Jesus, the God Who Became Man – Luke 2:8-17

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. (Luke 2:8-17)

There are many who would try to tell you that Jesus was not a real historical figure. There are also those who would tell you that Jesus was not a real man, who was flesh and blood. This belief is associated with Docetism, it is an early Christian heresy. Some churches in the Oneness Pentecostals and Unitarians stress the divine, spiritual nature of Jesus. What the gospels give us is several eyewitness accounts to the birth, life, death, and resurrection of a real true to life, flesh and blood man, who was of divine origin. He was not a creation of man, nor of God, rather he is God. The gospel of John says that he is the very word of God who created all things. Christmas is our remembrance of when God came down and dwelt among his people, and then laid himself down as a sacrifice for the sin of man. Once this penalty was paid. He (Jesus Christ) picked up his life and returned to his throne at the right hand of the Father. Make no mistake, these things happened.

There are also several other witnesses concerning Jesus, that are extra-biblical. There are historical accounts from ancient Roman and Jewish historians and official. These accounts corroborate the existence of a real man who is named Jesus. These documents support the gospel accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus under Pontius Pilate. They document the early growth of the church and their early belief in the deity of Jesus.

Flavius Josephus (Jewish Historian, c. 90 AD): Mentions Jesus, James (his brother), and reports of him as the Messiah, aligning with Gospel accounts. [1]
- This is the approximate time that many believe that the Apostle John wrote his 3 letters and the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Tacitus (Roman Historian, c. 110 AD): Confirms Jesus’ execution by Pilate and the early Christians’ worship of “Christus”. [2]
Pliny the Younger (Roman Governor, c. 112 AD): Wrote to Emperor Trajan about Christians worshipping Christ as a god, confirming his historical reality. [3]
Mara bar-Serapion (Syriac Philosopher, c. 73 AD): Wrote about the Jews killing their “wise king,” connecting it to the fall of the Jewish kingdom. [4]
- This is the time shortly after most of the New Testament letters were written and would have been in deep circulation in the Christian communities
Lucian of Samosata (Greek Satirist, c. 180 AD): Sarcastically noted Christian’s worshipping “that crucified sophist,” confirming his followers and crucifixion.[5]

So, the Roman Empire, Jewish historians, and Greek philosophers and satirists knew that Jesus was born, dies on a cross, and was believed to be resurrected. They knew that he was a physical man who was born, and that he did die. They may not have believe that he was also divine, however, they knew that others believed in the resurrection and the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Among the gospel accounts, we have Luke. He was a physician who was a close companion to Paul, who is an Apostle of Jesus Christ. I say “is” because the gospel of Mark states, He (God) is not a God of the dead, but the God of the living. (Mark 12:27, emphasis mine)

Luke is the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. He was not an eye-witness. But apparently for Theophilus he undertook this query into the truth claims of the Apostles by interviewing eyewitnesses and conducted thorough research. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, he wrote an orderly, accurate account for a Gentile (non-Jewish) audience of the actions and beliefs concerning Jesus of Nazareth. He found ample evidence and credibility of the witnesses to put his name, reputation, and life on the line for the biography and historical record he produced.

This is why Luke speaks with full confidence and authority when he writes.

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. (Luke 1:1-4)

Luke tells us that the things he has taken down and proclaimed to us are the things that are most assuredly believed by the followers of Jesus Christ. This is resemblant of his mentor and fellow servant Paul, who wrote the Corinthians saying, “For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you…” As Paul, Luke has given us a trustworthy testimony of Jesus Christ.

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Concerning the manuscripts, there are vast numbers of copies of manuscripts containing various parts or all of Luke. Papyrus 75 (P75) contains large portions of the writings of Luke and John which dates back to the 2^nd or 3^rd century. Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus are fourth century manuscripts that offer an almost complete witness of the New Testament including Luke. We can trust the transmission of this gospel account through history with these evidences of preservation.

We can trust the gospel of Luke. It tell us a lot concerning the birth of Jesus the Christ. It tells us that he was born in the city of David (Bethlehem). His father Joseph was of the lineage of David and because if a census he was required to return to his familial home. This caused the fulfilment of prophecy where it tells us the messiah will come out of Bethlehem. Luke’s gospel account tells us that on the same night that Jesus was born, angels appeared to nearby shepherds.

Scripture says,

Something you may not know about these nearby sheep and the proximity of Bethlehem to Jerusalem. But Bethlehem is just a short walking distance to Jerusalem and to the Temple. The “Tower of the Flock” is located near Bethlehem and was historically linked to the raising of sacrificial animals… suggesting that the flocks were nearby. For the Passover the lambs for the sacrifice for the sin offing had to be without blemish. Tradition tells us that these shepherds near Bethlehem were watching these flocks of lambs intended for Temple sacrifices. How fitting that theses angels were sent to the Shepards, whose duty was to watch over the lambs of God.

John the Baptist declared two times that Jesus is the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). No this was no coincidence and we must see that this is revealed in this gospel for our benefit, so that we may believe on Jesus as the Lamb of God. As Paul put it, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) We can now get a little understanding why the angels then sang their next report with joy and gladness, scripture:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men

God has sent his son, in the flesh to do what we could not do. He would be the spotless lamb, a lamb without blemish. What man could not do because all men are already condemned under sin, Jesus could do because he was not tainted by original sin. Many believe that it is impossible for a men to not sin. Yet God requires it as though it is possible.

In the Gospel of John we are told of a woman who was caught in adulty and when Jesus forgave her. John 8:10-11 reads:

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Yet we still have this issue with sin. Because of the nature delivered to us from the fall. We were conceived in sin. We were born into sin. We were further conditioned into sin. Sin is all that we have known. We do not even have a reference for what it truly means to be righteous. But Jesus was not conceived in sin. The scripture tell is that the angel told Mary, what you have conceived is from the Holy Spirit and the baby is Holy. This made him spotless from before he was born. He had come to pay the debt for sin for the whole world. In order to do that he had to step into man’s place. Therefore, he had to become a man. Then in his sinlessness, God the Father imputed all our debt unto him. Then he judge him and put him to death. This paid the sin debt. So Jesus did what no one else could do. He removed sin.

Not just a sin, or your past sin. Certainly not just some sins. Instead, John the Baptist tells us that Jesus took away the sin of the world. That is all sin! Sin had been delt with.

1 John 2:2 – And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 4:10 – Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
John 3:16 – 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.

This propitiation means that Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross satisfied God’s righteous anger against sin, appeasing devine wrath and making it possible for mankind to be forgiven and reconciled to God. This act of justice through Christ’s blood atonement demonstrated God’s love while upholding his holiness. This is what led Paul to write the Romans saying:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26).

This is why Jesus is the only way to eternal life. This is why Christmas is so important to remember. This is why we need to know that Jesus was not some made of person. This is why we need confidence in the manuscripts. It is because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) Trust in Jesus and celebrate his birth, loud and proud, in confidence that what you know is the truth. – Amen

References

Jesus Skeptic. Exist Serapoin. 2021. https://www.jesusskeptic.com/exist-serapion (accessed December 18, 2025).

“The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged.” By Flavious Josephus, translated by William Whiston, 815. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987.

Lucianofsamosata.info. Why Lucian’s View of the Christians and Jesus is Indeterminate. December 16, 2015. https://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=2013:why-lucians-view-of-the-christians-and-jesus-is-indeterminate (accessed December 18, 2025).

PBS.org. FrontLine: From Jesus to Christ. April 1998. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/pliny.html (accessed December 18, 2025).

The Annals. Vol. Book 15, chap. 44, by Tacitus. Internet Archive, 109.

[1] (Josephus 1987) About a.d. 110. Tacit. Annal. 15.44.—Nero, in order to stifle the rumor, [as if he himself had set Rome on fire], ascribed it to those people who were hated for their wicked practices, and called by the vulgar Christians: these he punished exquisitely. The author of this name was Christ, who, in the reign of Tiberius, was brought to punishment by Pontius Pilate the procurator.

Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 815.

[2] (Tacitus 109) Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Chrestians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most pernicious superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. [Source: Annals, Book 15, Chapter 44]

[3] (PBS.org 1998) they assured me that the main of their fault, or of their mistake was this:-That they were wont, on a stated day, to meet together before it was light, and to sing a hymn to Christ, as to a god,

[4] (Jesus Skeptic 2021) A copy of the letter from Mara Bar Serapoin to his son concerning Jesus can be found here.

[5] (Lucianofsamosata.info 2015) Greater discussion on this letter and his comments and the other information available at this site.

Defending the Deity of Jesus Christ

Islamic Apologist have made the claim that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God, nor God himself. They acknowledge that Jesus was a messenger of God. They equate him to Moses and other prophets. But they do not see Jesus as superior nor an equal prophet to Muhammad. Muslims maintain that Jesus was only sent to be a prophet to the Jews. Muhammad was a superior and final prophet that was sent to the entire world. There argument is a simple one that says there is no scriptural evidence that God would become a man. They point out that it is a fallacy of logic for the infinite to also be finite; like making a round square. They have said that there are no Old Testament scriptures that speak of the Son of God to come to the earth as a man. They argue that Jesus himself did not ever claim to be God, and so his disciples are wrong.

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However, scripture does speak of God sending his Son as a child of men. Isaiah 9:6 specifically says that “a child is born” to us -to man. The title given to this child, born of men will be “the Mighty God, The everlasting Father”. This prophecy is in direct contradiction to Muslim claims that God never prophesied that he would come in the flesh. Here we see that God said a child is given and his name is God. The child is synonymous with the everlasting Father. This is a fulfilment of an earlier prophecy that God himself gives in the garden of Eden. Where, in Genesis 3, God speaks to the serpent and warns him that the offspring of the woman (child) would bruise the serpent’s head. Interestingly God says that a future descendant of the woman would bruise “his”, the serpent’s head. Not a future serpent offspring, but his head; the serpent that God is speaking to. Tied into this prophecy is the understanding that when the child bruises the head of the serpent, the serpent will also injure the child’s heal. The prophet Zechariah gives a chilling prophecy in relation to this point also. In speaking on God’s behalf he recounts what God said, in saying, “they shall look upon me (God) whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). This seems ample evidence from the Old Testament prophets that God said that he would not only come in the flesh, but that Israel themselves would look at him after they pierced him. What a clear reference to the crucifixion of Jesus, where they pierced his hands and feet and then stood there looking up at him as he hung on the cross. God hung on the cross while Israel looked upon his pierced hands with the blood of the sacrifice running down his arms. Then there is the sign that God told through the prophet Isaiah. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) This maiden giving birth to the one who would be titled as Immanuel (God with Us) is the sign that God has given us his son, thus, God IS with us.

To alleviate the prophecy of the virgin birth they are willing to concede that Jesus was a significant prophet, the Messiah, and born of a virgin, but he was just a human servant of God, not divine and not equal to God. This approach is a weakness that even the Muslim can recognize, because they have to admit that God said the sign of his coming would be a miraculous birth that did not involve a human father, but a divine act of God. Once faced with this they will quickly switch to another approach. There next argument is that Jesus never claimed to be God.

As for the claim that Jesus never said that he was God, “In such words”. One can take a philosophical look at the error in this argument first. A claim to be someone or something is not necessary to be legitimate. Legitimacy is derived from a variety of sources. Claiming to be something or someone can give one limited credibility, however, true credibility is never accepted by one’s own mouth. There must be validations to establish the legitimacy of a claim. If someone claims to be a ruler, then they must have subjects to validate it. If one claims to be a teacher, then they must have students. If one claims to be a millionaire, then they must have financial statements. Witnesses, documentation, physical or historical evidence must be present to validate a truth claim. For instance, Muslim tradition attributes many physical miracles to Muhammad including the splitting of the moon, providing water and food for thousands, and healing the sick. However, the Quran itself presents a conflict for those claiming Muhammad performed physical miracles. Some Islamic scholars like Muhammad Asad argue the Quran establishes Muhammad never performed a single miracle other than bringing the Quran itself. It is not philosophically required of even profitable for Jesus to claim to be God. It is however necessary to have real witnesses, documentation, deeds, and historical, archaeological evidence, in this case, to validate the truth claim, that Jesus is God; of these we have no shortages.

Jesus may have never claimed to be the Son of God in the synaptic gospels. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the author of the gospel of John viewed Jesus as God incarnate. John is very clear on his assertion that Jesus is the very Word of God who existed before the Creation, and who is the very Creator of everything that was created. He is, therefore, God (John 1:1-3). Furthermore, there is evidence in the Gospels that Jesus did make truth claims on being God. He said in John 14:12, “…because I go unto my Father.” . Making a direct claim to be the Son of God. In John 8:58 Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” This statement says that he was the God that Abraham worshipped. These are just a few of many statements where Jesus affirmed his deity.

However, Islam does not accept the witness of the New Testament writings. They believe that the writings of the New Testament and especially the gospels have been altered and changed over time. They believe that the belief of Jesus being God was a slow change that occurred over time, after the ascension and after the death of the apostles. Of course, Muslims do not give credit to the Bible as a whole, not even to the New Testament. The Quran declares that the Injil (the Gospel) was revealed as the Word of God. The Muslim speaker, in the debate in question, quickly developed another argument: No matter what the other books of the Bible can say, Jesus is not God in the Gospels

The Quran expressly forbids the worship of Jesus, as Allah (God).
Those who say, “Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,” have certainly fallen into disbelief. The Messiah ˹himself˺ said, “O Children of Israel! Worship Allah—my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever associates others with Allah ˹in worship˺ will surely be forbidden Paradise by Allah. Their home will be the Fire. And the wrongdoers will have no helpers. (Sura 5:72)

So this approach is common for the Muslim to take in controlling the parameters of what they will accept as suitable defenses to their argument. The Muslim has removed the Christian’s right to use his holy scriptures, yet asserts the authority of the Quran over the New Testament as being more reliable. While questioning the sacred scriptures of other religions, Islam cannot accept the scrutinizing of their writings. In continuation of this limiting of the scope, the Muslim apologist then turns to rely on the Textual Criticism theory of scholars like Bart Ehrman, who argues that the concept of Jesus’s divinity evolved over time, and that not even the apostles or the early church believed that Jesus was divine.

Cliffe Knechtle, and Christian apologist has numerous videos where Muslims have used this argument. When asking Cliffe to prove the deity of Chrit, they say that he cannot use the Gospel of John. The reasoning is that the Gospel of John is believed to be the last gospel written, around 90-95 AD and that it has subsequently been altered to agree with the new Christian view of the deity of Christ. This gospel speaks explicitly of the deity of Jesus. However, these anti-Christian apologists believed that all the previous writings in the New Testament did not call Jesus God, and the church did not believe nor worship Jesus as God until way alter and the Gospel of John was rewritten to include the deity for future generations. The reliability of this gospel is called upon, because of its strong announcement of the deity of Jesus.

Therefore, to the Muslim, the Gospel of John becomes a tainted argument for the deity of Christ. Scholars like Bart Ehrman, MDiv, PhD, a New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, and the historical Jesus and early development of Christology came about, also claim that the church did not believe in the deity of Christ until the Nicene creed was adopted in 325 AD. Dr. Ehrman commented in his Introduction to his book, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee,

One of my theses will be that a Christian text such as the Gospel of Mark understands Jesus in the first way, as a human who came to be made divine. The Gospel of John understands him in the second way, as a divine being who became human. Both of them see Jesus as divine, but in different ways.

This is a concept that is made more popular by the book and movie, The Da Vinci Code.

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Hence the Islamic apologist will not listen to the Christian who turns to John 3:16 to defend his claim on the deity of Christ. He has deemed this gospel of no use in the debate. This is like telling a mechanic to repair an engine without using any tools. However, there is other evidence that can be used to see that Jesus is the Son of God. The anti-Christian is counting on the ignorance of the average Christian to be unable to overcome this layered attack, which is primarily based on inaccurate fact-finding and blatant lies.

The deity of Jesus Christ is not a last-ditch effort to deceive Jews and Muslims into converting to Christianity. The deity of Jesus Christ is a foundational truth of Christianity. Without the belief in the deity of Christ, there would be no such thing as Christianity. This belief is supported by compelling evidence from the New Testament, including Jesus’ self-proclaimed divine titles, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, miraculous works, Jesus’ exercise of divine authority, historical records, and even archeological finds. The Apostle Peter wrote, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”. (1 Peter 3:15) We should have a great understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. (Romans 1:16). The Apostle John said that he wrote his Gospel so that you could believe on Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and in believing you could have eternal life. If we must not use the writings of John to prove the truth of Jesus as the Son of God, then how can we?

When confronted by these Islamic apologists Cliffe Knechtle used some very simple logical arguments. They did not depend upon flowing from one point to another. Which is good, because every time he started to answer a question, the Muslim would interrupt and change the condition of the question or move to another question altogether. Cliffe continued with his answer and incorporated the new question into his answer. His method was that he used an orderly framework on the understanding of Christ, his person, his works, the manner in which he was addressed, and even Jewish customs and practices at the time. This would most definitely include the strong-rooted monotheistic practices rooted in the Mosaic Law. His framework was similar to the HANDS method discussed by Robert Bowman Jr. and Ed Komoszeshi in their book, Putting Jesus In His Place: The Case For The Deity of Christ.

The HANDS method is a simple acronym used to organize your knowledge about Jesus Christ and is quite useful in giving an answer for the reason of your faith in Jesus, as the Son of God. The acronym can be easily adapted to things you already know and understand as a Christian. It can be easily recalled because it also is related to a story most of us know concerning “doubting” Thomas in the Gospel of John.

Bowman explains, “Just as an examination of the nail prints convinced Thomas he was beholding the hands of deity, a closer look at the Bible reveals Jesus shares the HANDS of God.” The acronym stands for: Honors, Attributes, Names, Deeds, and Seat of God. In looking at these you can organize your thoughts into arguments that are not impacted by the changing or rephrasing of the question. At the root of the answer is that Jesus has been given and accepts the same honors that are due God. Jesus also, has the same unique attributes that God exhibits which make him God. Attributes would be things like omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, eternal, holiness, and those things which originate from who God is. Jesus also identifies himself with the same names or titles that are only used by God to refer to himself; titles like “I AM”. In scripture Jesus also performs the same deeds that can only be done by God. An example of this would be the healing of the diseased, or the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Then also, Jesus has the same authority of God and therefore shares the same seat as God.

In using this framework an apologist does not need to memorize endless amounts of scripture. The believer in Jesus can find one or two scriptures per category and memorize those. He can even use the spelling out of HANDS in his mind to keep a logical flow to the argument. By way of example the H that represents HONORS we only need to consider how honors are shown to military commanders, foreign dignitaries, or magistrates. For those we see red carpets are rolled out for their entry, displays of military prowess are shown, trumpets and honor guards are presented, and gifts may even be exchanged. An awareness of importance in the dignitary is openly shown.

An example from the Old Testament can be found in Exodus 20:2-3 where God tells the Israelites that they will worship no other God, because he alone is God. This is an expectation of honor that is only due to God. He is supreme and honors will not be given to any other god. In the book of Hebrews, the author tells us that Jesus is more honorable than Moses. Moses was compared to a house, and Jesus as the one who built the house (Moses), so he has more honor than Moses. (Hebrews 3:1-5) When we see a feat of architecture, we might admire the building. However, all the praise and admiration go to the architect who designed and oversaw its construction. The book of Hebrews which was written somewhere between 64-68 AD also tells us that Jesus is to be glorified forever. (Hebrews 13:21) Remember in Exodus, cited above, the Jews were forbidden to worship anyone of anything as God except God himself, yet Matthew records, “Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:33) The gospel of Matthew was written somewhere around 50-60 AD. This is within 20-30 years of the ascension of Christ. Yet these lifelong Jews who were forbid by the Law of Moses, and the traditions of their ancestor to worship anything, or anyone else as God, worshiped Jesus as God before he was even crucified.

This basic technique of using the HANDS of God (Jesus) to defend one’s belief in the deity of Jesus is quite simple and easy to speak to. The same types of arguments can be progressed through the rest of the acronym to show scriptures from the Old Testament on the Attributes of God. Then you can match those with verses in the New Testament that show the same attribute of God in Jesus. The key thing here is that studying and memorization of the scriptures is principal. Many who do not believe on Jesus prey on the ignorance and unpreparedness of the believer. They exploit the believers lack of knowledge in their own bible and cultural history. To tell people about the Honors, Attributes, Names, Deeds, and Seat of God, you must know God and the honor that is due him. You must know what the attributes of God are. You need to be acquainted with the names and titles of God are and what they mean. You should also recognize the authority that comes with the seat of God. An ambassador cannot represent or speak to things that they do not know. Modern Christians are not the only ones who have been deceived because of their ignorance.
From a historical viewpoint it is true that some early people who called themselves Christians did not believe the same things concerning Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote the Galatians concerning these false gospels.

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-9)

Paul said, “so soon removed”, he had recently taught the Galatians the truths about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God and could not understand how they could listen to lies presented by others. These false teachers had no apostleship, and no connections with the true church. We suffer from the same issues today. Kieth Green, a Christian evangelist and musician, was fond of saying, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to Mac Donald’s makes you a hamburger.” Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;…”(Matthew 7:21a) From the very 1st Century there were early departures from the true doctrines of the church that included Arianism, Adoptionism, and Docetism. However, this does not mean that the church did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. Historical evidence for the belief in Jesus Christ’s divinity comes from both biblical sources and early Christian writings, as well as from the actions and writings of the early church, and writings of those who witnessed the church in action. These sources demonstrate that the belief in Jesus’ divinity was not a later development but was present from the earliest days of Christianity. The gospels and even the earliest books of the New Testament attest to Jesus as being worshiped and honored as the Son of God.

The apostle Paul was an avid evangelist who continued to stay in touch with the churches of Asia through letters that taught the doctrines of the church in his absence. His earliest writings of 1 Thessalonians are believed to have been between 49-51 A.D. This puts them within 15 years of the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. Prior to the writing of these letters Paul had been spreading the preaching of Jesus being the Son of God throughout the region. He had been to Antioch Syria, Cyprus, Perga, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lustra, Derbe, Pamphylia, and even to Jerusalem by this time, suffering for the cause of the deity of Jesus Christ. Paul had been starved, beaten, stoned, left for dead all for the gospel of Jesus. Surely, he would not have suffered all of this if he did not fully believe in Jesus as God.

In 1st Thessalonians Paul opens with, “…unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”, Thus he equates Jesus with God. Later in chapter 3 Paul claims that Jesus is God again, “Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.” (1 Thessalonians 3:11). Colossians is another letter from Paul written from 60-62 AD where Paul says that Jesus is the Creator (God) who created everything. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16-17).

Paul, according to the book of Acts, was originally a zealous persecutor of the church. He was a devout Jew from a sect called the Pharisees. These members of the Pharisees were looked upon with great respect in the Jewish community because they were distinguished by their strict observance of the traditional (Oral) law and the written law (Torah). He was a well-educated man, from a proud tribe of Isreal, in the original line of King Saul. Perhaps even named after him. Saul (Paul in Greek) caused great fear in the Chrisitan, so much that they fled Jerusalem. Then he was given special papers of authority to hunt down and imprison Christians so that they could be brought back for trial. Paul thought that every Christian should be stoned to death for worshiping Jesus as God. Then he met the risen Jesus on the road. This meeting with Jesus changed what Paul believed concerning the deity of Jesus.

Paul, an early convert who at first did not believe in Jesus, came to believe that Jesus is the very God of Genesis who created and who sustains everything. This was written and distributed prior to the writing of the Gospel of John. In the book of Acts (9:20) it tells us that when Paul was converted, “straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.”. This means from the very start, the church taught that Jesus is the Son of God. Within a matter of months, Paul was persecuting Christians and having them stoned to death because they believed in Jesus as God, and then he himself began to teach the same thing after he met Jesus, as God.

In looking at extra biblical references of believers who believed that Jesus is the Son of God prior to the Nicene creed we can look at the writings of Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215), Tertullian (AD 150-225), Polycarp (AD 69-155), and Ignatius of Antioch (AD 50-117). These are all church fathers who believed in the deity of Jesus Christ.
In 93 AD Josephus, an early Jewish Historian, published the Jewish Antiquities. In a portion of this known as The Tesitmonium Flavianum, Josephus records what many believe is a testimony about Jesus Christ and it shows that 1st Century Christians believed that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God.

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.- Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63(Based on the translation of Louis H. Feldman, The Loeb Classical Library.)

This and other comments made by Josephus, do not say that Josephus believed that Jesus was the Christ of the Son of God, but they do demonstrate that early Christians did believe in the deity of Jesus from the very beginning of Church history. Not only that it shows that they believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Messiah, the Son of God. These letters are a small sampling of many more. There are also archeological finds that support the early belief the of the church that Jesus is God.

In the area of Megiddo Prison, a discovery was made in 2005. This discovery has been dubbed as the greatest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is called the Megiddo Mosaic and dates to the early third century A. D. This site is one of the earliest found Christian worship centers in northern Israel. In this mosaic at this location is the earliest known inscription to identify Jesus as God. The inscription simply states it is to the “God Jesus Christ”.

Archeology can also refute the claims of the authenticity and reliability of the Gospel of John. Papyrus 52 (P52) is a witness discovered in Egypt which dates to the early mid-second century A. D.; approximately 125 A.D. This is long before the Nicene Creed. P52 is the oldest surviving manuscript evidence of any canonical text of the Christians. It contains on one side the verses of John 18:31-33 and on the other side, John 18:37-38. In these verses Jesus is on trial before Pilot. Jesus answers Pilots inquiries by stating that he “came into the world for this purpose”. He is fulfilling the will of the Father, he existed prior to his becoming a man. He is the truth of God. He came for this trial, this condemnation, this death on the cross, this resurrection.

When Jesus was asked what was his sign to show that he was the Messiah, he said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:” (Matthew 12:39) Jesus told them that as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights, so would the Son of Man (God) be in the heart of the earth (the grave) for three days and three nights. He also told them that if you destroy this temple, he will restore it in three days; meaning the temple of his body. The Apostle Peter recorded the importance of the resurrection in 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Paul reinforces this belief in Jesus being revealed as God and the hope that exists because of the resurrection many times. Once such reassurance is this, “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18) As if Paul had to confront the same questions in the past, as are asked today, he wrote the Romans from 56-58 A.D. this testimony,

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:1-4)

Paul is very clear about his office and relation to Jesus. He is his servant, his apostle. He was sanctified by God to share his gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is also clear that the gospel of Jesus that includes that he is the Son of God come in the flesh, crucified, buried, and resurrected was all foretold in the scriptures of what we call the Old Testament. Paul believes these things and these are very evidently things that he has been teaching from the beginning.

To preach a false gospel and Christ is to be damned (Galatians 1:8-9) If your Christology is not correct them you are not saved. Salvation comes from believing in Jesus as Christ and as the Son of God and the shedding of his blood for the atonement of sin. John 20:31 states, But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. This is why the Muslim seeks to remove the Gospel of John from the discussion of the deity of Christ. Because it is written that you might believe, and in believing, you have eternal life. Bless the Lord that God has recorded the truth in other parts of scripture, in historical testimonies, in archaeology, and in the hearts of men who believe.

The Apostle Peter recorded, “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:” (2 Peter 1:1). Clear words from Peter, a 1st hand witness to Jesus’ ministry, confirming his belief that Jesus is God and Savior. Paul, passed down to a young pastor Titus, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13). Paul wanted to confirm the faith of this pastor and teacher that Jesus is God and Savoir.

The Deity of Jesus Christ is defensible. It is a true testimony that is given by the Holy Apostles from before Jesus was crucified. It is a true testimony given by the earliest of Jesus’ disciples as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and the writings of John, Matthew, Peter, Mark, James, Jude, and Paul. It was believed and taught by the next generation of Pastors like Timothy and Titus. It was taught by Apollos, Percilla, and many other teachers within the first 10 years of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Roman officials wrote letters back and forth on how to deal with these kindhearted worshipers of Jesus Christ, who worshiped him as the only God. Archeology shows shrines over a thousand years old that are dedicated to the God Jesus. Then there are the hundreds of written witnesses from the forefathers of the early church, like Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Polycarp, and Ignatius of Antioch.

There are those who will refuse to see the truth. Their hearts have been hardened, and their eyes have been blinded. The truth falls upon deaf ears. But to those who are seeking the truth. The truth is Jesus is the Christ, the anointed of God, who is the Word of God, the Lamb of God who was sent into the world to redeem the world. He is God incarnate. Those who want to know God and are willing to hear the truth, and have faith in God, will be rewarded. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6). There comes a point where one has to make a choice to believe the truth, or to reject it. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

Works Cited
Bibleical Archaeology Society. earliest-new-testament-fragment. 1975. https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/sidebar/earliest-new-testament-fragment/ (accessed September 11, 2025).

Bowman, Robert M Jr.., and J Ed Komoszewski. Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ. Kregel Publications, 2007.

Ehrman, Bart D. How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preache From Galilee. First. Harper Collins, 2014.

Jesus-Islam.org. Jesus-Islam » Jesus Christ » Do the Gospels teach that Jesus is God? 2025. https://jesus-islam.org/questions/evangiles-enseignent-jesus-dieu/.

Josephus.org. Tesimonium. 1995. https://josephus.org/testimonium.htm.
King James Bible Online. King James Bible Online. Vers. King James Version:

Cambridge Edition 1769. 2025. http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org (accessed 09 05, 2025).

Museum of the Bible. The Megido Mosaic Foundations of Faith. 2025.

https://www.museumofthebible.org/exhibits/megiddo.

Quran.Foundation. https://quran.com/5/72. 2025. https://quran.com/5/72.

Extra! Extra! Jesus Declared as God!

Jesus Declared God

There has been a lot of resurging discussion lately on when Jesus was declared and worshiped as God. It appears that many believe that Jesus was declared God in AD 325. This was recorded at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD in what has become known as the Nicene Creed.

The argument that many antichrist apologists make from this council meeting, is that the church did not see Jesus as God until 300 years after his death. That is became a part of church doctrine, but the original followers of Jesus and early church did not believe that Jesus was God, and they did not worship him as such. This argument is spread way to easy by those who do not understand history or church doctrine. Unfortunately many Christians do not study their own cultural history, or scriptures and leave themselves vulnerable to such an attack, which can be so easily defeated with the TRUTH.

This council of the Christian church was called by the emperor Constantine I. It was the hope of the emperor to put to rest a problem created in the Eastern church by Arianism. This problem stemmed from a heresy brought about from the teachings of Arius of Alexandria that stated that (Jesus) Christ was not divine but was a created being. The council condemned this as heresy and incorporated the work homoousios. This word is the key doctrinal term that affirms Jesus is the Son of God in equality with the Father. Thus, Jesus is divine. The Nicene Creed is the only ecumenical creed because it has been repeatedly reaffirmed in subsequent church councils, and it is accepted as authoritative by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox, Church, the Anglican Church, and the Protestant churches of the Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodist. Although the Baptists do not subscribe the use of creeds in general, they are in agreement with the affirmation of the Nicene Creed.

The following is the wording of the Nicine Creed as shared by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sin, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.[i]

Therefore, the edit and resulting creed was not to establish Jesus as the Son of God and divine, but to affirm the belief that already existed in the face of an unfounded heresy. It simply confirmed the truth already accepted by the church.

There are other historical references that show this belief that include the following.

Thales – Palestinian historian – 232-245 A.D.

Tertillian – “Founder of Western Theology”, “Father of Latin Christianity” – 220 A.D.

Titus Flavius “Clement of Alexandria” – Theologian, Philosopher, Teacher – 200 A.D.

Bishop Irenaeus – 185 A.D.

Justin Martyr – author – 150 A.D.

Josephus – Jewish historian – 94 A.D.

These are just a few to show that there are extrabiblical writings showing that the church worshiped Jesus as divine long before the council of Nicene. Perhaps the most compelling arguments that support that the early church believed that Jesus is the Son of God comes from the scriptures themselves. All of the books of the New Testament were written no later than 110 A.D. It is commonly accepted that Jesus was resurrected around the year 33 A.D.

In these:

The gospel of John is believed to have been written as early as 90 – 110 A.D. John 10:30 reveals that Jesus claimed to be God. “I and my Father are one.” It further shows evidence that the Jewish leaders understood this claim made by Jesus (John 8:52-59). Later Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples who at first doubted Jesus’ resurrection declared that Jesus was his Lord and his God. (John 20:28).

The gospel of Mark is believed to have been written between 64-70 A.D. In his gospel we hear of the Roman Centurian’s believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Mark 15:39)

When we factor in that these gospels and early writings had to be circulated and generally accepted by the early church through public readings, teachings, and personal studies, it is easy to draw the conclusion that the church has always believed that Jesus it the Son of God, divine, and always in existence.

Please, my dearly children, beloved of God and Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, arm yourself with the truth. Believe upon the name that is above every name, Jesus the Christ. Remember the words of the apostle Paul to the Colossians where he declares that Jesus is the dear Son of God (1:13), “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” (Colossians 1:14) Walk in strength of knowledge and in the power of heavenly wisdom. Be at peace and answer the heretic with unwavering faith, love, and hopeful anticipation that the truth will set them free also.

[i] (United Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2025)https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe

Pagan Christmas – Who Cares?

There are those who try to discredit Christmas as a Christian holiday because some aspects of the modern celebration are imported from pagan holidays that existed prior to Christianity. Even the Puritans had the celebration of Christmas outlawed for several years. The reason was because they thought that the Christmas celebration borrowed to much from pagan religions and was therefore no longer Christian. They considered that this made it ungodly to celebrate Christmas, for fear that they would be guilty of actually be worshiping a false god. That is a strawman argument.

Cultures all over the world and in different time periods have always had an impact on other cultures when they came into contact. Even the dominant cultures have been affected by those of whom they have conquered and absorbed customs and even beliefs. Rome was undoubtedly influenced by the many cultures that it met with, including the Christian culture. In return, ancient Rome has had a great impact on the whole world. This impact has reached all the way into modern societies, and with it has come it’s version of Christianity. As the Roman Empire flourished it affected, art, architecture, language, and even legal systems and military strategies. With this came the other influences that came from the pagan societies that impacted ancient Rome. The catalyst for this particular season of joy is the winter solstice.

The winter solstice was celebrated by many ancient cultures including the Celts, Romans, and Druids. They would celebrate winter solstice (or the shortest day of the year) in December. With this celebration and Christmas being adopted during the same timeframe we will see many similarities between the pagan traditions of Rome and that of Christmas.

The winter solstice was extremely important to the agricultural life of the pagan. This solstice marked the end of the long harvest season and gave a momentary rest from the harvest labors and the planting season ahead. It also marked the onset of winter. Long hard days surviving the isolation and scarcity of food and interaction lay ahead. The celebration was a chance to celebrate and enjoy the company of family and friends and wish them well through the winter. The Roman celebration was referred to as Saturnalia.

Saturnalia was dedicated to the Roman god Saturn. Saturn is like the Greek god Cronus. The Roman and Greek gods have been so interlaced that many confuse them for being the same gods. This is an example of the cultural influences that occurred over time. This festival’s influence is still felt throughout the modern world. While the Winter solstice is generally the 22 of December, the Roman’s celebration was originally on the 17^th of December.

Saturnalia was the most popular festival in Rome and lasted for seven days. It was originally celebrated for one day and was eventually extended to seven days. With the extension of the celebration, we can see how this is like our Christmas to New Year celebration in the United States. All work and businesses were suspended, and slaves were temporarily free during this time. In fact, the roles of master and slave were temporarily reversed. Slaves were allowed to order their masters around, within reason of course. The end of the festival culminated with the giving of a gift, presents like candles, fruit, or statuettes were primary gifts. The gift was usually given from one person to another, and were meant as a means of obtaining favor from the god Saturn

Another cultural influence on Christmas came from the Roman honoring of Saturn with mistletoe. To appease Saturn, they would perform fertility rites beneath branches of mistletoe. Other pagan cultures used mistletoe as a sacred plant and associated it with a stay of hostilities or a truce, much like we see the use of a white flag. Enemies would meet under a mistletoe as a sign of truce. Along with that the Romans would exchange wreaths made of holy as a sign of good luck and well wishes. Ornaments in the forms of idols also decorated the exterior of the Roman homes during this celebration. This custom was also seen in the Germanic areas where they would decorate trees in honor of Odin during the winter solstice. This custom of ornaments and lights on the Christmas tree was undoubtedly adopted from their influence.

It is no wonder that when Rome took over Christianity and converted their holidays into Christian holidays that they would take the traditions they used to and apply them into the official state religious celebration of Christmas. However, this does not take away from the current or Christian meaning for celebrating Christmas. The pagan meanings and worship of false gods have long lost their meaning and have been overtaken by either Christendom or commercialism. Frankly I am more concerned with the commercialism as this does specifically go against Christian values. However, this does not diminish Christians who celebrate Christmas, nor does it mandate that the holiday be renamed from “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays” to be inclusive or more historically accurate.

Christians do not lose their Christianity just because the Romans (Catholic Church) have incorporated aspects of pagan traditions into the holiday. Christians actually celebrate the arrival of God in the flesh, the birth of Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection through out the year, every Sunday. In addition, having a special day to celebrate his birthday is a great remembrance of this miracle event, when God became his own creation. It does not even really matter if it is on his actual birthday. I am sure that God appreciates the time of remembrance and celebration for his amazing gift to mankind. In addition, this gives us a venue to invite pagans and atheist into our homes and churches, our Christian culture. We have an opportunity to let them experience the grace of God the Father in Jesus Christ, God the Son, and to experience the presence of God the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer. Christians should celebrate Christmas with all humility and generosity that they can. We need not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who cares if they unsuccessfully tried to discredit our celebration? We celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let them see Jesus!

Overcome Because Greater is He – 1 John 4:2-4

Is the Spirit of the Antichrist in Turkey?

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:2-4)

In the early church the spirit of the antichrist was very evident in Rome. Emperor Nero systematically rounded up Christians and put them to death in very grotesque and very public executions. The Christians were shunned and marginalized in Roman society because their beliefs did not fit in with mainstream Roman culture. This identity given to Christians as being less of a person and a person to be ridiculed made it easy for them to become the emperor’s scapegoat. The dehumanization of the Christians in Rome made it easier for the Roman citizens to accept and participate in these horrible acts committed against their own brothers and sisters of Rome.

You see in the summer of AD 64 approximately three quarters of the city of Rome had burned. The prevailing suspicion was that Nero himself had ordered the arson in for his own amusement, or for his plans of revitalizing Rome, buy getting rid of the slums of Rome. Either way, the citizenry was up in arms, and Nero needed to deflect the attention from himself. He therefor pointed the finger to the Christians. After all they were the ones who claimed that Rome was wrong in its Idolatry, sexual immorality, and in many other ways they just didn’t fit in with aspects the liberal Roman society. Public announcements were made. Christians were the enemy of the state. Historian Cornelius Tacitus (56-120 BC) wrote in The Annals concerning the Great Fire of Rome.

44.2. Yet no human effort, no princely largess nor offerings to the gods could make that infamous rumor disappear that Nero had somehow ordered the fire. Therefore, in order to abolish that rumor, Nero falsely accused and executed with the most exquisite punishments those people called Christians, who were infamous for their abominations.

44.3. The originator of the name, Christ, was executed as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius; and though repressed, this destructive superstition erupted again, not only through Judea, which was the origin of this evil, but also through the city of Rome, to which all that is horrible and shameful floods together and is celebrated.

44.4. Therefore, first those were seized who admitted their faith, and then, using the information they provided, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of burning the city, but for hatred of the human race. And perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps.

44.5. Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle and performed a Circus game, in the habit of a charioteer mixing with the plebs or driving about the race-course. Even though they were clearly guilty and merited being made the most recent example of the consequences of crime, people began to pity these sufferers, because they were consumed not for the public good but on account of the fierceness of one man. (Westmont.edu, n.d.) (Clayton, 1947)

Christians in the Roman Empire were ostracized from society by:

They were accused of atheism because they did not accept emperor worship, nor polytheism.

The were generally form the poorer sections of society

Christianity was put on the list of illicit sects a little after 50 AD

Christianity was declared illegal in 64 AD

They were accused of secret immoral worship ceremonies that included cannibalism, incest, and bestiality

They were considered social radicals because their beliefs were at odds with acceptable Roman practices and indulgences

This edict of Emperor Nero started 120 years of open, socially acceptable, state sponsored terrorism on Christians. This would include the martyr of many Christians. Some estimate the number of Christians martyred to be up to 2 million. This would also include the martyrdom of the apostles Peter and Paul.

Just as Rome made a step-by-step approach to the eventual attempted genocide of Christians for political purposes, in the past; we see modern day Turkey using the Christians as a means of attempting to reestablish the Caliphate. In a purposeful process Turkish Christians are being used as a scapegoat for failed governmental policies and actions. “Turkey’s Christians are becoming a welcome scapegoat for Ankara. Erdogan has miscalculated on various fronts in Syria and Libya and is now looking for someone to serve as a distraction.” (DW, 2020)

Turkey is in the process of becoming a Sunni Muslim state. As a part of this state sponsored movement and its anti-Christian theology Turkey has refused the readmittance of protestant ministers into the country. Posted anti-Christians slogans on billboards, and bus stops and recently mandated that all Christians leave Turkey in 10 days. This mandate includes American or other nationalities that are married to Turkish citizens, even if they have children. This divides families and even mother’s and nursing babies. The Hagia Sophia (God’s Holy Wisdom) is a Christian church that once served as the center for Orthodox Christianity, and is also designated by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site has been converted to a Mosque and the ancient mosaics inside are now in danger of being lost forever. This makes the 3^rd Byzantine era Christian church to be recently converted to a mosque. This is part of a larger step that Islamic leaders see in reestablishing the caliphate that includes the overtaking of Athens, Greece and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

This is the spirit of the antichrist. It is spread all across the globe. Even in America we see that recently a nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska was persecuted by Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Kamala Harris, D-California whose questioning reasoned that a Christian could not hold a public office. Fox news reported that on campuses throughout the United States, Christians are openly ridiculed with hate speech and false accusations by academics, social groups, and organizations. (Ingle, 2019)

Christians are being accused of being insensitive, hypocrites during the COVID-19 pandemic because of issues with church closures, preaching of condemnation from sin, judgement from God and other twisting of Christian values and ethics. Christians who meet in in-person services are blamed in the media for the furtherance of the spread of the Corona Virus. Christians in America have been marginalized as church services and ministry positions have been deemed unnecessary and non-essential. Church member have been fined and pastors arrested for acting within their 1^st amendment rights. The 1^st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg-ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (Constitution Cente) No law is supposed to be made to prohibit the free exercise of religion, curtailing the freedom of speech, or the right of peaceable assembly. Moreover, it is the right of the people to request the government to account for overreach of authority. But these things are to come. We know this because we were told of these things by Jesus Christ himself. Jesus said in this world we would have tribulation.

We can read in the 24^th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus warns us. We will be delivered up to be afflicted, and killed. We will be hated by all nations. Many will be offended by us, and by him (Jesus). We expect these things. Many of the old Baptist preachers used to preach on a regular basis of the suffering of the saints and the expected persecutions that we will endure. They used to tell us how we should look forward to pains of self-sacrifice for Christ. Peter and some of the other Apostle when imprisoned and beaten rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ. (Acts 15: 40-41) Paul himself recounts how he multiple times he was spat on, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked and endured many more sufferings for the cause of Christ over decades of service.

Today we have gotten to far away from that. We have dropped our spiritual guards as it were. Our eyes have stopped looking to God. Our lips do not open for our afflicted brethren. Instead we pray for a new car, or a new house. Maybe we pray for God to let our favorite team to win the game. How superficial are our prayers? Our knees fail to bend to the Lord God. We no longer seek the will of God in our lives, but our will in Gods. We have lost our salt. Instead of being a good and faithful servant who wisely invests the resources and time of his master, we have become selfish, and lazy. We seek our own comfort over the mission to which we have all been appointed to by Jesus Christ. We are to be his ambassadors and to speak of his name at every opportunity, boldly declaring his mercy. We know the signs. We know that the time of salvation is now. We know that as it draws closer to the end of the age, that persecutions will get worse. I wish to encourage you though.

The Lord God is over all of creation. He is infinite. That means that he is totally self-existing. He has no beginning. There is no point in which he did not exist. Because of this, he has no ending. There will never be a point in which he does not exist. He is before all things and holds all things together (Colossians 1:17) God is immutable. That means that he never changes. Since God never changes that means that who he is never changes. His love never changes. His righteousness never changes. His WORD never changes. He simply IS who he IS. He himself said, “I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6) Because God never changes, he is ever faithful. So when scripture says that the mercies of the Lord endures for ever; that is what He does. (Psalm 16:1; Psalm 136)

He remembers our lowly estate. He remembers that we are created by him. He remembers that we are broken because of sin. He remembers that we are not as faithful as he is. He remembers that we have limitations to our endurance. He remembers that way to often we are weak and self-centered. Yet his mercy endures. He commands his love towards us. That means despite it all, he chooses to love us each day, each moment. It is his grace that is sufficient for us; not our own working. His love does not depend of who we are, but who he is. He gives us of himself. He gives us victory over the world and over the antichrist. God told us through the writings of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:18, “I will be a father to you, and you shall be the sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” John says, “See what king of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1) This special honor is for those who believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as savior and as Lord. (John 1:12) By this truth we have already overcome the world and the antichrist.

We have already been delivered from death to life. Because of this we do not need to fear the antichrist nor the world. They can only kill the body, not the spirit. This body must be shed because it is corrupted. We know that if you put a rotten apple in a barrel with good apples, in short order the good apples will rot. So it is the same with the kingdom of Heaven. Corruption cannot enter in. So we must be removed of this rotten body and be given a new one. This happens in the resurrection. Since Jesus was raised from the dead, we know that we also will be risen from the dead, because scripture says that we will be like him. This is our hope in the future. But it is not our only source of joy.

We must remember that the Lord is ever present, and that he is always by our side. He is not estranged from our afflictions, nor unaware of the presence of our enemies; for our enemies are his enemies. In fact, they are our enemies because we are his. So, it is not that he assumes our enemies for us. Instead, his enemies assume us as enemies. That means that he is obligated to respond on our behalf. This brings us to an awesome point in scripture, “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4) Even more we know that we are overcomers because all temptation is common to mankind. There is no new temptation of trial that a man has not ever endured before. God will not leave you to be tempted beyond what your capable of handling; instead, he provides a way to escape it. This gives us another advantage in enduring. (Philippians 1:29)

Here is a secret. You who are believers in the death, burial, and resurrection already have everything you need to have this victory. Read what John wrote, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1-4) Paul again tells us in Romans 8:1, “Thee is therefor now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Faith in Jesus is our secret to eternal life. Faith in Jesus is our secret to overcoming the world. Faith in Jesus is our secret to enduring trial, tribulations, and persecutions.

We can see that (1) Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ (Son of God) is come in the flesh is from God. (2) Those spirits who do not confess Jesus Christ (Son of God) are from the Antichrist, not God. This includes Muslims, Hindus, Atheist, Gnostics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and more. (3) We were for warned that this evil spirit would come and that it was actually already here. This would probably be better to understand is we said that the spirit of the antichrist is already here and will continue to be here, gaining influence and power. (4) We are the children of God – see point one. (5) Because we are the children of God we have already received victory through our faith in Jesus – see point one. (6) The Spirit who resides in us is bigger, stronger, and of more authority and might then the spirit that is in the world (spirit of the antichrist-see point two).

Now that we have nothing to fear in life or death we are free to truly live for Christ. We can love others because we have been loved of God. We can forgive others because we have been forgiven by God. We do not need to fear sickness, or death because God has already given us eternal life. We do not need to worry about earning it, or losing it, because it was a gift by a self-sufficient God who needs absolutely nothing from us. We can turn our attention to our suffering brothers and sister. We can get involved in the nitty gritty of standing up for them.

Our duty is to seek the Lord on their behalf. We are to send them relief. We are to provide them the resources that they need to endure. They need food, water, clothes, bibles, financial and legal support. These are things we can do. These are totally biblical things we can do. How can we say that we love them and not assist them? Paul went on a circuit from gentile church to gentile church bringing money and other resourced gather from the route back to the persecuted church at Jerusalem. This was not a church tax, it was a benevolence given to the saints in Jerusalem that would have starved without it. Many of the Mediterranean churches members gave sacrificially to this relief effort.

We can get involved with the political and legal processes available to us, especially here in the United States. Paul himself used his Roman citizenship, his Jewish standing, and his legal wit to advance the gospel and to curtail the efforts of the overreach of local authorities and even governors and kings. We have the right to exercise our votes in the House of Representative, and the Senate at state and federal levels. We need to get involved and ask candidates for the President of the United States, Governor, and even the Mayors office how they will represent us as Christians. We need to know where they stand on abortion, or on sexually immoral practices, the role of the judge and their view of the division of powers in the Constitutions of our States and the United States of America. We need to know how their policies on policing, foreign aid, and humanitarian relief for Christians throughout the world.

We also must not forget that this battle is a spiritual one. So we must be educated on the Word of God in order to know the will of God. The will on God is not a feeling, or a dream of vision that came to us in the middle of our routine eyelid maintenance. The will of God is that none should perish, but that all should have everlasting life. We must be active in evangelism, the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the education of the disciple. We must pray without ceasing. By that I mean real heartfelt prayer for believers, leaders of government, missionaries, pastors, deacons, and more.

Bend you knees, lay prostrate before the God who is above all. Plead with your heart for this and the other nations of the world. Pray for those who are now locked up in cells for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Pray for the conversion of those who oppress our brothers and sisters. Have joy knowing that you are an overcomer. Have joy that the God who created the universe hears your prayers and listens intently to the sorrows of your heart. He has an open ear for your prayers because you love his Son, Jesus Christ. He can hear you because of your faith. Your faith in Jesus had accounted you as a righteous believer. He hears you. You are victorious.

Bibliography

Clayton, F. W. (1947). Tacitus and Nero’s Persecution of the Christians. Classical Quarterly, 41, 81-85. Retrieved 7 16, 2020, from http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_s0009838800026082

Constitution Cente. (n.d.). The Constitution of the United States . Retrieved from constitutioncenter.org: https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/constitution.pdf

DW. (2020, June 23). Opinion: Christians a Welcome Scapegoat in Turkey. Retrieved from DW.COM: https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-christians-a-welcome-scapegoat-in-turkey/a-53918937

Ingle, D. K. (2019, February 27). Opinin: Christian Persecution not just happening overseas — many in us targeted for their faith too. Retrieved from Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/christian-persecution-not-just-happening-overseas-many-in-us-targeted-for-their-faith-too

Westmont.edu. (n.d.). Tacitus and Piney On the Early Christians . Retrieved from Westmount.edu: https://www.westmont.edu/~fisk/articles/TacitusAndPlinyOnTheEarlyChristians.html

Anne Askew and Transubstantiation

On this day, June 18^th, 1546, Anne Askew was convicted of heresy after being tortured for her outspoken beliefs on the false doctrine of transubstantiation. She is one of only two women who have been tortured in the Tower of London and then burned at the stake. On, July 16, 1546 Anne Askew was martyred for her Baptist faith in Smithfield, London. She had refused to recant her witness under extreme torture of the rack. This torture has so disfigured her body that she had to be transported to the stake via a wheel chair.

Transubstantiation is the belief that during the communion of the Lord’s Supper, the bread and wine actually become the spiritual blood and body of Christ. This teaching has no doctrinal proof found in scripture. In scripture at what we call “the Last Supper”, which took place on the Jewish Passover, Jesus instituted the “Lord’s Supper” as a memorial service that is to remind us that sin causes death, and he sacrificed himself to pay the debt of sin for us. His death is what brings us life. His body was broken and his blood spilled out on our behalf. Jesus calls this process exchanging his death for ours, the New Covenant. (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; John 13:1-7) It is his blood that the New Testament is written in. His blood was shed for the remission of sins. The wine is to remind us of this blood that he poured out for us. In Luke 22:19, Jesus himself says, “Do this in remembrance of me”. Clearly this is meant as a symbolic ceremony to ensure that we do not forget that the Son of God himself gave his life for ours. Much like we put flowers of a grave to remember a loved one who has passed. The flowers do not become the loved one, nor do they become the center of affection.

I know that this is hard for some believers to accept. So let’s take a look at what Paul writes when he spoke to the Corinthians. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

You see the Corinthians had a misunderstanding of what the “Lords Supper” was also. This came from their pagan beliefs. They were mixing pagan rituals into the ordinances of the church. Paul addresses these by clarifying the purpose of the ceremony. First, the apostle says that he is passing on to then exactly what he was received directly from the Lord. In these few sentences Paul says that this ceremony is for a “remembrance”, just like Jesus did. The purpose “remembrance of me (Jesus)”… “to show the Lord’s death until he returns”.

We do not conjure up the Lord, as if any man could conjure the living God, and then force him to be re-sacrificed on our behalf. The epistle to the Romans say, “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.” (Romans 6:9-10) Something very important is revealed in this passage. Sin is payed for. Since Jesus died for sin, and then rose from the dead, sin has no hold on him, or those who believe on him. He lives to God. We who believe in him, so likewise, live unto him (Jesus Christ) and so then to God. We are alive already, in Christ. Sin no longer has the ability to hold us under the bondage of death. This is why we do not need to fear death. This is why Anne Askew did not need to fear death. Taking of the communion does not wipe away our sins each time we partake of it. Instead it is a reminder that our sins have already been wiped away, once and for all times. “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:18).

Our problem is that we are still in this corruptible flesh. Because we are in this flesh, we do not see the spiritual realm around us. We cannot see the glorified Christ yet. We need to be reminded of our hope. When we forget God and his grace, we tend to walk away from him. This has been demonstrated in the history of Israel. It has likely been demonstrated in your own life history also. God knows this and in his love, he instituted this memorial service, not just to remind us that he died, but that he arose and is returning! “Ye do show the Lord’s death till he come”; what an excellent reminder to us to not give up the hope that we have inside. We then can endure the horrible tortures of the rack like Mrs. Askew, if we, like her, keep the knowledge that Jesus lives, and he is returning for us.

The Execution of Rev. Hans Bret on January 4, 1577

In 1660, Author, Thieleman van Braght published a book cataloging some of the events of the martyrdom of the Anabaptists. This work was titled, “The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians – “Who Baptized Only Upon Confession of Faith, and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus, Their Saviour, From the Time of Christ to the Year A.D. 1660.”

The Anabaptist believed that infant baptism was not scriptural and did not save the soul of the infant. They maintained that in order to receive salvation, one had to first believe on Jesus Christ, and repent of their sin. Baptist was an act of obedience required by Christ for all who believed on his name. Since an infant was unaware of personal or generational sin, they could not repent. To add to this, an infant does not yet have a manner to understand who Christ is nor what atonement should mean, so therefore could not believe on Jesus Christ as their savior. The Anabaptist required that any adult coming into their folds have a confession of faith in Jesus Christ and be baptized in believer’s baptism. This meant that they were to be re-baptized. The Anabaptist did not initially call themselves Anabaptists, this was a mocking name placed on them by the Catholic and Protestant religions of the period. Eventually they accepted their title as a badge of distinction.

This distinction would cost them dearly for their lives would be the price to stand on the scriptures and adhere to their faith in Christ. The persecution of the Anabaptist by the Catholic and Protestant religions is reported to be so severe that more Anabaptist were martyred in the sixteenth century then the amount of Christians martyred by Rome and pagan religions in the first three centuries of the origins of the church.

Hans Bret, a baker by trade, and Anabaptist by faith is one such life laid down for Christ. He was in his twenties and an earnest bible scholar who supported his widowed mother and drew many converts who sought his teaching and preaching of the Word. On May 6, 1576 in the evening hours his home and bakery were surrounded by the bailiff and his posse. They arrested young Hans and several others who were meeting in his establishment. Thrown into prison and charged with heresy for being re-baptized Hans Bret was sentenced to execution by burning at the stake. He was tortured and beaten multiple times while awaiting his execution. This young man never retracted his statement of faith. In his dark prison cell, he wrote several letters to friends and family and encouraged them in their faith and the faithfulness of God. Tradition tell us that before they carried him out for his sentence, his tongue was burned up by torch, so that he could not preach from the steak.

I often wonder when I read these accounts of the horrific way a fellow believer has been martyred; if I could endure such an event. Could you endure such an event for your faith? We are living in a time where Christians have no backbone. We cower down when confronted about our faith. We are afraid to lose friends, family or our jobs, of social standings. It makes me wonder if we really believe at all? I know that Hans Bret believed. I know that Rev. Bret only wanted to share the truth and to care for those that he loved. He loved enough to die for them, so that they could keep the faith. Keep your eyes upon Jesus.

Reference: https://www.nobts.edu/geauxtherefore/articles/2018/Martyr.html

Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) A Faithful Witness

Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) A Faithful Witness

In 1664 there were allot of things going on in the world. New Jersey had become an English colony in North America. The Triennial Act 1641 was passed, which was intended to limit the powers of the King. England also annexed the New Netherland colony and renamed it the Province of New York, in North America. 1664 also marked the beginning of yet another war between the Dutch and English. There was also fundamental changes occurring in the church. The Reformation was in full swing and doctrinal developments were being developed that would lead to setting the tone for Protestant and Baptist theologies for centuries to come.

The earliest Baptist church in England was found in the 1630s, although Baptist churches are found in earlier time periods in other countries. These English Baptist pioneers included John Bunyan (1628-88), Benjamin Keach (1640-1704), John Gill (1697-1771), and Charles Spurgeon (1834-92). All of these men and a few not mentioned, had a great impact on the development of the modern Baptist church, and all made hard sacrifices for the Kingdom.

Benjamin Keach, was baptized when he was 15 and began preaching at 18. He is known for introducing hymn singing into the Baptists churches. He wrote an estimated 43 works which includes his most famous writing, “The Child’s Instructor”, in 1664. Oddly enough he had wrote this, and at the behest of friends, who wanted to use it in their homes, published the book without his authorship identified in the book. In this book he addresses the topics of the lack of Biblical support for infant baptism (supported by both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches), the laymen’s ability to preach, if so led by the Spirit, (which meant that ordination was of God not man), and that Christ would reign personally upon the earth in the later day.

Needless to say, these were deemed as heresy by the established churches. Baptist were often seen as dissenters (non-conformists), and were often treated with visible rage. Once such incident occurred when troopers had overheard Mr. Keach preaching, and were so enraged they tied him down, layed him in the street and were intent to trample him to death with their horses. Bless the Lord a superior arrived just in time, and ordered them to take him to jail. Later he was released. When the authorities found out that Pastor Benjamin had been the author of “The Child’s Instructor”, also know as “A New and Easier Primer”. They seized all of his books and put him to trial for heresy. In a mock trial Benjamin Keach was denied a copy of the incitement, was not allowed to speak to defend his position, and was subsequently found guilty and sent to prison, fined, book burned, and had to endure public shame in the square, and required to make yet another court appearance to further divulge his heresy. When they finally let him declare his reasoning for what he had written, he preached his doctrine before the gathered mob. The mob who normally pelted the accused with rotten fruits and rocks, stood silent and absorbed all he had to say. Benjamin and his wife continued there ministry, boldly proclaiming truth despite threats of imprisonment and death made to both he and his wife. If we could have the sack to stand so bold today. If we were to have such confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and the sense of urgency that we should all have concerning those all around us that are dying every day in their sin. What a difference this one witness made. What a difference we could make.

Creation – Faith

Creation Theology
If we wish to understand Creation, and the origins of the universe, plants, animals, and even mankind we must turn to the scripture. Scripture is the sole authority on all spiritual matters, and Creation is indeed a spiritual matter. (2 Corinthians 4:18). While we understand that in this world we have certain laws of nature and science that are used to sustain the way in which life is organized and controlled, we must also allow that the origin of these comes from the supernatural, or spiritual. All of Creation is a construct of God. Scripture gives us an explanation of these events and reveals God to us as the Creator. Science can help us to validate some things found in scripture. Historical records can give account to the trustworthiness of certain biblical figures, their actions, and how they lived their lives. Archeology can validate the existence of ancient civilizations and allow us to reconstruct what daily life may have been like for our forefathers. Paleontology, and other related studies, can also show us the different species of animals that once thrived on the earth, and give us possible evidences of why they are no longer with us. Geology can give us clues to catastrophic events like the flood, and the subsequent ice age. Laws of nature and physics can give us the boundaries of universal laws that have existed since the creation event. DNA and gnome mapping can give us insight into the complexity of life and how traits are carefully passed down from generation to generation. We can see the safeguards that are put in to protect the species from crossing unseen lines of generational evolution through defect and mutation. All of these studies point to an intelligent design. They tell us of the need for a highly intelligent designer. These sciences can point us towards the reality of God. Scripture can tell us who God is. Nature can show us his intellect, and his involvement in our everyday lives. The Gospel Jesus Christ tells us about his love for all of his creation, especially mankind as a whole, and as individuals. Genesis reveals God’s plan of salvation established before the creation of the universe.
Science, however; is restricted to being able to measure, and interpret the things that are inside of the creation. Science cannot give answers to the things that are outside of the created universe. Science cannot give us a full understanding of eternity, origins of the universe, or even gravity for that matter. Science cannot answer questions like: What caused the creation event? Where did matter originate? Where did energy originate? When the end of space is reached, what is after that? Is there a God? If there is a God, where is he? If there is a God, why did he create us? These are questions that demand an authoritative answer. An opinion or a guess does nothing to satisfy this deep need of an answer. Mankind has always had one stirring question, “Why are we here?” Where science finds its limits, scripture abounds with the answers. Science can drive us to realize the need for an existence of God, but scripture tells us of the certainty of God. Scripture introduces us to God and reveals who he is, why we were created, and what our purpose is.

The Old and New Testament Scriptures of the Holy Bible are our authoritative text that answers all of these questions and more. When the Apostle, Paul of Tarsus, wrote his child in Christ, Timothy, he encouraged this young Pastor that, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16). We can see the confidence that the apostle had in the scriptures. We can see the confidence that Pail told Timothy he needed to have in the authority of scripture. We too as believers in Jesus Christ, should also have this bold confidence in the scriptures. Many modern Christians have been brought up in the aftermath of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. We have been told that this science is the authority of human origins and that as such, it is unquestionable. At this point I employ you to do your own research. Just as Paul said that we should search out the scriptures to see if what he was saying was true, we should search out what Darwinist are saying to see if it is true. If an apostle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is willing for you to search out and verify that what he is saying is true, then shouldn’t we have the same challenge accepted by Darwinist? Can Darwin’s theory really be proven, or is it something that we have to just take on faith and hope? I think you will find as, I did and, many modern scientists are finding out; the Big Bang, Evolution, and even the fossil records are all taken by faith, just like Christianity and the Holy Bible. Darwin himself proposed excuses for why his theory may never be proven. He stated that the geological record was a history of the world imperfectly kept. Then later he laid out the process of how the evidence should be regarded. He said that in cases of positive paleontological evidence we can implicitly trust them, but negative evidence is worthless. Darwin says that any possible evidence found to support evolution must be admitted as science, but any evidence that does not support evolution must be ignored. That fails the scrutiny test, doesn’t it? We must grant that science either cannot or will not give truthful answers to things that are inside of creation. Nor, can science, by its very nature, give us answers to things that are outside of the laws of nature and science. We should turn to the only authority who can. This authority is the Holy Bible, and it begins with the book of Genesis.
Genesis is the first of five books referred to as the Pentateuch. The author of the Pentateuch is traditionally ascribed to Moses. This book is believed to have been written from 1450-1410 B.C. Genesis contains a record of the real-life history of individuals, peoples, tribes, and nations. Much of the information concerning these events are readily available in archaeological finds that have corroborated the customs, languages, and common life events recorded in the Bible. From this book we get such familiar stories as Cain and Abel, Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel, the Plaques of Egypt, Moses and the Ten Commandants, and the Origins of life. One of the great things that the Pentateuch does is give detailed enough lineages that can be used to get a general estimation of the age of the earth.

Interestingly we can see through the linage of Adam, how the Creation event could have been passed down with accuracy from Adam to Noah. Adam is reported to have fathered his son Seth at the age of 130. He then live on for another 800 years, dying at the age of 930 years. (Genesis 5:3-5) Adam would have lived long enough to relay the events of creation, the fall of man, and the promise of a redeemer to generations of descendants including: Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah. Methuselah is the Grandfather of Noah. It is clear by Noah’s faith in God that he was well aware of who God is, and that God was the Creator of the Universe. Genesis 9:29 tells us that Noah lived 950 years. Just counting Adam and Noah, this gives us over 2000 years of historical data from the creation to after the flood. Here is another something that these genealogies give us. Noah lived 450 years after the birth of Shem. Shem had Arphaxad when he was 100. Arphaxad had Salah at the age of 35. When Salah was 30 he had his son Eber. Eber had Pelet when he was 34. Then Peleg had Reu at the age of 30. When Reu was 32 he had Serug. Serug had Nahor at 30. Nahor had his son Terah at 29. Then finally at the age of 70 Terah had Abraham, who it the father of the Jewish nation. That is a total of 400 years. How long did Noah live after having his son? The answer is 450 years. Noah could have passed on the eyewitness testimony of Adam, and his own eyewitness testimony of the flood to all of his descendants for 9 generations, including Abraham. Including the linage of Noah up to the life span of Abraham gives us another 500 years of constant history. This means that we have a constant chain-of-custody of the world-wide flood, and the beginning of the creation event to include the creation of Man. (Adam). Abraham had his son Isaac who had his son Jacob (Israel) who the tribes of Israel come from. This then leads to Joseph and the Egyptian slavery. This leads us into Moses the author.

The English word genesis comes to us through a Latin word based on the Greek tittle to this book. The Hebrew word used translates to, “in the beginning”. Merriam-Webster defines Genesis as, “the origin or coming into being of something”. In the book of Genesis, in the Holy Bible, we find the origins of the universe, and everything that is contained within. This includes the stars, earth and moon, man, sin, civilization, and time. This also includes the laws that govern science and nature. Genesis also reveals to us a personal God, the purpose of man, and the anticipation of a redeemer. “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) With all of these things that Genesis covers, it never mentions the origin of God. This is simply because, God existed prior to the creation event. The Genesis story just begins with a simple assumption.

Examples of this found in scripture are:
• John 17:24, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”
• Ephesians 1:4, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
• Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began”
• Hebrews 1:10, “And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:”
God simply IS, and God simply CREATED. This is the first matter of faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11:1). Through faith we know that the whole structure of the universe was planned out and implemented by God. From generation to generation men have staked their lives, their families, and the existence of the human race on this faith in God. (Hebrews 11) God as the Creator is the single important most concept upon which the rest of the scriptures hinge upon. The apostle John wrote concerning Jesus that, “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). The word beginning refers to the creation event, thus reinforces that (1) Jesus existed prior to creation, (2) Jesus is God, and therefore God existed prior to creation. We know this because the following verse tells us the all things were made by him (Jesus, God). We must believe that God is, and that the events he has let us know concerning creation are true. Without this basis we cannot proceed in faith. If God lied about the events, timing, or sequence of creation, then we cannot trust anything else that God reveals about himself in the scriptures. (Psalm 33:4; Psalm 56:4; 2 Timothy 3:16; John 8:32; John 17:17; Revelation 21:5) Our faith would be in vain. But God has provided this record for us, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4), this is so that we can take comfort in what he has promised, and look forward to his fulfillment of his promises. We can look forward in hope to the resurrection of life in Jesus Christ, because it is this same God who has ordained it. This God, who created the entire universe has always cared for his creation, and always will.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
The beginning is not a reference to eternity. This beginning is a reference to the creation of the universe. This also gives us the establishment of time. Time gives us past present and a future. Without a reference in time we cannot know how things were established. There would be no order, and no frame to the events that God was soon to put in effect, in his creation. If there were no construct of time the meaning of days, years, or seasons would have no effect or purpose. We must also consider that the sequence of events was important and necessary to the design of creation, and that God thought it important enough to tell us of the sequence. This shows forethought and intelligence in the design and manner of creation. But this does something else. It tells us that before “time” began, God IS. This means before there was a universe, before there was time, space, matter and all the things that were needed to create life, let alone sustain it, God IS. He exists. One more thing to ponder, if there is a beginning, there must be an end. This shows that there is a completed plan of events that must transpire, and eventually there will be an end to the creation. This also means that time itself will end. God, however, will still exist-because he exists outside of time and creation. “Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?” (Isaiah 43:13)
God does not need anything to sustain him or to give him life. This is an extremely hard concept for us to fathom, because everything in our world and the universe needs something else to sustain it. Nothing is self-sustaining in all of creation. We have no way to comprehend how something could have always been in existence, or how it is self-sustaining. We are like a fish in an aquarium we have no reference for anything outside of the aquarium’s environment. The fish can look at everything in the aquarium. The fish, if it were capable, could know that everything it needs to live is present. It gets food, oxygen, the water is cleaned, and his environment never runs out of water. The fish can see in everything around it the care of the owner of the aquarium, but it cannot grasp the concept that there is another whole world outside the aquarium. The fish has no comprehension of how the aquarium was put together to give it life. The fish is born into the aquarium, and therefore has no reference of the age of the owner of the aquarium. It does not know how the owner came into existence and it cannot comprehend such a concept that the owner has always been there, even before the fish was brought into the aquarium. This is the way man is with God.

We have no frame of reference available to us to understand how God could have always been in existence. Since we cannot know this, Genesis starts off with a simple assumption, God does exist. Instead of explaining God right off, Genesis explains how everything was brought into existence by God, and the rest of the scriptures reveal God to us gradually, so that we can come to know the Creator. It is like any other relationship we encounter. No one ever meets someone and immediately receives a dissertation on who they are or where they come from with follow up questions and evidentiary procedure motions after that. Nor do we immediately know what there likes and dislikes are, and so on. Instead we learn intimate details of someone over time from spending time with them and having mutual experiences with them. We learn about who someone is by seeing them in life events and watching how they handle those events. How someone handles both good and bad events can reveal a lot about them. This is how we learn about the Creator, in the study of scripture, study of his creation, and in time spent in prayer and worship. We enter a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, and learn of him as we spend time with him. Therefore, God, who has always existed, decided to create. This first verse tells us where space, time, matter, and energy all came from.

God created. (John 1:3). God created the heaven and the earth. First is it important to understand that this verse clearly shows that God is separate from his creation. I mention this to directly dispel the belief of pantheism. Pantheism is a belief that the culmination of the universe and everything in it is
God.

We see in the first two chapters of Genesis that:

(1) God existed first,

(2) God created,

(3) everything God created was good.

This would also dispel polytheism, because there is only one God who made everything. It would also dispel the eastern philosophies that give root to a good and bad mutual relationship of interaction in the universe like yin-and-yang, or karma. God and the universe are exclusive, and separate from one another. The universe was created by God, for God. Consider the following verses concerning God’s existence as separate from his creation:
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 90:2)
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. (Psalm 33:6)
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)
It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name. (Amos 9:6)
In Genesis 1:1 the word heaven is singular and references space. At this time God spoke the physical universe into existence. Space gives us three dimensions: length, height, and width. This is important because there must be a place created in which everything could be placed. In computer programming this is called a container. We could also look at it like this, you need a pot to make a soup in. Without the space in the pot, you could not put all of the ingredients together to make the soup. This is what the creation of space did, it make a place to put all of the ingredients needed to make the creation event possible. The word earth is a reference to the creation of matter. Matter also had three dimensions: liquid, solid, and gas. We now have a container that has something in it. The matter in its raw state was uninhabitable. Even at this stage though we now have established the basic building blocks of life. We also have a suitable environment that life can be created in. There is also the construct of time through which project benchmarks can be measured. Even at this stage there is evidence of an intelligent design. This is the same intelligence of design that is used in boardrooms by project managers, engineers, and military strategists all over the world today. We have a timeline and a project board, and ingredients and a place to prepare them.

Here is what Isaiah has to say concerning creation:

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (Isaiah 40:12)

I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. (Isaiah 45:12)

Since God created the universe this makes him the Creator. Seems simple enough. As the Creator he has absolute authority over his creation. He directs the creative process. He establishes the boundaries. God engineers the dependencies and sets the foundation. He establishes the rules, rewards, and even the punishments. He manages the workflow and is responsible to provide everything necessary for the project completion. He answers to no one, including his creation. (Job 37:14-16). Since he has complete autonomy over his creation, he is under no obligation to explain anything. Furthermore, his creation has no authority to demand an explanation if one is not forthcoming. It is arrogance for the creature to look to the creator and either deny he exists, or to tell him that the manor of which he created, makes no sense. Lucky for us, God wants us to know who he is, and has supplied the answers we need in scripture and in creation itself. (Job 12:7-10; Psalm 19:1; Psalm 96:11-12; Isaiah 43:20; Romans 1:20) What then can we learn about God in his act of creation as revealed in the scriptures?
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

Before we move forward in this verse, we must discuss the white space between verse one and verse two. This is referred to as the Gap Theory. The gap theory suggests that there is a very large time interval that takes place between the two verses. This theory is referred to as Theistic Evolution. This is considered by some theologians to explain the claim of evolutionist, that the earth is billions of years old instead of the thousands of years of age that the genealogies within the bible place the age of the earth. This theory tries to give time for the gradual crawl of creation out of the primordial soup, and crawling to the land and eventually forming animals which through billions of years. This is saying that God created man through the process of evolution. Now to further explain, this theory tells of a preexisting time period in which there was life on the earth, and then the earth was flooded and made formless and void. This is commonly referred to as the Luciferian flood. After this period, God decided, he would re-vamp his creation to creation 2.0, a much-improved version of creation. At first it may seem logical and appear to fit science and the Genesis account together rather nicely. Many Christians do adapt to this theology because it does seem to match the science with the theology and Genesis. I myself when I was a new Christian also thought that this might be a possibility when I heard other older Christians speaking to this theory. This is however; a heretical doctrine which compromises the Christian’s faith. Once I began to really study the science and the Scripture, I began to realize that either evolution or creation had to be correct. The truth is you either must take God at his word and believe on him in faith or call him a liar and be honest with yourself, that you have no faith in him. Here is somethings to consider; if this Christian-Evolution doctrine were true then why wasn’t the Luciferian flood recorded or even referenced, in the Scriptures, like the flood of Noah? If God cared so much to give us the sequence of events, why leave out such an important detail?

Scripture makes references to a flood in the time period of Noah and his family, but not to a previous flood. (1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:4-5). There are several cultures that have differing stories of a great world-wide flood, in which the gods saved one man, and his family in a boat. But no ancient civilization tells of another world that existed prior to this one, or that it was wiped out twice. Peter tells us, “All things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:5-6) Peter’s reference here is clearly to the very beginning, when time began. In fact, he could have easily said, since the beginning of time, everything functions the same-nothing has changed since the creation. The sun, the moon, the stars, people’s attitudes and manners, are all the same since they were created. This statement, by the way, says that there has been no evolution from one species to another. (Genesis 1:26-27; 5-10) A literal reading of the scripture suggests a continuation of thought from verse one to verse two to verse three. Before we move on there is something else to consider with this theory – Death. 1 Corinthians 15:21 says, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.” The scripture goes on to specify that it was Adam who brought death into the world through sin. (1 Corinthians 15:22). That means there could not have been death prior to the creation of Adam.

If we do not believe the first two chapters in Genesis, then we cannot believe anything else in scripture. Is God a liar? “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (Romans 3:4). It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:17) Now, true science and true scripture will actually line up and support one another. God himself tells us to look to nature to see his handiwork. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”(Romans 1:20) Science changes as they gather more information and gain greater understanding of the laws of nature, mathematics, energy, and even the mysteries of the universe in space. Proof of this is easy to see by comparing textbooks over time. For instance the original concepts of geological layering supported a young earth model, one of only 6-7 thousand years of age. Then later the geological layering was reported to have reflected, hundreds of thousands, and even billions of years. Now there are openly conflicting views of how old the earth is and how reliable the data actually is. This is largely because, everyone is just guessing. They make estimates in order to back up their own point of view. More scientist have openly put their reputations on the line, by reporting that Darwinism is an unprovable hypothesis. Harold Urey is quoted as stating, “All of us who study the origin of life find that the more we look into it, the more we feel that it is too complex to have evolved anywhere. We believe as an article of faith that life evolved from dead matter on this planet. It is just that its complexity is so great, it is hard for us to imagine that it did.” Geologist dispute the old earth age theory based on the Geological Column pointed out that it is more likely a cataclysmic event that cause the layering, much like the one recorded in the Bible concerning the Noetic flood.

The earth was without form and void. Some have translated the word was as the word became. Although in Hebrew the word may mean became as in Chapter 19 verse 26, the construction of the clause does not support such a consecutive statement describing something that happened subsequent to verse one but rather describe something included in verse one. In other words, the initial creation was formless and empty, a condition soon remedied. The phrase means that at this point in God’s creation activity the earth was yet unfastened an uninhabitable. What is important to see in verse two is that God moved. You see this is showing the sovereignty of God. He is taking divine action. We see here the Holy Spirit of God moving on the waters. This is a glimpse of the Triune God head. This is an amazing revelation of God. Right from the beginning God shows us that there is the Father, then he shows the Holy Spirit, next he reveals the Word. (Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; 1 John 5:7; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 48:16)
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

This brings us to another revelation-God speaks. God is a God who communicates with his creation. God begins his very creation by speaking things into existence. This becomes the model of God as he unveils himself to his creation. Throughout the whole Bible God is talking and desiring to be heard. More importantly he speaks not only in signs and miracles, but in manners that we as his creation can understand. He uses written language, thundering voices, dreams and visions, and even still whispers. But this verse also reveals something else about God. God is a God of light.

God said, let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3) at this time there was no sun or stars or moon. This is an important part of the verse that gives us a truth concerning the Almighty God that we will see reemphasized in Scripture repeatedly. 1 John 1:5 tells us, “this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” I think that it is comforting to see that the Lord started creation by shedding light. I can picture a craftsman getting ready to make a great piece of furniture or a great wood carving. He goes out to his shop, he opens the door and stops staring into the blackness of the work area. He then reached in sliding his hand along the inner wall. His searching fingers finally find the switch. Then he flicks the light switch, and the darkness is driven from the room. Now, he can begin his project. I know, God didn’t really need the light to work. But this is an indicator of who he is. He is light. This gives a great meaning to what Peter says, “but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9) so here in the very beginning we see a truth concerning God, that he is light and desires for us to walk in light so that we could be with him. When God said let there be light, he was revealing himself to his creation.

Evidence of God’s participation in creation is mentioned several times in this first chapter of Genesis. In the first chapter various phrases are used that show the authority of God and the power of his word. The use of these phrases demonstrates the intimacy of God and his act of creation. “God said” is used 10 times in the first six days of creation. “God called” is used three times and first six days of creation. “God made” and “he made” are used five times in the first chapter of Genesis. “God created” is used three times in the first chapter of Genesis. Other phrases used in the first six days include; “God saw”, “God blessed”, and “God set”. If you notice the phrase God called, this is an act of naming and is evidence of Lordship or ownership. The phrase God set, shows us that God established limits and boundaries to creation. One of these would be detailed in verse 11 where God says, “after his kind” thus establishing fixed boundaries beyond which reproductive variations cannot go.

We see these things happen in the first chapter of Genesis:
• Day 1 God Said = Light (v.3)
• Day 2 God Said = Firmament (v.6)
• Day3 God Said = Dry Land/ Grass/ Herbs/Fruit (vv.9,11)
• Day4 God Said = Sun/ Moon/ Stars (v.14)
• Day5 God Said = Fish / Fowl (vv.20,21)
• Day 6 God Said = Living Creatures/ Beasts/ Man (vv.24,26)
Let us take a closer look at what scripture says concerning these portions of creation.

What is a Day? When we consider what the author of Genesis is speaking of in a day, we must understand that Genesis is considered to be a historical book. Many of the places, events, and individuals recorded in the Genesis accounts have been located and verified through many archeological sites. Many of the major events recorded in Genesis, to include the flood of Noah, have been recorded in other ancient religions and traditions from around the world. So when we examine this crucial point of what a day is in Genesis 1, we need to do so from the context of the surrounding scripture. The Hebrew word used for “day” in Genesis 1 is Yom. The word Yom does have different meanings available to it depending on the context of its use. It can denote:

(1) the period of light (as contrasted with the period of darkness);

(2) the period of twenty-four hours, which is used over 400 times in the Old Testament;

(3) a general vague “time;”

(4) a point of time;

(5) a year (in the plural; 1 Sam. 27:7; Exod. 13:10, etc.).

Being that the mention of each day covered in the creation dialogue says, “the evening and the morning were” (Genesis 1:5,8,13,19, 23,31), we can easily do away with explanation (1) of Yom meaning the period of light in a day (daylight). The meanings of (3), (4), and (5) are commonly grouped together under the allegorical or figurative theology. This means that in some way or another these three show up in an attempt to add time to the length of a day. This is an attempt to show that the time period used in creation was not a short time period, but that God did each phase of creation over longer “representative” days (periods).
Great periods of time or phases for the term day was not intended by the Moses (the author of Genesis), nor God. In addition, basic science tells us that there are certain things needed to create and sustain life. None of which could have been able to develop on its own, and sustain itself over billions of years while the support structure slowly evolved. It is a scientific impossibility. For example, plants could not have existed without the sun. We know according to Genesis that God created the plants on day three, but the sun on day four. So how could the plants have survived for 1000-2000 years, much less billions of years without the sun to initiate photosynthesis? A geological period of time assigned to each day is not likely.

24 hour day (literal) – The phrase, “evening and the morning”, indicates that these are literal days. The use of this phrase is repeated 61 times in the Old Testament, and always refers to a 24-hour sequence in time. Science has shown that life can exist where there is no light.
“So what about life that does not depend on the Sun to survive? Deep in the ocean, there are some autotrophs that use energy from the Earth’s hot core to make their food. The only examples I know about are bacteria that live near hydrothermal vents (jets of hot water coming from deeper in the Earth). These bacteria use chemicals like methane and hydrogen sulfide and the energy from hydrothermal vents to make their food. We call this process chemosynthesis (which roughly means “making things [food] from chemicals”). Other life forms can eat these bacteria and also survive without sunlight. The only examples I know about are called giant tube worms, riftia pachyptila. Scientists only discovered these strange chemosynthetic bacteria in 1977. Now we know that life can exist without sunlight, but there are still a lot of things that we don’t know about how it works. I would definitely say that humans need the Sun to survive, and we probably always will.”
“Plants and some microbes use the energy from the sun to perform photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, light energy is used to combine CO2 in the air with water to make sugars and oxygen. Any organism that doesn’t perform photosynthesis usually eats an organism that does to indirectly get the energy from the sun. However, there are living things very deep in the ocean near deep sea vents that do not need the sun to survive. They are so far down in the ocean that no sunlight reaches them and they get all of their energy from chemical dissolved in the water near the vents. Also the very first organisms that ever existed didn’t use photosynthesis and got their energy from chemicals like deep sea vent organisms. In different sense, every organism needs the heat provided by the sun because then the entire Earth would be too cold for any life to exist. So not every organism needs the energy of the sun for food, but all living things need the heat of the sun to survive.”

This recent discovery is not only essential for the establishment of a day not depending on the sunlight, but also because according to Genesis the Sun was not created until Day Four. The cycle of light and darkness upon the face of the earth does not define what a day is in the solar system. The rotation of the earth is what determines the 24hours of a period we call a day. We will address these by making the argument in support of meaning (2), the day is meant as a 24-hour cycle. Once the literal 24 hour meaning of the Yom is removed from the translation then all types of other timeframes and events in the Bible become questionable. These event of coarse would include, (1) was Adam created as a man or an ape? (2) Is the fall of man an actual event, or metaphoric? (2) If Adam was not a real man, then was Jesus? (3) Was death the result of sin or not? (4) Is there a need for a redeemer? (5) Is there an afterlife? (6) Do we need to have a moral law, or any law? Thank the Lord we can have confirmation in the context of the text immediately surrounding the word Yom, and in other scriptures and events. We also have witnesses and confirmation of others closer to the source, and the original author’s support documented.

The Hebrew word Yom is used 2,303 times in the Old Testament, of those Yom is used 1452 times in the singular. In Genesis 1 the predominant use of the word Yom is in the singular-referring to a 24- hour day. This is attested to the fact that the mentions of Yom in Genesis one are associated with a number. There is a sequence of numbers used here and there is no skipping around. When Yom is used in other places in the Bible with a number, it is used as a 24- hour sequence. The Pharisees in time of the gospel events held to this position that the days in Genesis were literally 24 hour days.

Moses believed in the literal 7 days of creation. The 10 Commandments, in establishing the Law of the Sabbath, refers back to Genesis 1:1-2:3. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11) This gives us the basis for our seven-day week. Or did God mistakenly say the wrong thing over and over when he was talking about how long the creation even took? When the information concerning genealogy records in Genesis chapters 5-10 are put together we can literally count backwards to the time that Adam was on the earth, and thus to the beginning of creation itself. Adam was 130 years old when he had Seth. Seth has Enosh when he was 105 years of age. At age 90 Enoch had his son Cainan. Cainan had Mahalalel when he was 70 years old. Mahalalel was 65 when he had Jared. Jared waited until he was 162 years old to have his son Enoch. Enoch was at the age of 65 when his son Methuselah was given birth to. Methuselah was 187 when he received his son Lamech. Lamech was 182 and had a son we are all familiar with, his name was NOAH. Noah had his sons starting when he was 500 years old. It is estimated by the texts that from Adam to Jesus was approximately 4000-5000 years, since Jesus’ resurrection it has been approximately 2000 years. These dates vary depending on the text, however in the matter of billions of years verses thousands they are close enough for the argument.

This historical record establishes the fact that the age of the earth is measured in thousands of years and not billions. Burt Lockwood wrote,
One needs to only examine historical records to know that we have pretty complete records for civilizations that existed down to the village and town (tribe) level up to 6 or 7 thousand years ago, and none earlier than that. Who wrote the history of 120,000 BC for example? Obviously, no one. Yet according to one scheme of man’s history, homonids (a primate of a family that includes humans and their fossil ancestors) no different than modern man existed up to 2 or 3 million years ago, and these “men and women” not physically different from us were not able to start recording history until 6 thousand years ago. Or could it be that history started 6 thousand years ago because that is when God created the universe and Adam and Eve? I leave that to your scholarship and wisdom to decide. Since Adam was created “very good,” I doubt he lacked in intelligence or ingenuity, and he lived much longer than any of us do today; so, he had plenty of time to figure out a written code. Even the native American Indians, who supposedly did not write, used colored beads (wampum) to record their histories, a method of code no longer available today, long lost.

If there were large geological periods then God would still be resting, but God is not resting. We know this because of his continued work in sustaining his creation. (Psalm 36:6; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17; 2 Peter 3:7) God does not need to rest, he rested to provide model for us, to give us time to reflect on his creation, as a testimony to his authority and his majesty. Isaiah wrote, “Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31) God has given us a time of renewal in the Sabbath. This is a foretaste of the final rest we will receive when we have completed our kingdom work here on earth and joined him in his full presence in his kingdom.

Science itself has begun to dispute the old-earth view of the planet. The use of Carbon dating that was once used as a scientific tool to support an older earth has run into some issues. Not in the science of carbon dating, but in the presence of carbon in the fossil records. Carbon 14 has a theoretical longevity of 100,000 years. Anything older than that should not possess readable amounts of Carbon 14. The problem is that there has been numerous fossils and non-fossil findings from the Precambrian era that have Carbon 14. The Precambrian Era compasses all of the geologic time prior to 600 million years ago.

Paul Giem wrote in an article for Geoscience Research Institute:
It is interesting to follow the implications of the data further. Since it is believable that most fossil carbon has roughly the same 14C/C ratio, it is reasonable to conclude that all this carbon was in the biosphere at approximately the same time. In that case, since most, if not all, fossil carbon was deposited by water, the data suggest a flood of massive proportions, and that the biblical account has to be taken seriously. If the difference between fossil carbon and Precambrian carbon is approximately 0.05 pmc, and we assume that 0.05 pmc is the true level of residual carbon-14 in pre-Flood fossil carbon, then the first simplistic approximation to the time of burial of fossil carbon is 19,000 years ago. A reasonable upper limit for the time of burial is 25,000 years ago, and with favorable assumptions regarding the pre-burial 14C/C ratio, a time of burial as recent as 4,300 years ago (the traditional Masoretic date for the Flood) is not unreasonable from these considerations alone.
What this ongoing research seems to imply, is that the commonly accepted theories of evolution based of the current dating methods of using Fossil records, and the Geological Column are flawed. Either Carbon 14 dating cannot be trusted, do to error, contamination of subject material, or the assumptions of the Geological Column are inaccurate. This means the dating of fossils are in accurate also. This is because fossils found in certain layers of the Geological Column are given an assumed age according to the layer of the column they are found in. Amazingly enough that is also how the layer is aged also. The layers age is based on an assumption of what is found in the layer. We suppose that a layer is of a certain time frame because of the fossils found within it based on a chart that makes basic assumptions, needed to support the theory of evolution. The fossil and geological charts are both theoretical charts that are based on one another’s theory. The Carbon 14 dating based on those charts would also be proving inaccurate data, and in some cases the data would be conflicting. Even if we did assume that the layering of the earths surface (Geological Column) was indeed a method of measuring time, and that fossils that are found in a particular layer depicted when they animal or plant life died we would still have to come to grips with the fossils of sea animals found on the tops of mountains. In addition, thee are whole time periods in the Geological Column that are in reverse order and that are missing from wide areas of the globe. This would mean billions of years of discrepancy across the planets Geological Column. How then can we determine with any scientific accuracy which timeline to use? It seems more likely that a catastrophic event, like a world wide flood would have cause the rapid layering, and mixture of the fossil records. This would then be further evidence of the validity of the scripture by proving the Noahtic flood (2348 BC) did indeed happen as relayed in Genesis 6:9-9:17. Here is what the book of Psalms 104:3-9 explains on the flood.
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
Genesis claims that all human life on earth came from two people, Adam and Eve, as a divine act of God. When God created man, he made man distinct from all of the other creatures. (Genesis 1:26-27) The Apostle Paul tells us, “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.” (1 Corinthians 15:39) and Genesis 2:7 it shows us that Adam and Eve were created in a very intimate way. “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) when we take this information and look back at chapter 1, where, the scripture shows that on the sixth day God created the beast and the animals.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.(Genesis 1:24-28)

This scripture shows a separate entry of God creating man as a separate creation from the rest of the animals. This shows the distinction between man and beast, and man distinction from the other animals in creation. Between these two references we can see that man was not formed from any other animal. But he was formed as a separate being, man was formed by the hands of God, and this formation was from the dust on the ground, not from another animal. It also immediately gives man a purpose in existence. Man is to have dominion over the earth and every living thing. Man was created and given lordship from the very beginning. This is demonstrated later when God brings all the creatures of the earth to be named by Adam. This is the same exercise of dominion and authority we mentioned previously concerning God in the creation when he set boundaries and named things. Even so in the scripture it says, “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” (Genesis 2:19) So Adam had the authority to name, and whatever he named it, it was called that from then on.

This means that the creation of man was not an evolutionary process that took millions of years to complete, or employed a random development of thousands of increasingly complex organisms to reach our present state. We can also look at Genesis chapter 2 verse 23, “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 man.” (Genesis 2:23) This little verse tells us that he did not have a mother. It also tells us that God and Adam were in communion, because, it is clear that, God informed Adam of how Eve was created. In verse 21 of the same chapter it tells us that Eve was created after God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. While Adam slept the Lord God took one of Adam’s ribs close up his flesh and created Eve from that rib. This tells us that Man and Woman are each distinct and interdependent on one another. Man is made for Woman, and Woman is made for Man. Adam declared, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)

Man is different from all other animals in many ways. Man has the ability to think in analytical terms. This means that man has a superior reasoning capability, we have the ability to discover how things work. This gives us a unique avenue available for us to study the creation event unlike no other animal can. We can discover the intelligence needed to create such a wonderful place like the earth, and the universe. Man has the ability to communicate on many different levels. Man can not only speak and communicate in many different languages and symbols, but we have the ability to learn and create new languages, and methods of communication.

We have the ability to design methods of communication that can talk to satellites that are at edge of our galaxy. Another form of communication we have is the ability to record and pass down historical events, like those recorded in Genesis. We communicate our impressions, and feelings through art, music, and liturgy. Mankind is the only creature that buries its dead. Man is the only creature that has a moral compass. Man is the only one who can know what is right from wrong, and good from evil. (Genesis 2:17) Having this ability gives us another uniqueness – since we have a moral code -the Creator can punish us for choosing to do what we know is wrong. However; there is something wondrous in this also, man alone had the ability to know God for who he is, and worship him in spirit and in truth. We have the ability to love God for who he is, our magnificent creator.

Jeremiah 10:12 says, “He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” When we look at all the sophistication of creation, with all the components that are necessary to create life, and the dependencies required to sustain it, we must understand that it took intelligence and great understanding in order to put in place the environment in which we live. God is the only power in or out of the universe they could have provided the energy necessary for the creation event. In his wisdom, he established the laws of physics, the laws of energy, the laws of time and space, and the laws of thermodynamics. In these unseen things, we can clearly see that there is one Creator, nothing happened by chance, and when the creation first made it was very good. (Genesis 1:31).

In Scripture we can see the God created the universe and man, and Israel, and the church to reveal his glory. Isaiah 43:7 tells us that everyone that is called by his name (speaking of the Lord) was created for him and his glory that were made by him and for him. The apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Colossians, “for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:” (Colossians 1:16). The psalmist David in Psalm 19 tells us the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. He goes even further to tell us that all creation speaks in unknown language and shows its knowledge through all the earth concerning the creator our Lord God. This means, if we look and use true science, we can see the signs and we can read the language that all creation itself is declaring that God is its creator and gives him glory. We must understand that God did not need to create us, in order to make himself complete. God simply is. He whole in himself. Rather God created us to demonstrate his excellence. Creation shows us his great wisdom and power and ultimately it shows us his mercy and his lovingkindness in Jesus Christ. God created the universe simply to take delight in his creation. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16-17)

Much like a modeler creates a model just to see the finished work. He enjoys the work of his hands. We can also look at this way, a composer must compose because it is in his nature to do so. God created the universe to fulfill his own expectations. And God said the creation was good, then we can logically see that when God finished the creation it was complete, and it was good; everything was functioning as it should. So God took delight in it, and rested. “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.” (Genesis 2:2-3)

Bibliography
26 May 2016. 14 August 2019. http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=5412.
Edgeworth, Dr. Arv. Dismantling Evolution Made Easy – A Simple Guide for taking Evolution apart, piece by piece. Unk, 2008. PDF. 13 August 2019.
Gawne, Richard. American Institute of Biological Sciences. Vers. Volume 65, Issue 11, Pages 1077-1083. 30 September 2015. Internet. 20 August 2019. https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/65/11/1077/374311.
Giem, Paul A. Origins. 1 Jan 2001. Internet. 29 Jul 2019. https://www.grisda.org/origins-51006.
Jr, Gleason L. Archer. “Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.” Harris, R. Laird. Moody Press, 2003. 29 July 2019.
Lockwood, Burt. The Fulness of Time. 14 February 2017. Web. 9 August 2019. http://www.blogos.org/exploringtheword/adam-Jesus-timeline.php.
Patterson, Roger. Chapter 6 Grological Column. 20 January 2011. 21 August 2019. https://answersingenesis.org/geology/geologic-time-scale/geologic-column/.
Staff. Age of Earth. 2014. 9 August 2019. https://genesisapologetics.com/faqs/age-of-the-earth-does-the-bible-really-say-that-god-created-everything-in-six-days-just-6000-years-ago/.
Urey, Harold C. Christian Science Monitor 4 January 1962: 4. Magazine.

Wake Up Christians in America

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The Christian Post reported on a study that was released by Gordon-Conwell’s Center for the Study of Global Christianity; which said,that over 900,000 Christians were Martyred for their faith in the last 10 years. This plays out to an average of one Christian being martyred every 4-6 minutes. In America we would like to think that the martyrdom of the saints is a thing of ancient past.

We have books in our bookshelf that give descriptions of the early church and other time periods where Christians were martyred, sometimes by other christian sects. We pull the book down and haphazardly read an account and say, wow, I would have stood up just like that Christian. We then pat ourselves on the back, because we are such a good christian and then put the book back on the shelf, and sit into our lazy chair to watch some comedian on TV made fun of Christians or God. In truth, persecution of Christians world wide is higher than it has ever been.

In the 20th and 21st Centuries, more Christians were martyred than any other time in history. That means that more Christians have died, for their faith, in the last 118 years than in the preceding 19 Centuries. The numbers are growing, while we sit and grow fat. We bury our heads in the sand and tell ourselves it does not concern us. Yet this relentless murder of Christians is pandemic of the entire world, including in America, where violent and legal attacks are carried out on a routine basis against Christians. NE News Now reported that across the globe there are more than 200 million Christians that are threatened because of their faith. This is a consensus revealed in 105 of the 190 nations in the world.

All of this goes on while,in American church, we have watered down gospel. A gospel that actually is not the gospel is preached instead. We have become a nation of Christians who have ears that itch to have pleasing self-centered, even devilish doctrines entreated to us. World know preachers of mega churches go on interview after interview and openly proclaim that they do not teach the gospel, because there is no money in it. Instead, the church in America had been inundated with a “name it and claim it” gospel. Sin and consequences are not discussed in the pulpit. American churches have desecrated themselves before God and man, and no longer stand for the truth. Instead of confronting sexual immortality, and infant murder, they welcome it into their churches and in some- even ordain that which should be expelled.

Self-help and the way to financial happiness have become the mantra of the mainstream American church. We are so absorbed and praying for that new house, or new car, or other ways of pleasing our own covetous desires that we have left God out or our churches, schools, business, legislation, families, and our own hearts. We no longer care to reach the lost, instead we try not to offend them and try to act like them, to show how accepting we are. We have lost the love that gives us the need to be objective and warn the lost that they will die in their sin without accepting the truth of Jesus. We have become the ones that the Lord said, “In that day, I will say, depart from me for I never knew you.”

You know how I know this? Take a look at John 15:18-27.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.He that hateth me hateth my Father also.If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

Here Jesus says that the world will hate you. We can expect this because it hates Jesus. A young Pakistani Christian invited some friends and family to his home after he was converted from Islam to Christianity. He showed them the Jesus movie. They told him that if he didn’t stop showing that movie he would be killed. He continued his mission, and invited another small group to his home and showed them the Jesus movie. Two nights later, a group of men stole into his home and cut him to pieces. Stabbing this young Christian to death because of his love for Jesus.

Jesus said that if you were of the world the would would love it’s own. But because you are of the Kingdom of Heaven, the world doesn’t know you. Because they do not know you, they hate you. You are reminder to them of sin that they are guilty of. You are a reminder that there is a just and righteous God who will judge sin, and who will destroy all who live in sin. They hate you because you have spoken to them and revealed sin. This is the same reason they hated Jesus.

But Jesus said that he has sent us a comforter, the Holy Spirit. Who indwells all who believe. The Spirit of God in Christ is who gives us the ability and courage to speak the truth. We, who believe, are not concerned with these worldly issues. Who cares who said what? Who cares about that new car, or new house? We are not of this world. We are just passing through while on mission. We are missionaries of Jesus, each one of us. We are here to do exactly what Jesus did, bear witness to the truth. We are here to tell the whole truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are here to expose the lie of the false teachers and false prophets who teach that God will give you a new boat if you just pray hard enough or give enough money to their false religion. We are here to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. People are dying for Christ. However, allot more are dying without Christ. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). Maybe we need to stand up, before there are none of us left to bring the message.

Ref:

https://www.christianpost.com/news/over-900000-christians-martyred-for-their-faith-in-last-10-years-report.html

https://onenewsnow.com/persecution/2015/09/20/every-5-minutes-a-christian-is-martyred

https://www.christianpost.com/voice/christians-massacred-call-to-grieve.html

https://www.christianpost.com/news/nigeria-christians-slaughtered-by-fulani-militants-at-baby-dedication-children-among-the-dead.html