“For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Hebrews 4:3
A supposed contradiction in scripture presented to this writer a few years ago goes like this: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. . .” contrasted with “Love not the world . . .” I John Are we to conclude then that the Bible is telling us to not love what God loves? That is contradictory. Well, think with me for a minute.
God created a cosmos (order of things). It was so perfect, so beautiful, so desirable from every viewpoint. Its zenith was manifest in Eden when the climax of creation (mankind) was made the federal head of it.
Willful transgression by the federal head, caused the entire cosmos to be cast down.
From that casting down, the Lamb slain was the plan of God to redeem it unto Himself. Rev.
13:8. Thus were the works finished from the foundation of the world (casting down of the cosmos). Hebrews 4:3.
Inasmuch as mankind was made from the earth, and installed as the federal head of it, all of creation became subject to his actions. When sin entered into mankind, it changed the then known and wonderful cosmos of peace and life into a cosmos operating on the laws of sin and death. Moreover, all of creation was subjected to that disastrous decision of man, and it groans, awaiting its liberation which will occur in the final liberation of the people of God in the resurrection and rapture heralding the beginning of a new age. Romans 8:19-23.
That being said, thoughts return to the supposed contradiction, and how these thoughts apply to it. God loves the work of His hands. When all the work was finished, He beheld it, and it was very good! Gen 1:31. It is then the purpose of God to redeem His work from the “cast down” state to the fullness of His plans for it during the millennium, and on to the ultimate goal in the heaven ages to follow.
It is the cosmos that God so loved, and that Jesus came to redeem. However the cosmos that the Bible commands us to not love is the present one of sin and death. It is destined to eternal removal from the presence of God. Of it, John wrote, “Love not the world (cosmos) neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15.
Alas, we are all in the cosmos and doomed with it except for the success of the second Adam, Christ Jesus. Being born from above and following Him involves one in a dimension of life unknown to the present cosmos. It is an earnest of the inheritance that is to come in all of its unspeakable joy, peace and beauty. As the decision of one man cast down the cosmos and all in it, so through repentance and faith in the work of one man, Jesus, one escapes the law of sin and death, and is admitted to the wonderful law of life in the redeemed cosmos!
FOR THOUGHT: The work of redeeming the cosmos and all the people of faith within it is long, but to God it is short. So soon this entire generation will be history. What will the future hold? It all depends on whether one chooses to trust in and follow the teachings of Christ here and now.
What has been your choice?
CREATION: A BIRTH FROM GOD!
“Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” Psalm 90:1-2. Thus does the Bible reaffirm creation as coming from God, but uniquely here as a birth from God. The term “brought forth” is in the ancient Hebrew language “Yalad” which means “to give birth to.” Think with me for a minute or two.
In the relentless search for human mastery, science has learned that all material is made up of atoms. But we must know what the basic building block of material is. So with progress, man achieved the splitting of the atom. It was found that all atoms are made up of neutrons, protons, and electrons. But these are not the most basic components of all material. It has been more recently discovered that these are made up of smaller building blocks called quarks. But the attempts to split a quark to see what it is made of has been unsuccessful to date. Men have made vaunted progress on most all fronts in these end-time days, but they still do not know what material really is. Incidentally, all of these components of material are themselves invisible to the human eye. So, just what is material anyway? The far reaches of science must limit itself to explaining it as quarks combined to make electrons, protons, and neutrons which combine to make atoms which combine to make all known material elements. So, if all material is made from the same components how is one material expression stone, another wood, another earth, etc. Puzzles can be fun.
How much easier it is for a man of faith to simply believe the Bible! Material, whatever its basic components, came directly from God Who describes these things as a birth from Him.
They express themselves in various different forms according to His command and direct will.
True science is defined as “systematized facts” and the fact remains that men will not produce anything factual that contradicts the Holy Word. One wonders just how many man hours and tax dollars could be saved if men would simply admit the component of faith into their lives!
FOR THOUGHT: If mankind came from earth as the Bible states, does that give new meaning to the phrase, “Mother Earth?” Have you stopped long enough to consider yourself more than the offspring of your physical parents? God is your Father by reason of creation and never dying spirit, but earth is your mother. So just what responsibilities do think to be incumbent from this?