Transformer - 01/03/2021
Lessons from “In the Beginning”
The first words of the Bible are “In the Beginning.” It begins a book, Genesis, describing how everything was created, including humanity, the beginning of sin in the world and the beginning of God’s story to restore the relationship mankind had with God before they disobeyed Him.
Genesis can be summarized with three words; Creation, Flood and Patriarchs. The major stories are: the creation of the world, the great flood, the promises God makes to Abraham, and the beginning of a nation God will establish from the descendants of Abraham. The book contains many fundamental lessons for life: how mankind came into existence, why there is sin in the world, and the beginning of God’s plan for the forgiveness of humanity disobeying God’s commands.
The Creation story tells of God’s great power simply by Him speaking. It teaches us that we should obey the commands (words) of God and that He has ultimate authority because He brought everything into existence.
The Creation story also teaches us how God will deal with mankind. God will tell mankind what they are to do and then God will give mankind the opportunity to choose between disobeying and obeying Him. Maybe the most important lesson from this story is that disobedience has severe consequences. Life is composed of making choices and then dealing with the consequences of those choices.
In the Flood story the major lesson to be learned is that the patience of God, with the wickedness of people, will not last forever. It tells of God warning mankind of the impending world destruction, the plan to escape this destruction, and the actual destruction of the world by water.
In the Patriarch story there are four main characters: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Abraham is the one God chooses to begin a nation through whom He will deal directly. God makes several promises to Abraham and the remainder of the Bible chronicles God’s fulfillment of those promises.
The story of Isaac is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that he and his wife, Sarah, will have a son. The story of Jacob is a continuation of the story and how the heirs of Abraham went down into Egypt.
The story of Joseph tells of how God through His providence provides for the descendants of Abraham while they are in Egypt. The story ends with Joseph anticipating God fulfilling His land promise to Abraham by bringing the people back to their home land.
This historic book about “in the beginning” gives many lessons for how Christian’s should live. It describes the beginning for why Jesus came into the world. It contains multiple examples of people living God’s way. – cgm
Thinking on the Word…
Internal Drive to Achieve Heaven
In his book, Get in the Game, Cal Ripken, Jr, says one of the ingredients to perseverance is that one must have a “Strong Will to Succeed,” the title for his book’s second chapter. In explaining how one is to have a “strong will,” Ripken says that a person must have an “internal drive to achieve” (p. 29). This made me think, do we have the “internal drive to achieve” heaven?
In speaking of this internal drive, he speaks of it being “like a fire burning inside that propelled [him] forward” (p. 29). This reminds me of Jeremiah’s statement concerning the “word of the Lord” which had been given to him. He says it was like a “burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in” (Jeremiah 20:9). Jeremiah had to speak God’s message.
Do we have within us this “burning fire” this “internal drive” to go to heaven? Are we motivated from within to give everything we have to achieving heaven? A resounding yes should be the only answer. However, do our actions support our words? Are we “walking the talk”? Are we living what we preach?
If we are going to succeed at going to heaven, we must have this internal drive to do what it takes to be a servant of God. It is readily acknowledged that we can never do enough to place God in a position where He “owes us” heaven. However, let us not think that our actions do not have anything to do with how much grace and mercy God will bestow upon us at the Judgment Day.
Those who succeed must overcome various obstacles, but they all have this one trait. They will succeed regardless of what other people say about their endeavor. They will win regardless of what the opposition may put in front of them. They will win!
“Winning” heaven is going to be so wonderful. May we all have the internal drive to persevere until we exhale our last breath! Cal Ripken, Jr, had the internal drive to persevere and now holds the record for playing in the most consecutive games. May we have this same will to succeed. May we all have the internal drive to achieve heaven. – cgm
Words of Wisdom
“The one who despises the word will be in debt to it, but the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.” - Proverbs 13:13
What is our reaction to the word of God, to His commandments? Do we despise them or do we fear them?
One Hebrew linguist gave the definition of despise as being one who would “trample with the feet.” This phrase means one who has little regard for something told to him. He considers it insignificant. This person will be “in debt” to the words given and ultimately will be punished or destroyed because they did not pay attention to the word.
Fear means to be afraid or to act in such a way that is motivated by a huge respect for the one speaking. Because of this respect they are afraid of what will happen to them if they do not follow the commands. This person will be rewarded. They will have peace within, because they know they are not in any danger from the one giving the commands. They will escape any destruction to them personally.
A Christian should have this type of fear for the word of God; for His commandments. He should respect God enough that he is afraid that if he does not keep God’s commandments, He will punish him; he will not go to heaven.
We should do the things the Lord has commanded because we love Him, but let’s not forget that having a proper “fear” of the Lord is a great motivator. Christians, as well as non-Christians, need to understand what will happen to us if we do not follow the commands of the Lord. We need to comprehend how severe our punishment will be if we despise the word of the Lord.
Have the same “fear” of the Lord as Paul when trying to “persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11) to become Christians just like he did. He did not want people to be in debt, but to be rewarded. Fear the commandments and be rewarded! - cgm