The Story of Creation

The earth, creation

Have you ever looked around you and wondered how everything began? There are many animals, birds, trees, and plants on the earth. Where did they come from? Have they always been here? What about man? Look at yourself and see how your body works. You use your eyes to see, your ears to hear, and your feet and hands help you do things and go places you want to go. Did all of these things just happen, or were they made by someone?

Creation desert sky mountain

The answers to these questions are found in the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible tells us about the creation of the world. The first verse in the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Before the earth was created, God was already present. God has always been; He has no beginning or end.

Complete text of: The Story of Creation

The first chapter of Genesis teaches us that God created the world and all that is in it in six days.

On the first day God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He separated the light from the darkness and called them day and night.

On the second day He made the sky.

Creation lake trees turtle

On the third day He separated the land from the waters and called them earth and seas. He made grasses, plants, and trees and designed them to produce seed to grow more plants and trees just like themselves.

Creation flower plants hummingbird

On the fourth day God created two great lights. The sun is the greater light to rule the day and the moon is the lesser one to rule the night. Because of them we have days, months, and years. He also made all the stars.

On the fifth day God made the birds and fish.

On the sixth day He made all the animals that walk and crawl on the earth, and He designed them to reproduce others like themselves. Because He designed it this way, there is a cycle of life. As the old die, there are more to replace them.

Creation water trees birds

On the sixth day God also created man in his own image, forming him from the dust of the earth. He knew the man would need someone to help him, so He took a rib from the man and made a woman. God told them to multiply and fill the earth with people and to have dominion over all that He had made.

After God completed the creation, He saw that it was very good.

God created the earth to be a home for man, and man is meant to worship and honor Him. He also created man to rule over and take care of his creation.

The Bible includes much more of the history of the world and man through the years, but this is the record of how it all started. God loves man more than we can ever comprehend, and He has made many wonderful things for us to enjoy. Holding a new baby, seeing a beautiful flower, or watching a sunset should cause us to think of God, the Father of all things. He wants you to honor Him with your life. He has power over everything, and He loves you and wants to be your Savior and friend.

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Are You Safe?

In the heart of every person there is a desire to be safe and secure. Little children are often afraid of being left alone. They also may fear the dark, or the unknown. Children crave the security of being held in the loving embrace of their parents. There they feel confident and protected. As we mature, the desire to be safe and secure never leaves us. This inborn desire was given to us by our Creator. While some men act fearless, in their hearts they may fear the unknown, suffering, accident, or sickness. They may also have an uneasy feeling about what might happen to them after death.

God is the creator of heaven and earth. Making man was the crowning act of his creation. He placed Adam and his wife Eve in a paradise home called the Garden of Eden. They were secure, happy, and free. Then Satan appeared in the form of a serpent and deceived them. Because of their disobedience to God, they fell out of fellowship with Him and were driven from Eden (Genesis 3).

What a drastic change! Before, Adam and Eve had been safe and without fear. They were at peace with their Creator, enjoying his presence. Now, instead of inner peace, there was unrest, guilt, and fear. They were even afraid of God and hid from Him! They had experienced spiritual death, which is separation from God. When fellowship with Him was broken through disobedience, there was deep distress in their hearts. Only fellowship with the living God can satisfy the soul.

Man’s inner conflict has also caused all manner of outward conflict, often resulting in murder or war. There has always been much strife on earth; one tribe quarrels with another, one nation strives to bring another nation under its rule. In these conflicts, one nation has always emerged victorious, only to weaken later and become subject to another nation. The prophet Daniel says, “That the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Daniel 4:17), and “He removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2:21).

The numerous, brazen acts of terrorism around the world have shaken the security of many people. These events have brought fear into many hearts and an uncertainty about the future.

Complete text of: Are You Safe?

We all hope that we can continue to live in safety and security. The success of a nation depends on God’s blessings. If men repent of their sinful lives and fear Him, He may choose to lengthen the days of that nation’s tranquility (Daniel 4:27). William Wilberforce, a former member of the British Parliament, said that his hope for Britain depended “not so much on her navies and armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the gospel of Christ, that their prayers may prevail.” The safety of a nation depends less upon its military might and more upon the prevalence of righteousness and the fear of God among its people.

Our personal safety is a separate matter. We can have an inner security that no earthly nation can offer. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (John 18:36). The kingdoms of this world are in God’s hands and will not endure forever. Our personal relationship with God is of a different dimension. When we are in God’s kingdom, we are in a kingdom that is not subject to the success or failure of any earthly nation. His kingdom is much more secure than any superpower. There we are safe, regardless of what happens to any nation. Kingdoms rise and fall, but Jesus promised that no man is able to pluck his children out of his Father’s hand (John 10:29).

According to Bible prophecy, “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse” (2 Timothy 3:13). The future offers no security. The strife and turmoil around the world may grow worse as eternity approaches. There is a day coming in which God has determined “that there should be time no longer” (Revelation 10:6). In 2 Peter 3:10 we read, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” The Holy Scriptures say that every knee shall bow, and that all men will be gathered before the throne of the almighty Judge. On that great Judgment Day, when “heaven and earth shall pass away” (Matthew 24:35), no earthly power will be able to give us safety. All people shall bow before the great King and be judged. No caves or fortresses will be able to protect those who seek refuge in them. All means of transportation will come to a halt. Man-made weapons will be useless. There will be no reassuring wail of sirens, no emergency or law-enforcement personnel rushing to our rescue. You and I will face the great Judge all alone. At that point, our only safety will be if our name is written in the Book of Life in heaven (Luke 10:20). Our names are written in this book when we repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ. He then forgives us and we are cleansed through his precious blood, which was shed on the cross that the whole world could be saved. We are then accepted as children of God.

God’s children are not exempt from sickness or suffering. They may even lose their lives, but they need not fear because they are safe in the arms of Jesus. Regardless of what happens to them, they can trust that even suffering is for their good (Romans 8:28).

Do you long for security? Do you have deep inner yearnings that you cannot satisfy? Although the soul longs for God, the sinful nature of man reaches for fleshly desires. Without the peace of God, a sinner is “like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (Isaiah 57:20). In this conflict, too many people follow the path of least resistance and make a decision by indecision. Finally, they slip from life into death and face a long eternity.

Real and lasting peace can only be found when we surrender mind, body, and spirit to the One who has made us and loves us. He is not only the Master of the world, but He knows our lives from the beginning to the end. He came into this world “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). He suffered and shed his precious blood so that we can have peace and security.

Do you feel the weight of sin in your heart? Do you worry about the future, or do you try to block it out of your mind? Are you burdened with more than you can bear? Do you desire to be safe and secure? Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). The Lord has a remedy for your sins. He is the great burden-bearer, and nothing is too difficult for Him. Acts 3:19 urges “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, promised, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end… And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11, 13).

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Evidence of Personal Salvation

Does the Bible give an answer to the often asked question whether or not a person can have an evidence of salvation? Can a person know if his sins are forgiven or not, or must he wait until Judgment Day to find out? It would be most unfortunate and risky to leave this most important question unsettled until then.

Yes, one may know, and the Lord wants us to be sure that we are saved. His invitation is “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world [sinners, everyone], that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It is true that by nature all have sinned and come short of doing the will of God.

Man needs a Savior in his unregenerate state. He is dead in sin and trespass, lost, and needs a Savior to save him. Our kind and merciful heavenly Father has provided salvation through Jesus Christ for all who avail themselves of his wonderful grace. He shed his blood and died on the cross a “propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2). It is necessary for a sinner to feel the need of cleansing and forgiveness of sins, imploring “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). In contrition he acknowledges his guilt and confesses his sins, first to God, and also makes proper restitution with men. He looks in faith to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus then forgives his sins.

God gives evidence of forgiveness of sins in various ways. Sometimes He says in plain words “thy sins are forgiven thee” (Luke 5:20). If our sins are forgiven us, we have peace with God. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). (Having been confirmed, baptized, or being a member of a church does not constitute a new birth). “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is born again (anew) as Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This is a spiritual birth. A natural birth produces a natural life, but a spiritual birth produces a spiritual life. Spiritual life is effected by being “born of water (the Word of God) and of the Spirit” (John 3:5).

A person born of the Spirit is risen from the dead (spiritual death) and seeks “those things which are above” (Colossians 3:1). “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

Complete text of: Evidence of Personal Salvation

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Their affections are set on things above and not on things on the earth. They will mortify (deaden) their members which are upon the earth: not be carnally minded nor follow the course and desires of nature. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16). The Spirit of God assures: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:16-17).

When “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5), we will be reaching out for heavenly things: loving and feeding on the Holy Scriptures and witnessing for our Lord.

This love from God reaches farther than natural love and family ties. It enables one to love his enemies and those who may hate him (Matthew 5:44).

The Lord Jesus taught when He commissioned his disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Converts, born again Christians, are to be received into the Church of God through water baptism by spiritually alive, called-of-God ministers. A prayer life naturally follows a Christian experience. Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath. Through prayer spiritual strength and vigor are replenished to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10); to be able to “hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11).

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