In the Beginning…
A
series of devotions based on the book of beginnings
"In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth." Genesis
1:1 (Read Genesis 1)
The opening words of the Bible, those found in Genesis
1:1, proclaim a foundational truth upon which all of Christianity rests: "In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth." If these words are not true, then the rest of
the Bible's claims about man's accountability to God, God's impending judgment
upon man's sin, Christ's redemption, God's forgiveness and eternal life with
Him in heaven are all meaningless. Those who reject the Bible's teaching
regarding God's creation have rejected all that the Bible teaches, because it
is all interwoven and a part of the same truth. Those who do not believe in the
God who was there in the beginning and who created the heaven and the earth and
everything in them cannot legitimately lay claim to be followers of Christ or
to be Christian.
However, in the same way as the work of an artist
testifies to the existence and skill of the artist, so the existence and
wondrous design of all things testifies to the existence and infinite wisdom of
an almighty God who created all. The Bible itself declares, "The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day
uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where
their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and
their words to the end of the world" (Psalm 19:1-3). Everywhere in
this world, regardless of race or language, the testimony of all creation cries
out and announces to everyone that there is an all-wise, all-powerful God who
created all. The majesty, grandeur and the very intricacy of all around us says
loudly and clearly for all to hear, "There is a God!"
This same God has revealed Himself to all of mankind
in His Word, the Bible. From the very first of the Scriptures, we see that God
already was in the beginning when He created the heaven and the earth. We see
that not only the Father, but the Spirit was in the beginning; for He "moved upon the face of the
waters" (Genesis 1:2). The apostle John writes of Jesus, God the Son, "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with
God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that
was made" (John 1:1-3).
The one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit was
there in the beginning and created all things. This same eternal God provided
for the salvation of all mankind when the Son became man and paid the due price
for our sin by suffering and dying on the cross and rising again from the dead
on the third day. He will be when this world comes to a close, and He will be
our judge. Those who believe on His name, trusting in Him for forgiveness and
life everlasting will be saved; but those who do not trust in Him stand
condemned already for not believing in the name of God the Son, their Redeemer
and Savior (cf. John 3:13-18, 36).
O almighty and eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, thank You for revealing Your majesty to us through your glorious
creation and for revealing Yourself and the salvation You have provided for us
through Your Word, the Bible. Amen.
"LORD, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou
hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Psalm 90:1-2 (Read Psalm 90)
I cannot fully grasp the fact that our God is eternal
- without beginning and without end; He always has been and always will be -
yet that is what the LORD God has revealed to us about Himself.
As it was revealed to Moses, so it is: "LORD, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou
hadst formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."
Through every generation of man's existence, man's
life has been totally dependent upon the LORD God who is and was and always
shall be and who made us and gave us breath!
Before He created the mountains or formed the earth
and the world, Jehovah God was and is God. Of course, this is not only speaking
of the everlasting Father and the eternal Spirit, but of the Son. As prophesied
by Micah the prophet, the One born in
The truth that the LORD God is eternal can only be
disheartening to those who refuse to repent of their evil ways and trust in Him
for mercy and forgiveness, for this same God testifies of everlasting
punishment for all who do not believe and take hold of the good news of
forgiveness and life in the Son. It is hard to fathom condemnation and
punishment unending! Cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; Luke 16:19ff.; Mark 9:42ff.
On the other hand, the witness of Scripture to the
eternal existence of God is nothing but comfort to those who believe. Not only
do our daily lives in this world rest in the hands of an everlasting God who
works all things for our good; through the blood of the Son shed for all upon
the cross, our sins are forever washed away and forgiven and we have the
blessing of life without end in God's eternal kingdom! Cf. Psalm 103:11-12;
Micah 7:18ff.; John
This too is beyond the grasp of my limited
understanding. How can a dying man live forever? And yet, in Jesus Christ,
every believer shall! Our sins have been washed away in Jesus' blood; and, as
Christ was raised up on the third day, so also we shall be raised up on the
Last Day to live forever with Him in the mansions of heaven! In Jesus, sin and
death has been overcome. In Him, we shall live forever without sin and without
death. Praise be to our eternal God and Savior!
O Almighty and everlasting God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, we praise You for giving us life through the innocent sufferings and
death of the Son in our stead, upon the cross, and we trust in You to raise us
up, as Christ was raised, and give us life with You forever in Your eternal and
glorious kingdom. Amen.
"And God saw every thing that He
had made, and, behold, it was very good." Genesis
Indeed it is true that God doesn't make junk. When He
created the heavens and earth and everything in them, including the first man
and woman, He didn't make anything less than perfect. On the sixth day, when
God had finished His creative work, He "saw
every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good."
This means that, on the sixth day of creation, there
was no evil in the world. There was no sickness, and there was no death! We
have become so accustomed to the world as we know it now - a world polluted and
corrupted by sin - that we cannot even fathom what
things were like in the beginning.
This verse, too, provides an answer for those who
question the existence of a good God when there is so much evil in the world.
"How could a good God have made a world so full of evil?" Answer:
"He didn't; the evil is a result of sin which later entered the
word."
"How could a good God tolerate so much evil in
the world He created?" Answer: "He will put an end to the evil in this
world and punish all who continue in their evil ways; but He is 'long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance'" (2 Peter
3:9).
His desire that we not be condemned to everlasting
punishment because of our sin and evil is most clearly demonstrated by the fact
that He gave His only-begotten Son to suffer and die in our stead that we might
have forgiveness and life everlasting through faith in His name! And, He
continues patiently to call us to repentance and faith in the Son that we might
not suffer everlasting death and damnation. Christ Jesus died for the sins of
all when He was nailed to the cross, and He rose again victorious on the third
day that He might give us life eternal in a place where there is no more sin
and death and evil.
The LORD God made everything "good." The day
is coming when He will again be able to look at all His creation and say,
"it is very good!"
O Almighty God, my Maker and my Redeemer, thank You
for the beauty and good You have created; and thank You for the gift of Your
Son and His innocent sufferings and death in my stead to redeem me and make me
righteous and holy in Your eyes. Graciously forgive my sin and give me life
everlasting in the new heavens and earth which You have promised to create for
Your glory and the honor of Your holy name. Amen.
"And the LORD God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul."
Genesis 2:7
In the first chapter of Genesis, we are told that God
created the first man and woman in His own image, meaning that man knew God and
His perfect will and was without sin and holy (cf. Colossians 3:10; Ephesians
4:24). Here we are told how the LORD God created the first man. The Scriptures
tell us that, when God created man, He formed man's body of the dust of the
ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul (nephesh). While few would question today that
our bodies are made of dust - the very elements found in the ground - there are
many who are unwilling to believe the second part of this passage: namely, that
life was given to man's earthly body by the breath of God.
The naturalists and evolutionists of our day have come
up with explanations (though unfeasible to the sensible) for the physical
formation of organisms, but they have no answer as to the source of life. How
is it that the physical elements became living beings? Those who believe the
Bible know that the physical elements which make up our bodies are God's
creation and that the formation of our bodies is God's design - similarities in
design is evidence of the same Creator, not of evolution. But we also know that
life was given by none other than God Himself! "In Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts
When the Prophet Daniel was brought before King Belshazzar to interpret the writing of the fingers upon the
wall (Daniel 5), he told the foolish king that he had lifted himself up against
the Lord of heaven and not glorified "the
God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways" (v. 23).
Not only did the LORD God breathe into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, He
formed us in our other's womb and gave us life, and He holds that very life in
His hand (cf. Psalm 139:13-16).
What a great difference there is between the teaching
of the Bible and the doctrines of evolution and meaningless fate! We are not
here by chance; nor do we die by chance. The LORD God who created the heavens
and the earth specifically formed and created our bodies and breathed into us
the breath of life. He holds our life in His hand. When He gives the breath of
life, we live. When He takes the breath of life from us, we die and our bodies
return to dust (cf. Ecclesiastes
Were it not for man's sin and disobedience to the LORD
God, the breath of life would not be taken from us; but, because of the sin
which corrupts our hearts and minds and keeps us from wholly loving, honoring,
and walking in harmony with the God who made us, He takes His breath from us
and our bodies return to dust. Yet, in His love and mercy toward us in Christ
Jesus, He has provided a way for us to live together with Him in righteousness
and true holiness forever. He sent His only begotten Son into the world a true
man (with a body made of dust like ours). Jesus Christ, God the Son in human
flesh, fulfilled with perfect obedience the righteous demands of God's holy
commandments; and He took the guilt and punishment of our sins upon Himself,
suffering and dying upon the cross, and being condemned and forsaken of God the
Father in heaven because of our sin and the sins of all the
world. And Jesus, though He yielded up His breath and spirit unto God upon the
cross, was raised to life again on the third day that He might give us life -
everlasting life with Him in heaven!
Though the day will soon come (unless Christ first
returns) when God removes from each of us the breath of life, and your body and
mine return to the dust from which they were taken, Jesus Christ paid for your
sins and mine - indeed for the sins of the whole world - and God offers and
extends to you, to me, and to all people a full and complete pardon and
forgiveness and a life which will never end.
"Jesus
Christ the righteous…is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1, 2). "For
God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John
Dear Father in heaven, thank You for forming me of the
dust and giving me the breath of life that I might learn of You and the
glorious salvation You have provided for me through the innocent sufferings and
death of Your Son, Christ Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
“And the LORD God said, It is not good
that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him ... And the
LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one
of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the
LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the
man. And Adam said, This is now bone of
my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was
taken out of
The
beginnings of marriage go all the way back to the sixth day of creation when
God said it’s not good for the man to be alone and He fashioned woman from the
rib of Adam and brought her to the man to be his wife. It is for this reason
that still today a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife
and forms a new family unit.
When
asked about the permissibility of divorce, Jesus reminded His hearers of this
truth, saying, “Have ye not read, that He
which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this
cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and
they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore
they are no more twain, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder” (Matthew
19:4-6). Thus, Jesus Himself tells us that it was never God’s intent for a
marriage to end in divorce; and God’s commandment against adultery forbids
breaking the vows and commitment of marriage between a man and a woman (cf.
Matthew 19:9: Exodus 20:14).
How
far short we have come in regard to God’s intent and design for marriage!
Husbands and wives divorce, and couples live together without the life-long
commitment of marriage. Instead of regarding God’s will and design for marriage
between a man and a woman, we abuse our sexuality, lust after one another, and
even pervert God’s design in creating woman for the man by tolerating and
promoting unnatural acts. While society (and even many churches) winks at our
unfaithfulness and disobedience to God’s will and commandments regarding
marriage, God does not. God’s Word says, “Marriage
in honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but
whoremongers [literally: fornicators or those having sexual relations
outside of marriage] and adulterers
[those being unfaithful to their marriage vows] God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).
The
Apostle Paul warned the churches: “Be not
deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall
inherit the
But
there is yet one hope for all who have come short of God’s perfect will; and
that is in Jesus Christ, God’s Son! He upheld and fulfilled the righteous
demands of God’s law for all mankind, and He took upon Himself the guilt and
punishment for all our sins when He suffered and died upon the cross. His
resurrection on the third day proves that God accepted His death as full
payment for the sins of the world. God has made us sinners “accepted” through the sacrifice of His own beloved Son, In Him “we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:6,
7). God calls us sinners to look to Him for mercy and forgiveness; and in
Christ Jesus He reaches out to us with open arms, offering us life instead of
death, the eternal joys of heaven instead of the never ending torments of hell.
Yes, in Jesus there is hope for lost and condemned sinners. In Jesus there is
unfailing hope for you and for me!
Dear
Father in heaven, I have sinned and done evil in Your sight. Thank You for
sending Your Son to pay in full for my sins and the sins of the whole world.
Grant me Your forgiveness and a place in Your everlasting kingdom for the sake
of Your beloved Son and His holy life and innocent sufferings and death in my
stead. Amen.
“Now the serpent
was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat
of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they
heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst
the trees of the garden. And the LORD
God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I
was afraid, because I was
naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be
with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the
woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman
said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” Genesis 3:1-13
The paradise which God created (Genesis 1-2) did not last
long, for Genesis three tells of the temptation of the devil, a fallen angel,
who came to Eve in the form of the serpent.
“Did God really say that that you should not eat from
any tree of the garden?” he asked, creating question in the woman’s mind. And
when Eve said the prohibition and warning that disobedience would bring about
death – alienation and separation from God – was only in regard to the tree in
the middle of the garden, the devil distorted the truth by saying, “You will not surely die; for God knows that
it in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
gods, knowing good and evil.” Thus, he caused her to think that perhaps God
was somehow holding out on her and keeping from her and her husband something
good and desirable.
Of course, this still happens every day. The devil
comes to us through friends and coworkers, through the media and entertainment
industries, and in our own thoughts and minds and says, “Does God really expect
you to keep all those commandments in the Bible?” And he works hard to convince
us that God is trying to keep us from having fun and enjoying life, or that He
is placing an impossible burden upon us, that He really doesn’t expect us to
keep all of His commandments, or that breaking just a few of the commandments
now and then won’t really alienate and separate us from God – after all,
everybody does it.
And, like Eve, when we look at the thing we are being
tempted to do, it looks good and desirable to us. We think it will be fun or
pleasurable; it will work out for our good; it won’t hurt anything; no one will
know.
And so, we rationalize and give in to the temptation
and to our own sinful desires, and the result is death! We recognize our
nakedness and guilt before God. We may attempt to cover it up or even learn to
cope with it, but the guilt remains. We are afraid to stand in His presence. We
would rather not hear God’s Word or walk into His house of prayer. Why? Because
our sin and disobedience, though it may have appeared to be good at the time,
brought about spiritual death and separation from God. When confronted with the
presence of God and His truth, we hide ourselves. When questioned about our
sin, we make excuses and blame others.
As a result of Adam’s and Eve’s sin, we are all born
into this world sinners – our very thoughts and
desires are turned away from God and His holy commandments. What David wrote is
true for each of us as a result of that first sin: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin
did my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). Instead
of loving God, trusting Him, and desiring to honor and glorify His name, we
think only of ourselves, disbelieve God’s Word, and seek our own honor and
glory. We are born in spiritual death and are alienated from God.
That is why we so desperately need God’s pardon and
forgiveness. We need Him to find us, forgive us, and give us life again. And
God has come to us and reached out to us in love and forgiveness. He desires to
free us from our guilt and shame and give us life everlasting with Him. He did
this by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ into the world to overcome
temptation and sin for us and then go to the cross to be condemned, forsaken of
God, and die in our stead that we might have God’s pardon and forgiveness and
not be afraid of God or troubled by guilt and shame any longer. In Christ
Jesus, the sin of the world has been taken away; and in Christ Jesus, your sin
and mine has been pardoned.
O dearest Jesus, Lamb of God that takes away the sin
of the world, have mercy upon me, find me, and wash
away the guilt of my sin in Your shed blood. And, dear Jesus, grant me a place
in Your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
“And the Lord God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every
beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and
dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel.” Genesis 3:14-15
Though,
perhaps hard for us to fully understand, the serpent was cursed with a greater
curse than that of the rest of God’s creatures for its role in the temptation
and fall of mankind. Not only would it have to die, but it would spend its
lifetime on its belly, eating the dust of the ground. There would be enmity
between the serpent and the woman, and between the serpent’s seed and the
woman’s seed. This enmity speaks of much
more than a normal distaste for snakes and even destroying them when opportunity
arises. It speaks of the offspring of the devil’s lie and the Seed or offspring
of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head and undo the damage done by the
temptation of the devil in the garden.
The
devil would fail in his attempts to deceive and mislead the promised Seed of
the woman – Jesus Christ, Son of God and Mary’s Son – for Jesus did not give in
to the devil’s temptations but was holy and without sin (cf. Matthew 4:1-11;
Hebrews 4:15). And, Christ Jesus, when He suffered and died upon the cross for
the sins of the world, paid in full the punishment for all mankind’s sin and
destroyed the devil’s work, opening up for all of us a way of salvation through
faith in Him and His shed blood (cf. Hebrews 2:14-17). And so, though the old
evil foe bruised the heel of Christ Jesus when He suffered in agony upon the
cross; but Jesus crushed his head and destroyed his evil work, opening up for
us the gates to heaven, by paying in full for all our sins and then rising
again from the dead on the third day.
The
devil used God’s holy law to bring about mankind’s condemnation by tempting
Adam and Eve to disobedience and bringing them under the curse of the law.
Jesus, true man as well as true God, obeyed God’s law in the stead of all
mankind and then suffered the just punishment for the sins of the world, rising
again in victory on the third day, that the law would be fulfilled for all
mankind and the just punishment for sin fully satisfied for all. Cf. Galatians
3:10, 13.
It
is also true that there is enmity between the offspring of the devil (the
unbelieving) and the children (or offspring) of God (the believers) through
faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, true believers continue to suffer hatred and
persecution here in this world from those who do not trust in Christ Jesus or
follow Him. But, in the end, all who have not trusted in the innocent
sufferings and death of God’s Son for their salvation will be condemned and
cast into the eternal torments of hell; and all who have trusted in Christ
Jesus will live forever with Him in the paradise of God (2 Thessalonians
1:3-10).
In
Jesus’ own words, “For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life … He that believeth on him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3: 16, 18).
Dear
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, thank You for redeeming me from
the curse and condemnation of God’s holy law by keeping it perfectly in my
place, bearing my punishment upon the cross and rising again. Graciously keep
me trusting in You and You alone for my salvation. Amen.
“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule
over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of
thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.”
Genesis 3:16-19
This passage of the Bible is one which few accept.
Why? Because it speaks of the curse brought upon all mankind by the sin of Adam
and Eve in the garden; and who wants to acquiesce to a life filled with pain,
sorrow, hard work, trouble, hardship and, finally, death and decay?
To the woman God said, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee.” How many women are willing to submit
themselves to such a life of sorrow and pain?
To Adam God said, “Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of
which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of
it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it
bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast
thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return.”
One doesn’t have to be a farmer to know that the
ground brings forth thorns and thistles, but the curse includes the fact that
we will have to labor and work hard to earn and produce our daily bread; yet we
so often forget this and seek an easier way. We grumble and complain about the
need to labor and work long and hard hours, but we shouldn’t expect things to
be easy in this sinful world.
We also will all die and return to the dust of the
ground. We try to put this truth far from our minds, and we live as though
death will not overtake us; but it will! We will return to the dust of the
ground from which we were formed and created. Some go to great lengths to avoid
the inevitable, but they too die.
And why all this suffering, sorrow, toil, pain and
death? It is because of sin – because Adam and Eve doubted and disobeyed God’s
word to them and because we are born in sin and disobedience to the perfect
will and design of our Creator. The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans
Yet God has provided a solution to our self-inflicted
dilemma. He sent His only-begotten Son into the world a true man to fulfill all
righteousness for us, living in perfect obedience to the holy will and
commandments of the LORD, and then to bear in Himself the full punishment for
the sins of the world, by suffering and dying upon the cross, that we might be
pardoned and acceptable in God’s eyes. This Jesus has done. He lived a holy
life in our stead and then suffered and died upon the cross for our sins and
rose again on the third day. In Christ Jesus, God offers and gives to us
sinners forgiveness for all our sins and everlasting life with Him in heaven.
As the Scriptures say, “The gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans
Yes, as sinners, we suffer the heartaches, pains and
sorrows of this world. We have to spend our days here laboring for our daily
bread. And, finally, when our days here are done, we die and our bodies return
to the dust (cf. Psalm 90). But as believers in Christ Jesus who died for our
sins and rose again in victory, we are assured that we too shall be raised up
on the last day to life eternal. We are assured and take comfort in the fact that
Jesus is right now preparing a place for us and will come again to take us to
be with Him forever in the mansions of His Father’s house (cf. John 14:1ff.).
For us “to die is to depart and to be
with Christ, which is far better”! (Philippians 1:23). Indeed, we live by
faith in the Son of God who died for us, rose again, and is coming to take us
to be with Him forever! We endure the pain and suffering of this world in eager
anticipation of the life which is to come for Jesus’ sake!
O dearest Jesus, You lived the holy and sinless life
which I should have lived, and You took the punishment I should have suffered
when you were condemned and forsaken of the Father upon the cross. Thank You
for paying the price for my sin and opening up for me the way of eternal life.
Graciously receive me into Your everlasting kingdom and give me never-ending
life with You in heaven. Amen.
“By faith
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he
obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it
he being dead yet speaketh.” Hebrews
11:4 (Read Genesis 4)
Both Cain and Abel offered gifts to the LORD God, Abel
from his flocks and herds, and Cain from the fruits of the ground. Why was it
that God accepted Abel and his sacrifice but rejected Cain? Hebrews 11:4 tells
us the answer: “By faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet
speaketh.”
Abel offered his sacrifice in faith. He trusted in the
LORD God to accept him and his sacrifice for the sake of the promised Seed of
the woman, that promised Messiah and Savior who would
redeem him and all mankind from sin and the just condemnation of God’s law.
Cain, on the other hand, though he too offered up a sacrifice to the LORD, did
not offer it up in the confidence of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Rather, he
went through the outward motions of serving his Maker, but his heart was far
from the LORD (cf. Matthew 15:8; Isaiah 29:13).
Cain’s works are described as evil in 1 John 3:12 and
Jude 11. Even though he brought an offering to the LORD, he was not walking
with the LORD by faith; and his gift was unacceptable since the LORD looks upon
the heart.
Of course, when we read Genesis 4, we learn not only
that Cain’s sacrifice was unacceptable, but that he hated his brother Abel and
killed him because Abel was counted righteous. Those who do not follow after
the LORD continue to this day to hate those who walk by faith in the LORD
because the witness of the righteous pricks the guilt-ridden consciences of
those who go their own way.
Does this mean that Abel was of himself without sin?
Not at all! Rather he was counted righteous in God’s eyes through faith in
God’s promise to send a Savior to bear his punishment and redeem him from sin’s
condemnation (Cf. Genesis
What about you? Do you walk with the LORD God by faith
in His Son as did Abel, trusting that God accepts and forgives you for the sake
of that Lamb of God who has taken away the sin of the world? Or do you walk as
Cain walked, serving the Lord outwardly with gifts and lip-service while
inwardly you are far from the Lord and go another way?
Dear Lord Jesus, Lamb of God who has taken away my sin
and the sin of the whole world by Your innocent sufferings and death upon the
cross, forgive me, cleanse me and lead me. By Your Spirit, move me to walk with
you by faith unto life everlasting. Amen.
“By faith Enoch was translated that he
should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for
before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5 (Read Genesis
The Bible tells us of Enoch, the seventh generation
from Adam, that he “walked with God: and
he was not; for God took him” (Genesis
In all of human history, Elijah the prophet is the
only other human being to escape death and be taken directly to his heavenly
home (cf. 2 Kings 2:11). Even the Lord Jesus Christ first died for the sins of
the world before He rose again on the third day and then 40 days later ascended
into heaven.
Enoch walked with God by faith, trusting that God’s
ways are right and that God would send the promised Seed of the woman to redeem
him from sin and eternal death. In the book of Jude, we learn that Enoch also
testified in his time of God’s coming judgment upon all who continued in their
ungodly and rebellious ways (v. 14f.).
To walk with God by faith is no different today.
Believers know and believe that God’s ways are true and right and trust in God’s
mercy and forgiveness for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, who suffered and
died for the sins of the whole world and rose again on the third day. Believers
walk in fellowship with God the Father, agreeing with Him about their
sinfulness but trusting in Him to graciously forgive their sins and accept them
as His own dear children for the sake of Jesus Christ, who lived a righteous
and holy life in mankind’s stead and made full atonement for the sins of the
whole word when He suffered and died upon the cross (cf. 1 John 1:7 – 2:2).
Like Enoch, believers are pleasing to God and
righteous in his eyes because all their sins have been washed away in Jesus’
blood. Their works too are pleasing in His eyes because they flow from faith in
Him and are made pure through the blood of Jesus. Believers have already been
translated. The Bible says of believers in Jesus that the Father “hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we
have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins”
(Colossians
Believers will be translated into God’s eternal and
heavenly kingdom when Jesus returns. The Bible says to all who believe: “Our conversation [way of life] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to
the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself”
(Philippians 3:20-21).
And so, Enoch walked with God by faith and was
translated directly into heaven. All who today walk by faith in the Son of God,
trusting in Him for mercy and forgiveness, have been translated from the
kingdom of darkness and spiritual death into God’s kingdom of grace and life.
On the last day, they too will be translated – their earthly body will be
changed into a glorious and heavenly body like that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus, let me ever walk with You by faith so that, as
Enoch was translated from this world into your heavenly kingdom, so I may arise
and live with You forever in Your eternal and glorious kingdom. Amen.
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the
righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7 (Read Genesis 6-9)
When the number of people grew upon the earth, so also
did the wickedness and rebellion against the LORD God. The believers (sons of
God) intermarried with unbelievers (daughters of men) and the result was more
and more people who did not walk in the ways of the LORD but followed after the
imaginations of their own hearts – after their own evil thoughts and desires.
Genesis 6 says, “And
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it
repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His
heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the
air; for it repenteth Me than I have made them”
(v. 5ff.).
The account continues, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD ... Noah was a just man
and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (v. 8ff.).
God told Noah, in days when the earth was yet watered
by a mist (Genesis 2:6), that He would send rains and a flood upon the earth to
destroy man and beast. And God commanded Noah to build an ark to save himself,
his family and two of every kind of animal from the coming flood (Genesis
6:14ff.).
Even though a flood like that of which God warned was
unheard of in Noah’s day, Noah believed the LORD and prepared an ark, warning
others around him to repent of their wickedness and turn back to the LORD. By
so doing, Noah forsook the present world and became an heir of the
righteousness of God which is by faith.
Similarly, God calls upon all mankind today to repent
and return to Him, warning that “the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store,
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men”
(2 Peter 3:7). God will once again judge this world and all mankind. As He was,
at the time of the flood, forced to destroy those who would not repent and turn
to Him for mercy, so He will soon condemn all who reject Him and the salvation
He offers in the cross of Jesus. This present world and all of man’s evil works
will be burned up on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
Those who heed God’s warning and repent, trusting in
Christ Jesus and His shed blood for forgiveness and life, forsake this present
world and look forward to another, in which there will be everlasting
righteousness, innocence and blessedness. They are forgiven and accounted
righteous by faith in Jesus and walk in fellowship with the Almighty God by
that faith and confidence in Jesus and His sacrifice for the sins of the world.
God’s judgment is coming. He is being patient with us,
not desiring that any perish, “but that
all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He calls us to turn from our
evil ways, trusting that in Jesus we have forgiveness and in Jesus we have life
everlasting.
O dearest Jesus, Lamb of God that takes away the sin of
the world, have mercy on us, forgive us and grant us a
place in your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
“By faith Abraham when he was called to
go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed:
and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land
of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10 (Read Genesis 12)
When God commanded Abraham to leave his relatives and
his father’s house and go to a land that God would show him, much more was
involved than an earthly inheritance. God was directing Abraham to the
Trusting in God’s promises, Abraham left his homeland
and extended family and came to the
Why? They “looked
for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” They
looked forward to the resurrection and their eternal home with all other
believers in the presence of the eternal God.
We, too, are called out of this world to be blessed by
God and to be a part of His eternal plan. Jesus, the Messiah and
Will you, in faith like that of Abraham, forsake this
present world and follow Jesus, trusting in Him for forgiveness of sins and
life everlasting? Will you walk with Jesus wherever He leads and directs you to
go in this life? Will you, like Abraham, walk with Jesus, looking for an
eternal home with God the Father in heaven – “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”?
Dear Messiah Jesus, thank You for coming into this
world to take my punishment and die for my sins that I might have forgiveness
and life everlasting. Graciously lead me through this life to Yourself and my
eternal home with You in heaven. Amen.
“And he said, O LORD God of my master
Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my
master Abraham … And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that,
behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel,
son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor,
Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder …” Genesis 24:12, 15 (Read Genesis 24)
Though we know little of Abraham’s eldest servant (cf.
Genesis 15:2 where he is mentioned by name, Eliezer,
meaning “God is my help”), Genesis, chapter 24, gives us a glimpse of his faith
in the LORD God, the God of Abraham.
Abraham, being old and wanting to provide a believing
wife for his son Isaac but also wanting to be sure that Isaac remained in the
land of promise, asked his eldest servant, who was in charge of Abraham’s
house, to go back to Mesopotamia and find a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s
relatives.
When this servant arrived there, he stopped at the
well outside the city and prayed that the LORD God would bless his efforts and
direct him to the woman whom God had chosen for Isaac by letting that young
woman, when he asked her for a drink, offer also to water his camels. While he
was yet speaking this prayer, Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel,
came out to the well with her pitcher upon her shoulder. When he asked her to
let down her pitcher and give him a drink, not only did she give him a drink
but watered all his camels as well.
When he learned that she was a relative of Abraham, he
knew that the LORD had directed him to the young woman God had chosen for Isaac
and he “bowed down his head, and
worshipped the LORD,” saying, “Blessed
be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of
His mercy and His truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my
master’s brethren” (v. 26, 27).
After telling to Rebekah’s
family the account of how he was sent of Abraham and how the LORD God directed
him to find Rebekah, and after Rebekah’s brother Laban and her father Bethuel
consented to send her with him to be the wife of Isaac, Abraham’s servant again
“worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to
the earth” (v. 52).
Though but a servant, this man shared the faith of
Abraham. Whether through the witness of Abraham or that of others, he too knew
the LORD God and trusted in Him. As we read, he prayed in faith and was led and
prospered by the LORD in his journey; and, he gave thanks and praise to the
LORD God for His guidance and blessing.
Can we learn from Abraham’s servant? Most certainly!
Though we know little of him, his faith is a shining example for us. Like this
humble servant, we have the great privilege of praying to the LORD God of
Abraham for his guidance and blessing upon our lives. For the sake of Christ
Jesus, the promised descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Rebekah who
suffered and died for the sins of the world and rose
again on the third day, God forgives us and accepts us as His own dear
children. He gives us the great privilege of coming into His very presence with
our prayers (cf. Hebrews
God directs us, as His children through faith in
Messiah Jesus, to commit our ways – our very lives – to Him and to trust Him;
and He promises to bless us and make our journey through life prosperous –
prosperous in His ways and in the accomplishing His perfect will (cf. Psalm
37:3-7). And, like Abraham’s servant, we have every reason to bow before the
LORD God and worship Him for His leading and guiding in our lives and our
tasks.
He, working through centuries of human history, sent
His only begotten Son to suffer and die upon the cross and redeem us and all
mankind. He has sent His Spirit and caused us to hear His word and trust in Him
for forgiveness and life. He leads and guides us through the days of our lives
and brings us safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him “be glory for ever and ever. Amen”! (2
Timothy 4:18).
O LORD God of Abraham, we worship and praise You for
the gift of Christ Jesus, Your Son, and for the mercy and truth You have shown
unto us for Jesus sake. We bow before You. To You be
the glory for ever and ever! Amen.
“And Jacob sod
pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with
that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name
called
We may consider this account of insignificance; but, in fact, it has a
message of great significance to every Christian today.
As Isaac’s firstborn son, Esau had the birthright, a double portion of
the inheritance and, in Esau’s case, the blessings given to Abraham and Isaac
which included, not only the promise of the land, but of the Messiah and Savior
of the world. Yet, for a single meal when he was hungry, Esau sold his
birthright to Jacob his brother. For one serving of food which satisfied him
for only a few hours, Esau gave up blessings which extend into eternity!
The sacred text concludes the account with the words: “Thus Esau despised his birthright.” The
word “despised” doesn’t necessarily
mean he hated it or loathed it, but that he regarded it of little value or
worth.
As Christians – believers in the Lord Jesus Christ – we have an eternal
inheritance awaiting us in heaven. It is “An
inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away” made sure to us by the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
from the dead (1 Peter 1:3, 4). Jesus Himself told us that He is preparing a
place for us to be with Him in the mansions of His Father’s house (cf. John
14:1-6). By His innocent sufferings and death, Jesus won for us and all people
complete forgiveness for sins and a place with Him in heaven. His resurrection
is proof that our eternal salvation is won.
Yet the Scriptures also warn us of the dangers of sin and its
deceitfulness: “Lest any man fail of the
grace of God … lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who
for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no
place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Hebrews
And how often it happens! Those for whom Christ died – those who have
heard of His blessings of forgiveness and life everlasting and who have, for a
time, even trusted in His name – for the passing pleasures of sin give it all
up and despise their heavenly birthright in Christ Jesus!
Then, when Jesus returns on the Last Day to bless all who have placed
their trust in Him with life eternal in the mansions of His Father’s house,
they will cry, “Bless me, even me also.”
But there will be no blessing left for them because they did not trust in Jesus
and count the blessings He won for them by the shedding of His holy and
precious blood of any value – they traded it all for the pleasures of this
world which pass away with their use. The blessing which was once theirs will
be taken from them forever!
The warning for us as believers is not to esteem the grace of God
lightly – not to risk it all or sell our birthright in Jesus Christ to enjoy
the temporary pleasures of this world. How do we know that God, who has so
graciously called us to faith will again rekindle faith in our hearts when we
deny our Savior and reject the Spirit’s working? Christ shed His blood on the
cross to redeem us. Let’s not trample His precious blood under our feet and
count it as an unholy thing, lest we bring the wrath of God upon ourselves (cf.
Hebrews
And, for those many times we have not treasured the blessings of God
which are ours in Christ Jesus, let’s turn to the promises of God’s Word:
“If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness … If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:9: 2:1, 2).
“Come now, and let us
reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me for despising my birthright in You – for
failing to take hold of and treasure the forgiveness and life You won for me by
Your innocent sufferings and death in my stead. Graciously bless me with Your
Holy Spirit and restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Amen.
“And Jacob said unto his father, I an
Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest
me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.” Genesis 27:19 (Read all of Genesis 27)
Does the end justify the means? Is it okay to seek to
accomplish God’s will by less-than-honorable methods?
When Jacob and Esau were yet in the womb, God told
Rebekah that the elder (or firstborn since they were twins) would serve the
younger (cf. Genesis 25:22ff.). Yet, because Isaac loved Esau (Genesis 25:28),
he sought to bless him instead of Jacob. Rebekah, though, knew that God had
chosen Jacob, and it is likely that Isaac knew as well; but did that make her
plan to deceive Isaac and obtain the blessing for her favored son – a plan
which Jacob carried out – right?
Consider the words of Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it
to pass.”
Were Rebekah and Jacob trusting in the LORD and
committing this matter into His hands when they schemed to deceive Isaac?
Psalm 37 continues: “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him...” (v. 7).
Even though Isaac was opposing the will and plan of
God to bless Jacob and give to him the blessings promised to Abraham, did
Rebekah and Jacob trust in the LORD and wait patiently for Him to intervene?
We might consider the example of David, who had been
chosen of God and anointed by Samuel to be king over
Yes, Jacob was blessed and upon him came the promises
and blessings given to Abraham and Isaac; but it would not have been necessary
to deceive Isaac for God to accomplish His purposes. God does not need man’s
meddling to accomplish His eternal plans. And had Rebekah and Jacob waited upon
the LORD, they could have been spared the painful separation which followed.
How does this inspired account from ancient history
apply to you and me today? In addition to seeing how God worked – even through
the workings of sinful people – and brought good out of evil to accomplish the
salvation of the world through the gift of His Son, we ought to also see the
importance of waiting upon the LORD and trusting in Him.
The end does not justify the means! Even though we may
desire to accomplish God’s purposes, it does not make it right to go outside of
His will to bring it to pass.
We may be convinced that God has called us to some
duty or task in His kingdom; but rather than seeking to manipulate others who
may be outside of that will, we ought to rather trust in the LORD and wait
patiently for Him to bring it to pass.
We know that God desires us to carry His saving Word
to all the nations, but not every way conceived by man is a Scriptural way to
accomplish this good work. Whether it be the past
attempts to Christianize the world by military might or the more recent
attempts to further the Gospel by political maneuvering or worldly fundraising
techniques, the end still does not justify the means. God would have us simply
preach the Word to all and trust that the Spirit of God will open hearts and
produce the fruit of faith in men’s lives. God would have us teach His Word in
the churches and trust that He will move men to freely give and support the
work of spreading the saving Gospel. (cf. Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 13:1ff.;
28:18ff.; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 4:2.)
Unfortunately, we have all too often taken matters
into our own hands and sought to accomplish God’s will by our own means. Thank
God for His grace and mercy toward us in Christ Jesus! In spite of our
sinfulness and failures, He did not fail in His plan to send His only-begotten
Son to die for our sins and rise again. In Jesus, He offers and gives to us
forgiveness and life! In Jesus, we have a certain hope!
And, as we trust in Jesus and follow Him, let us also
learn from Him not to shortcut God’s purposes and plans, but to trust in the
LORD God and commit our works and our ways to His keeping. Indeed, even though
we may not see how and may feel the need to intervene, God will finish His work
in His way and bless us and all His elect in Christ Jesus! Trust in Him!
Dear Lord Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior, forgive us
for going outside of Your will to accomplish what we believe to be Your
purposes. Instead, teach us to follow You, proclaim nothing but Your Word, and
trust You to bring about Your blessing. Amen.
“And he dreamed, and behold
a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold
the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood
above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of
Isaac…” Genesis 28:12, 13 (Read
Genesis 28).
As children, many of us sang a song called, “I am
climbing Jacob’s ladder.” Jacob’s ladder wasn’t, however, a means for Jacob to
climb to God. Rather, it was God reaching down and making Himself and His
presence known to Jacob.
When Jacob left his father and mother and began his
journey away from the land promised to Abraham and Isaac. He stopped at a
certain place for the night, set up stones for his pillow and dreamed of a
ladder reaching from earth to heaven with angels of God ascending and
descending upon it and the LORD God Himself standing above it.
In his dream, the LORD appeared to Jacob, telling him,
“I am the LORD [Jehovah] God of Abraham thy father,
and the God of Isaac…” And the LORD Himself promised Jacob all the
blessings already promised to Abraham and Isaac. God promised to Jacob and his
descendents the
God also promised to this young man who was fleeing
for his life: “And, behold, I am with
thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest,
and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I
have done that which I have spoken to thee of” (v. 15). Even though Jacob
was leaving his father and mother and his homeland, God was not leaving Jacob.
God was with him, watching over him, and would bring him back again and fulfill
all that He had promised.
What a comfort this dream must have been for Jacob as
he traveled away from his home to a strange land! God revealed His very
presence to Jacob and renewed His promises, already passed on to him by Isaac,
his father. As God the Son, the pre-incarnate Christ, appeared to Abraham and
assured him of the divine promises (Genesis 18), so He now also appeared to
Jacob to strengthen his faith and assure him of these same promises.
But what is the significance of this event for you and
me today? How can we take comfort in what God did for Jacob as he journeyed
toward Padan-aram?
Consider the words of Jesus to Nathanael
in the last verse of John, chapter 1: “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (v. 51). As the angels of
God ascended and descended upon the ladder to Jacob, to watch over him and keep
him in all his ways (cf. Psalm 91:11), so the angels of God ascend and descend
upon the Lord Jesus, the promised seed of Jacob and the Messiah and Savior of
the nations.
When Jesus prayed in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane
before going to the cross to suffer and die for our sins, an angel of God
appeared to Him out of heaven, strengthening Him (Luke 22:41ff.). When Jesus
returns on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead, His mighty angels
will be with Him (2 Thessalonians 1:7).
As God revealed Himself to Jacob in a dream,
comforting and strengthening him on the way, God has appeared and made Himself
known to us in His own dear Son. As John writes, “No man hath seen God at any time: the only-begotten Son, which is in
the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him” (John
Jesus also sends us out into the world to disciple the
nations – to preach the saving Gospel of forgiveness and life in Jesus to all
the world – but He doesn’t send us alone. He assures us, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
of the world” (Matthew 28:20). He is with us; He intercedes for us before
the Father’s throne; and He gives His angels charge over us to keep us in all
our ways (Psalm 91:11).
We have the assurance that He will deliver us from
every evil work and preserve us unto His heavenly kingdom – that
land of promise made sure to us by the shed blood of Jesus! (cf. 2 Timothy
4:18).
O dearest Jesus, thank You for coming to me and making
Yourself known to me as my merciful Savior. As You have promised, graciously
abide with me, keep me, and send Your holy angels to strengthen and keep me
until I am safely with You forever in the heavenly home You have prepared for
me. I ask this for the sake of Your holy and precious blood, shed for me upon
the cross. Amen.
“And Jacob served seven years for
Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.” Genesis 29:20 (Read Genesis 29:1-20)
It seems to us like a great price to pay – to work
seven years, every day caring for flocks and herds – for Jacob to be able to
marry Laban’s younger daughter Rachel. And, yet, this is what Jacob did. He “served seven years for Rachel; and they
seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”
Perhaps we can understand this if we have loved
another so much that we were willing to go to great lengths just to be with
them and to meet their needs.
The love Jacob had for Rachel made all the difference.
Because he loved her so very much, the price seemed small to pay. Seven years
of hard work seemed but a few days to him because of the love Jacob had for
Rachel!
But if we think this was a great price to pay,
consider the price Jesus paid that He might take us as His bride! The Bible
tells us that Jesus “loved us, and washed
us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). God’s Word tells us that
“Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it
to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but
that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
“God so loved
the world, that He gave His only begotten Son....” (John 3:16). Jesus Christ, God the Son in human flesh
loved us so much that He willingly went to the cross to suffer and die for our
sins. And, why? That He might take us as His bride, the church, and present us
to Himself holy and unblemished, cleansed from our sins in the waters of
baptism.
It was indeed a great price for Jesus to pay, that we
might be made acceptable in God’s eyes and be joined to Jesus forever; but He
endured the pain and agony of the cross because He so loved us – because He
desires to give us and all mankind His forgiveness and a place with Him in His
eternal kingdom! He served for us and gave Himself for us that we might be His
own! Jesus willing suffered the greatest of agonies and counted it as nothing
that He might redeem you and me and give us life with Him in heaven!
It is also true for those who trust in Jesus and
follow after Him, that their service for Him is not an unbearable burden. Those
who do not know Jesus cannot understand why His disciples would give up their
lives here in this world and, often-times, suffer so much to follow Jesus and
serve Him. To an unbeliever, following Jesus may seem an unreasonable act. But
to the believer, who knows and trusts in Jesus – who believes and trusts that
Jesus shed His blood to pay in full for our sins and give us life eternal – it
is no burden at all. Instead, it is a privilege to serve Jesus and follow Him.
Why? The believer in Jesus loves Him and desires to serve Him because He first
loved us and gave Himself for us. The believer loves and serves as a result of
knowing Jesus’ great love for us!
O dearest Jesus, thank You for Your great love for us
– love so great that You willingly took our sins upon Yourself and suffered our
just punishment to give us forgiveness and life. Grant that we know Your great
love for us and also love and serve You in return. Amen.
“And it came to pass, that in the
morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done
unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled
me?” Genesis 29:25 (Read Genesis 29:21-35)
After speaking of the blessing of confessing one’s
sins to the LORD God and receiving His forgiveness, Psalm 32 speaks of the
instruction given us by the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures and warns us: “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule,
which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle,
lest they come near unto thee.”
It seems that many of us are, at least at times, like
a stubborn horse or mule which requires the use of bit and bridle to get it to
go where it should. So also, the LORD God sometimes has to use the school of
hard knocks to get us to listen to His word of instruction.
Jacob, who shrewdly obtained the birthright from Esau
and then deceived his own father to obtain the blessing, now is deceived by his
uncle Laban. After working seven years to have Rachel as his wife, Laban brings
him Leah instead; and Jacob has to agree to work another seven years before
Laban agrees to give him Rachel as well, after Leah’s marriage week is
fulfilled. Jacob got a taste of his own medicine, so to speak, and was probably
very careful to look under the veil before consummating his second marriage.
Why would God permit such a thing to happen to His
chosen vessel? Perhaps there was a lesson to be learned. Why does God sometimes
permit us to suffer the consequences of our sins, or even let us experience the
same kind of wickedness we have dished out to others? Perhaps we, too, have a
lesson to learn.
If only we would read and study the Scriptures and
believe that God’s way is really good and right and, yes, best! It would save
us so much grief and heartache, which, it seems, we bring upon ourselves
because we fail to trust that God really does know best.
How thankful we can be that in Jesus, and for the sake
of His innocent sufferings and death in our stead, God is still gracious to us
and merciful, forgiving all our sins and giving us a place with Him in His
eternal kingdom! And, even when we must learn some things in the school of hard
knocks, God is still working for our good to bring us back to Him and His Word.
He forgives our sins for Jesus’ sake, and He leads and guides us with His eye
upon us.
Dear Father in heaven, forgive us for failing to learn
and pay heed to Your Word; grant that we acknowledge our sins to You, trusting
in You to forgive us for Jesus’ sake; and lead and guide us in the way we
should go. Amen.
“And God remembered Rachel, and God
hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: and
she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.” Genesis 30:22-24 (Read Genesis 30:1-24)
In a day when we have so much scientific knowledge
about the reproductive process, it is easy to forget the Creator’s role in the
creation and formation of a child in the womb. The Scriptures, on the other
hand, teach us that it was the LORD God who had opened Leah’s womb and given
her the ability to conceive and bear children (Genesis 29:31ff.); and, after
years of barrenness, the LORD heard and answered Rachel’s prayer and opened her
womb as well, allowing her to conceive and give birth to Joseph and later to
Benjamin.
The Bible teaches that the ability to conceive and
bear children is the blessing of the LORD. After creating Adam and Eve, “God blessed them, and God said unto them,
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis
When Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel were barren, God
answered prayer and opened their wombs, giving them the ability to conceive and
bear children (Genesis 18:9ff.; 25:21; 29:31;
30:22ff.).
Psalm 139:13-16 describes God’s creative roll in the
conception and formation of a child in the womb in this way: “For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast
covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that
my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid
from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts
of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet
being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were
written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of
them.”
While there is nothing wrong with seeking medical help
with questions of fertility and child bearing, there is something wrong with
forgetting to go to the Creator of life for His help, blessing and perfect
will. Since it is the LORD God who is ultimately in control, giving conception
and forming each child in the womb, couples would do well to remember Him and
seek His help and guidance when it comes to family planning and seeking
children. He can bless and work miracles even where medicine and science say
there is no hope.
We ought also remember that children are a blessing of the LORD (Psalms 127 and 128), not a curse. How we turn things around when we forget the One who gives us children and count childr