period of 1600 years. Whether you call me ‘Charles’, ‘Wender’, ‘Preacher’ or ‘Doctor’ you may be saying to yourself, “You have told us this before.” If you have this thought, you are absolutely correct. I want you to hear it enough so that you can recall this for it serves as a steady foundation from which to launch your faith in God.
Why is a foundation for your faith in God so important? It certainly is not an important topic for government, entertainment and education which may oppose such either actively or in a passive fashion. Very simply, peace in this life is dependent upon your relationship with God. What is imperative to discover is that we in truth are spiritual beings housed in a physical body and not vice versa. This concept turns the wisdom of the world upside down.
What is the first of concepts that we should be told about the Book of Genesis? Like all of the books of the Bible, they are spiritually inspired by God. Moses as the author for the first 5 books was not there when God “created the heavens and the earth” but he was inspired by God to provide the recording .Moses is responsible for the style but the message is God’s. Another way to look at this is that this is the recorded autobiography of God. Firmly grasp that Moses is not alone when he declares God to be Creator for the same theme extends throughout the length of this book. Many confirm God to be Creator based on spiritual inspiration. We, therefore, are challenged to march with Moses, King David, Jesus of Nazareth, Peter, Paul and others rather than Charles Darwin. Lines are clearly drawn in the sand. Both camps cannot be correct.
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Revelation 22:12-21
The Bible closes with the Revelation of Jesus the Christ by the work of John. Note that Jesus says He “is coming soon.” 2000 years have passed since then and many say He is not returning. Those who make this statement are apt to be in the camp of Darwin assuring us that time is going nowhere. A little musing is appropriate at this point. Genesis is written with the author standing on earth and looking upward to God. The Revelation of Jesus is written from the view point of Christ looking from Heaven down to earth. “Soon” has a different understanding when viewed from Heaven. There are no clocks in eternity.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:11-18
Of all the events between the beginning and ending of the Bible, none rivals that of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. It is from the lips of a woman, one who was previously mentally ill, that we hear the first post resurrection sermon. Its brevity is unexpected, “I have seen the Lord.” The tone for the whole of salvation is established. At the time of this writing, women were not allowed to enter testimony in a court of law. You would likewise assume that Mary of Magdala was not likely to be considered as a creditable witness based on her mental status before her liberation by Jesus. Why not choose the assembled Sanhedrin before whom Jesus was tried to first see Jesus? Wouldn’t their testimony have more weight that that of a previously unstable women? The answer is “no” and reveals a critical understanding concerning the Creating God.
The men of the Sanhedrin were confident in who they were. Without truly understanding who God is, they felt entitled to be acceptable to God. They were rule keepers and public followers of ritual but their fellowship involved the mind only. They surely would have reasoned that Jesus was the Son of God. However, the impact on their souls would have been small. The issue of disobedience, sin against God, would not be resolved and the estrangement of man from God would have persisted.
Key is that we must understand that God is Creator of all, we have offended Him with our disobedience and we are powerless to do anything about it. As in the eyes of a powerful hymn of the church, we must “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”, confess our sins and seek mercy. So approached, God gifts the faith to believe that Jesus is Lord and salvation of the soul results. God requires the ‘all’ of us and not merely our intellects.