Dear reader,

There are numerous conceptions of God in the world and many objects that men worship – virtually all of which are the product of man’s imagination and ingenuity.

However, there is but one God who has caused a record to be written stating how He brought us into the world, what He expects of his Creation, and what His plans are for the future, a God who is described in the Bible  as :

‘The high and lofty One that inhabits eternity whose name is Holy’ (Isaiah 57:15),  of whom Christ said  ‘ The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord the God with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength’ (Mark 12:29-30).

 It is in that inspired record that He has been pleased to reveal  Himself, His character and His nature; and it is on these Divine attributes that we wish to concentrate today.  God wishes to hear from us at all times, whether the way be hard or easy, but it is important that we approach Him in a way that is acceptable to Him, in order to obtain the comfort and assurance that only He can give. So, let us begin our consideration.

In an earlier article, as a means of understanding the Bible message, we made a simple exploration of the word ‘man’ from which we gained important information about ourselves and the reason why the Bible gives us cause to hope for the future- a hope that is nonetheless  conditional upon us taking certain actions.

Now, we turn our attention to discovering what the Bible tells about God himself and we do not need to search very far as the first line of the first book reads ‘In the beginning God…’. The God of the Bible has always been present and in humility we have to accept this fact, as the Psalmist declares

‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God’. (Psalm 90:2)

The early chapters of Genesis describe the immense power and wisdom that is His, for they show the logical way in which He set about ordering the earth, and creating firstly the animal kingdom, then man, that it might perfectly sustain life, everything being made ‘very good’ in the Divine estimation. That remains true today in many parts of the world – evidence that a great designer has been at work; but as wonderful and beautiful as the natural world is , a contemplation of this will take us no further in aiding our understanding of God himself; it is His word alone that will enlighten us .

At the beginning, man had a close relationship with his Maker, broken by man’s disobedience to God’s command, but it is clear from what is written, that despite this, God wants us to approach Him in the way He has appointed through Christ, but it has to be done in a reverent and respectful way, recognizing our own insignificance and mortality in His awesome presence. Also, He wishes us to have a correct understanding of His nature and attributes, but above all, we must believe in His existence as Hebrews 11 v 6 points  out ; ‘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’.

Over the centuries mankind has worshipped many so called ‘gods’, and this the Apostle Paul was at pains to point out to the men of Athens, recorded in Acts, when he saw the many idols the city contained. His powerful words that day gave the true situation as this extract  explains :

‘Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For, as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I  declare  to you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things;  and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find Him, though he be not far from any of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring’. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now  commandeth  all men everywhere to repent’.’ (Acts 17:23-30)

Now this is a long quotation , but it is very informative , for it stresses the unity of God; is confirmation of His creative works , and the reliance we each have on His sustaining provision, in recognition of which we should be thankful and desire to ‘feel after Him and find Him’ every day of our short lives. It calls on us to repent, that is, to turn away from erroneous ideas and forms of worship, and to find the one true God who alone can save us.  It is as Isaiah declares:

‘Before me there was no God formed, neither shall be after me’ .(Isaiah 43:10)

‘I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside me’. (Isaiah 45:4)

‘Look to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; I am God and there is none else’ (Isaiah 45:22).

Such consistent words are to be found throughout Scripture; let us take an example where He is described as :

‘The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honour and power everlasting’.  (1 Timothy 6:15-16)

He dwells in unapproachable light in the heavens, yet as Paul declared to the Athenians, He is not far from any of us through His power, and he desires us to know Him and serve him.  The Psalmist states :

‘The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy’ (Psalm 103:8).

He is merciful, but His mercy is conditional as the verses which follow show:

‘But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, ….. to such as keep His covenant , and to those that remember his commandments to do them’. (Psalm. 103:17-18)

It is clear that He loves righteous deeds, but hates iniquity for ‘the righteous Lord  loveth  righteousness (Psalm 11:7)  but  ‘… thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee’. (Psalm 5:4).

 We can readily appreciate that, as a God of love and mercy He must hate what He sees happening in today’s world just as He did in the days of Noah, as we can read in Genesis 6-8  when he regretted ever creating man. It is often said ‘If he is a God of love why does He allow such pain and suffering to exist? – using this as a reason not to believe in God. The Scriptures are able to answer such questions as we hope to show in a later article. Suffer it to say that He will not allow the present situation to continue indefinitely, and His purpose with this earth will be worked out in His good time.

For it is His intention that the earth shall one day be filled with His Glory as the waters cover the sea, and when that happens the earth will be a vastly different place to the chaos we see today, and it is to a place in this glorious future order that we are invited in His Word.

So, let us make every effort to find God, and approach Him in prayer using the model prayer Christ gave his disciples as the framework for our devotions.

‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy  Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
For thine is the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.’

Above all let us believe in Him, and His power to achieve whatever we ask if it is in accordance with His will.

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Dear Reader,

The Bible is a very impressive book that deals with many far reaching subjects, ranging from Creation, through the history of God’s dealings with the Jewish nation and the fortunes of countries that have impinged upon her over many centuries, to recording the lives of outstanding men and women, and particularly the life of Christ, and his amazing achievements while on earth. It is also a book of poetry and prophecy, telling us why great historical events have occurred and what the future holds for mankind.

Above all, as its words have been given by inspiration of God, it is a revelation from the Divine mind, telling us all we need to know about ourselves and the future of our earth. But, what is the best way for us to search out the wisdom it provides?  In humility we offer the following guidance.

Firstly, in our reading we should set aside pre-conceived ideas we may have, or gathered from others, and concentrate on what the Word actually says – using Scripture to interpret Scripture. As an aid to our studies a Concordance, Young’s or Strong’s, is a useful tool in helping us to find our way around the Bible quickly, and many Bibles have an abridged version at the back which can assist; using that, let us see what we can discover about a particular subject

Take ‘man’ for example. The first reference to man comes very early on in the Old Testament and in  we find this statement :-

⁷  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

That word ‘soul’ is the Hebrew ‘nephesh’ and our Concordance will show that it means ‘being or living creature’ – the term applied in Scripture to animals as well as to man. The man, Adam, was placed in the garden of Eden and given access to all it contained, bar one tree.

¹⁶  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.                           Genesis 2

Eve was formed out of man, and she persuaded Adam to disobey God by believing the words of a serpent given the power of speech. But, God certainly meant what He said and death resulted from their foolish action.

¹⁷  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; ¹⁸  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; ¹⁹  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.               Genesis 3

We can clearly see that death is a return to the dust of the ground from which he was formed. So, death entered into the world through disobedience to God, and this condition has passed to all living, as Paul declares:

¹²  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:      Romans 5

We all share Adam’s nature and are therefore under the same condemnation, as we are well aware.

Did the means of Adam’s creation give him any advantage over the rest of the animal kingdom?  We find the answer in Ecclesiastes:

¹⁹  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. ²⁰  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.                                     Ecclesiastes 3

So, is that the end of the matter?  Clearly, NO, for if we turn to 1 Corinthians  15:20-21 there we find this statement which gives us reason for  hope :

²⁰  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. ²¹  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.                                       1 Corinthians 15

What is meant is clearly explained in the verses which follows :

²²  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 1 Corinthians 15

So, the Bible tells us that God has provided  a way out of our otherwise impossible dilemma,  but it is conditional and applies only to those who are ‘in Christ’;  those  who ‘are Christ’s’; and it will only happen ‘at his coming’ and not before.  How then do we become ‘in Christ’ and  ‘his‘ ?   We find the answer in the instructions Christ gave to his disciples when they were  commissioned to:

¹⁵  … Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.                      Mark 16

We therefore become ‘in Christ’ and related to his resurrection by belief in him and the gospel he proclaimed, and by being baptized into his saving name.

Once we have done that, we await his return before receiving our reward for faithful service. Far from being death stricken creatures, the Bible’s message is one of hope for all who care to search out it’s message, and follow it’s teaching.

And so, starting from an examination of the word ‘man’, in a few verses we have been able to discover much about ourselves;  how we came into being, why we are consigned to death, what death is, and the way out of an otherwise impossible situation.

This approach to searching the scriptures, can be carried out on a whole variety of subjects, as we hope to show in later articles, and in this way we can build an understanding of basic Bible principles which will give us a sound foundation on which to build further study of some of the more challenging messages it contains.

Happy  hunting !!

²⁸  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ³⁰  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.                  Matthew 11 (KJV)

Life can be a burden at times and now is a time that this is true for most people.  So, it can be reassuring to see that Jesus is promising rest from our burdens and make our burdens light.  However, he says to receive this benefit, we need to do two things – “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.”

As the benefit is very attractive, we thought you might like to know, or confirm, what Jesus means.  So this is an outline to the answer that has many facets.

You probably know a yoke is used across the shoulders of beasts of burden so that they can share the load.  So Jesus clearly is offering substantial help in easing  the weight of our troubles large and small – in fact, to share the load.

But how and what have we to learn from Jesus to receive this important help?  Obviously the two oxen in our picture needed to learn to work together.  If they tried to go in different directions, or one tried to stop, their task would not get done.  Similarly, if we are to achieve the rest that Jesus is offering, we must co-operate with him, that is, ‘learn of him’ what to do, as he said in our quote above.  Surely the obvious thing to do is make a friend of Jesus.  Especially as he has done such an amazing thing for his friends as he tells them barely a week before his death.  Hear what he promised his disciples,

¹³  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.        John 15

There we see Jesus is talking about his unjust crucifixion on the ‘cross’ – piece of a tree.  But why did he do it?

²⁴  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.                                                1 Peter 2

That is what Jesus was talking about in the following words of scripture so often quoted amongst ‘Christians’.

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.                                                                                       John 3

So much can be gained from friendship with Jesus, who when he said he “lay down his life for his friends”, went on to say … …

¹⁴  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  John 15

Words that apply, dear reader, to you and me because Jesus said in his prayer for his disciples … …

²⁰  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.                                               John 17

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