Though smoke often obscures our vision of the good life, still we have a sense of what life is supposed to be like. And the reason we know this is that God has created us in His image, created us with receptors that enable us to taste and long for the glory that once was. We have a longing for Eden, a longing for paradise, a longing for glory.
Gen 1-11 Part XIII – Glorious Companionship
June 29, 2014 inWhy does God suddenly judge that something he has created is “not good”? God created mankind in His image and God is not alone. In the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit live in an eternal fellowship of love and harmony; they live in community and companionship with one another.
Gen 1-11 Part XII – A Glorious Marriage
June 22, 2014 inMarriage was designed by God as a gift for human beings and is God’s norm for humanity. Consequently, God takes marriage very seriously.
Gen 1-11 Part XI – A Glorious Covenant
June 15, 2014 inMoses likely wrote Genesis as Israel was journeying to the Promised Land. He wanted them to understand what God had created them to be, to provide a vision for their future life in the Promised Land. Israel was, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, to enter into the garden of the Promised Land, to tend and keep it to the glory of God, to enjoy Sabbath rest and marriage and life by submitting themselves to the Word of God, to God’s commandments. Loyalty to God and to His Word would mean life. Disloyalty, rebellion, would mean death and judgment.
Gen 1-11 Part X – A Glorious Garden(er)
June 6, 2014 inWhat is the “knowledge of good and evil?” How did this knowledge show itself in the garden, and how does it appear in our day?
Gen 1-11 Part IX – A Glorious Day
June 1, 2014 inCelebration of a completed divine work is called “rest.” As an eternal, omnipotent being, God does not need to rest in a literal sense. But he does finish tasks, and the completion of his major tasks is important to him, a matter for celebration. (John Frame)
Gen 1-11 Part VIII – A Glorious Calling
May 25, 2014 inGenesis 1 & 2 outline a distinct vision of humanity’s glorious calling – the calling to be kings and priests to God. Peter captures this dual calling as kings and priests by calling us a “royal priesthood” – as those in Christ we are priests according to the order of Melchizedek; in other words, we are, like Jesus, kings and priests.
Gen 1-11 Part VII – A Glorious Humanity
May 18, 2014 inHow is it that we as human beings remind others of God? What is it about us that points to the glory of God?