B'reishit Bara Elohim (Genesis #4)

What is the first line of your favorite book?  Can you recall?

Moby Dick:  "My name is Ishmael."
A Wrinkle in Time:  "It was a dark and stormy night."
A Tale of Two Cities:  "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

English nerds say the opening lines are of utmost importance, and I agree.  We are going to examine the opening words of Genesis 1 which, of course, are also the opening words of the greatest book ever written.

The title of today's post is an English transliteration of the Hebrew for "In the beginning God created".

At those simple words the secular world flips out.  Game on.  God inserts Himself into the consciousness of mankind by declaring He is responsible for starting it all.

Let's begin with the word, Elohim.  Elohim is a plural word. One of the names for God, it represents the Trinity:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all of whom were present at "the beginning" during the creation of the universe, of all that IS.

1In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2He was with God in the beginning.

3All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being.

4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  

John 1:1-4 TLV

So, there is Jesus (Ben Elohim), the Son, the Logos, the Person of the Godhead who made all things.  He is called by John "the Word", because He spoke all things into existence.  In addition to John's testimony, we have Paul's as well in Colossians 1:15-17 (TLV) - - -

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16For by Him all things were created— in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him.

17He exists before everything, and in Him all holds together.

We find the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2, where He is called in Hebrew the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God).

So, Elohim - - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - - Three-in-One, holy perfection!

Elsewhere in Genesis, God gives us a glimpse into the interactions of the Trinity, when He reveals conversations the three Persons had with each other.  The clue is the word "us".

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! 

Genesis 1:26a (TLV)

Then Adonai Elohim said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil."

Genesis 3:22a (TLV)

And then, at the Tower of Babel . . . 

Come! Let Us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s language.”

Genesis 11:7 (TLV)

Here are other passages in scripture where the word "Creator"/"Maker" would be more accurately translated  "Creators"/Makers:  Ecclesiastes 12:1, Isaiah 54:5 and Deuteronomy 6:4.  You may recognize that last scripture reference as The Shema, which Jews recite as the bedrock foundation of their faith.  They do so to affirm the "one-and-onlyness" of Jehovah.  But, this is quite curious... Here is the entire Shema from the Tree of Life version, a Messianic Jewish translation, publ. 2014:

Shema Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad

4“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one .

5Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

6These words, which I am commanding you today, are to be on your heart.

7You are to teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.

8Bind them as a sign on your hand, they are to be as frontlets between your eyes,

9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (TLV)

When examining the Hebrew of this verse, it appears that a wrong word was used for "one".  The word God used here is from the Hebrew root "echad", which means "to collect", "to unify", a "united one".  A more appropriate Hebrew word, to signify "one, and only one God", would have been the Hebrew "yachiyd".  But, that is not the word God inspired Moses to use.   This has troubled many orthodox Jewish rabbis over the centuries.  Some of them, in fact, have called this a scribal error! Smh... no error!  Rather, it is a testimony to the Triunity of Adonai Elohim!

One of my favorite hymns is "Holy, Holy, Holy".  It was written, based on the spoken testimony of praise given by the angelic beings called seraphim, who surround the throne of God and call out night and day "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:3)
Ever wonder why Isaiah witnessed them crying out "Holy" three times in succession like that?  Could they be praising each holy Person of the Triune God?  It would seem so.

Here's another mystery, though, as if the Trinity were not mystery enough.

"Bara" ("created and keeps on creating") is a singular verb, occurring 46 times as a verb in the Old Testament.  When seen in scripture this verb is always found with God as its subject, implying only God can "bara".  Would you not expect a plural verb, for the three Persons of the Godhead?  But no!  We worship One God, who makes it apparent from the opening words of His book that He is a plural being.  Hallelujah!  "Bara" is singular, because it conveys the Oneness, the perfect unity of the only true God.  Furthermore, and this is amazing also - - every time Elohim is used as God's name in scripture, it is paired with a singular verb.  In other words, the pairing is grammatically incorrect, although it is spiritually correct!
It is assumed by many evangelicals that Elohim created "creation" out of nothing.  But, implicit in the word "bara" is an opening up, a filling up, more like populating or bringing into tangible existence.  "Populating from what or where?", you might ask, and rightly so.  From Elohim, of course, from the Everlasting One, from The Alpha and the Omega (The First and the Last), who SPOKE the worlds into existence (again, the Word, John 1:1-4).  We see this use of the word "bara" in 1 Samuel 2:29.  The phrase "making yourselves fat" or "fattening yourselves" (depending on the translation you are using) is lə·haḇ·rî·’ă·ḵem, related to "bara".  (See biblehub.com reference.)

So, we see that God (Adonai Elohim) opened Himself and spoke all creation into existence, both seen and unseen.  To believe otherwise contradicts the laws (not the theories) of Science as well as the nature of the (3) Creator(s).

Astounding.  Incomprehensible.  Stunning.

In the next post....b'reishit.

Sources:

http://xwalk.ca/elohim.html

https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/bara.html

https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/we-have-been-di/

http://www.wildbranch.org/teachings/word-studies/55bara.html

http://biblehub.com/hebrew/bara_1254.htm

God's First Creation

Proverbs 8 is somewhat of an enigma.  In this chapter an alternative is given to Vice, well-described in chapter 7, and that alternative is Wisdom (Truth).  That in itself is not surprising.  What IS fascinating is that Solomon personifies Wisdom, using pronouns which identify Wisdom as feminine, and beyond that, a created being.  In fact, Wisdom is described as The Creator's (Jesus') first creation.

Now, do I believe that there was (or is) an actual created being named Wisdom?  No.  I believe Solomon was using the poetic device of personification to prove a point and to make a feminine contrast of Wisdom with the Harlot (Vice) of chapter 7.  Personification is useful to help a reader see a truth concept more clearly.  In this case the device and contrast are very effective.

I also believe that the attributes Wisdom is given by Solomon are true.  So, in fact, I accept from this chapter that, when beginning the creative process, Jesus Christ (John 1:1-4) created from His own nature the Truth/Wisdom which He then established as the first created element, and this godly body of Truth undergirds all of our created world.

We do not find the establishment of Wisdom explicitly mentioned in Genesis 1.  Creation there begins with the Spirit of God moving over the face of the deep waters (Gen.1:2).  Obviously, those waters were created prior, and then Wisdom established/created prior to that.  The Wisdom/Truth of God was present in every aspect of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

What a marvel!

In Luke 11:49, the writer calls Jesus "the Wisdom of God".  Some have wrongly equated the Wisdom spoken of here in Proverbs 8 as being Christ Jesus Himself.  But, verse 22 makes plain that Wisdom was created as the first of the Creator's (Jesus') mighty works of old, BEFORE "the watery depths" (Proverbs 8:24).  Truly, Jesus was and is the fully human embodiment of the fullness of God the Father and God the Spirit.  No doubt.  And, it is from Himself that He created and established the Wisdom mentioned in Proverbs 8, the Wisdom that frames our existence.

Proverbs 7 and 8 are contrasts in desire.  Chapter 7 is all about the lure of deception, falsehood, vice and temporal pleasures taken in secret.  Chapter 8 is all about desiring "a woman eternal and invaluable", worth more than any amount of riches (Prov. 8:22).

This is her invitation, which she shouts loudly and openly to all who would hear:

32“Now then, my children, listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

33Listen to my instruction and be wise;

do not disregard it.

34Blessed are those who listen to me,

watching daily at my doors,

waiting at my doorway.

35For those who find me find life

and receive favor from the Lord.

May we ever and always pursue her by adoring and following the One from whom she sprang!

Image Inexplicable

Most Bible commentators I've read believe that Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians because that little church was being unduly influenced by Gnostics.  (Sounds like a group of aliens from Star Trek, doesn't it?)  We'll look more deeply into the beliefs of Gnosticism later, but let's start by confronting a couple of their false beliefs.  The first is that Jesus Christ was merely one of God's manifestations (appearances, emanations) to an evil, material world.  Gnostics also believe that all physical matter is evil and that God could have no contact with it.1

Because of this alarming incursion of Gnosticism into the Colossian church, Paul launches into a series of verses in which he describes who Jesus Christ actually was and is.

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,

16for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

17He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.

18He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.

19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son

20and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul begins with establishing the deity of Christ by detailing His various interactions with mankind, as you see in the verses above.

Today, we are going to focus on verses 15-16:  incarnation versus emanation.

I do not fully understand the mystery that happened between God the Father and God the Son, when the decision was made to give the Father "form" - - material, physical form.  This is not fully explained in the Bible, perhaps because we don't have the capacity to understand.  Most certainly, this occurred before any other created thing was created, because both verses 15 and 16 state that it occurred prior to creation AND that Christ WAS the creator of ALL things.  So, in a move that runs totally counter to Gnosticism, we see the Creator God the Son making the material and constructing the spiritual realms.  The apostle Peter also confirms this in 1 Peter 1:20.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake. 
(NET)

A little bit ago, I was musing...does God the Father or Son or Holy Spirit EVER in the Bible manifest as any created thing?  Oh, He inhabits created spaces, such as when "His glory filled the Temple".  In other scriptures He is referred to (in his Christ form) as "the angel of the Lord".  But, He never manifests as an eagle or a bear or a serpent (as Satan did).  He is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and C.S. Lewis portrayed Him as the lion, Aslan, in his fictitious allegory series, The Chronicles of Narnia.  But....He always takes the form of a man, the God-Man, whom we learned at his birth to call, Jesus.

Man was created by Jesus Christ, the God-Man, in His image.  Jesus is the image of God the Father, who Himself is Spirit, invisible. And we are created in His (Jesus') image.

"Through him and for him" - - -

Having expounded upon the first, let's consider the last.  We, mankind, were created FOR God, for Jesus Christ, who knew what the future held for Him, who knew that, even in creating us we would fall into sin; we would need a Redeemer, and that He was the only One who could save us.

"Slain, from the foundation of the world".... 

(Revelation 13:8 KJV)

Not only did He create all things, He became us, became a human, ultimately the human named Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man.  The incarnation (the "en-fleshing", encasing in human flesh) of the invisible God.  The human body is not evil, as Gnostics claim.  If it were, Jesus would never have incarnated Himself into one!

As a result of The Fall, all human love, all of it, is tainted by self-interest.  I am unable to conceive of a love like Jesus Christ's, a love so pure and holy.   A love that could not bear to see us forever lost, forever separated from Him, a perfect love which constrained Him to snatch us back from the pit of Hell at an incalculable personal cost.

This is not an aloof, removed God, afraid to get His hands dirty.  This is a God who not only plunged right into the fallen world, to abide with us, but who also longs to be with each of us in every way, every day, even now.  This is a God who finished redemption's work so that all of Gnosticism's rule-following is rendered void, and replaced those heresies with grace, pure grace alone.

Hallelujah for that!

https://youtu.be/YnM3lc-LyzY


Source:

1   Wiersbe, Warren W., and Warren W. Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete New Testament in One Volume. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007. Print, p. 659.

The Various Forms of "Me"

So, today, I have to go to a doctor's appointment, which gives me a tiny sense of dread.  It's just a small kernel, lingering back there in my subconscious.  I'd rather go get a doughnut or a facial, ok?  But, there it is....doctor's appointment. 

Most of us people spend an inordinate amount of time caring for (attending to) our bodies.  (Even if we overindulge them, that is a form of "attention" or "care".)  It is sort of built into us by our Creator God to want to stay alive in this crazy world for as long as possible...for some reason.  Sociologists call that "the survival instinct", I guess.

Our text today is Philippians 3:20-21 (NET) - -

20  But our citizenship is in heaven – and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21  who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.

These days when I look into the mirror I see the likeness of somewhat of a stranger.  When you get to be about 21 or so, you feel like you actually look like "yourself", fully "grown".  And then, from that point on, you start to look stranger and stranger, even while feeling like the same "girl" or "boy" you used to be, in some respects.  Believe me, young readers, it's weird.  So, we devote an inordinate amount of time grooming this perishable body, this body which will one day lie on a morgue's or mortician's table, cold and dead.

Another large portion of our day is devoted to training our minds (souls)....with "mindless" (pardon the pun) entertainment, or school work, or job training, or conversation with others, etc.  Training the mind toward godliness is a more noble pursuit, because mind (soul) and spirit are so intertwined.  "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...." (Philippians 2:5)

And, consequently, because there are only 24 hours in the day, we neglect the deepest, most true part of ourselves, the part which will live forever...somewhere: the spirit.  These days, I am in the phase of caring for my body and soul so that I can continue to nurture my spirit, by submitting it more and more to Jesus Christ.  Despite the challenges of my body aging, this is a very good phase of life in which to be.  In the time I have remaining, I want to use my resources (body and soul) to grow closer to Him and to advance His kingdom here on earth.  As Paul proclaimed in Acts 20:24 - - -

But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace.

The thing about these two verses (Philippians 3:20-21) I love the most is not the part about our bodies being raised from the dead and transformed some day.  When I die, my soul and spirit will go immediately to be with my Lord and Savior (Ecclesiastes 12:7; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23). My body is "immaterial" (Lord, I am just full of puns this morning...); in other words, it will remain "sleeping", decaying in the grave or wherever my descendants put it.  I will slough off this flesh and will never return to it in its earthly form.  My soul and spirit will one day (maybe hundreds of years from now or maybe next week) be reunited with a likeness of my earthly body; but, more importantly, on that great day, my new body will be in the likeness of Jesus' "glorified" body.  He will then unite my soul and spirit with my "glorified, heavenly" body.  No one knows when Jesus will return to earth to do this; only Father God knows that day and hour.  But, on that day, my reunited (NEW! body)-soul-spirit will be my possession for all eternity here in the "new heaven and new earth", described in Revelation 21-22.1

Here's the best part of Philippians 3:21.  Paul declares Jesus' "Godness": that Jesus is definitely God, one of the co-equal parts of the Holy Trinity.  Paul declares Him Savior, yes, but also calls Him "Kyrion" (Greek for "Lord").  Jesus used this same word to refer to God the Father, in the gospel accounts.  It will be God Jesus Himself who raises the bodies of His Bride from the dead on "that glorious day" (see song link below).  As He raises them - - - from cremation urn, from ocean floor, from moldering casket, from the dust of the earth - - - He will transform them with the same power He used to create the world, the same power Father God used to raise His Son from the dead and transform His earthly body into its glorifed, heavenly form.

Paul makes allusion to Jesus as Creator in Colossians 1:15-20, which we will study in a couple of weeks.  John referred to Jesus as "the Logos", the Word, in the beginning of his gospel.  It is indisputable that Jesus Christ is God, and that through Him all things were created, all things "consist", that is, "are held together".  He's "got the whole world in His hands", literally.  (Gives you a new twist on that little children's song, doesn't it?  Now you know it points to Colossians 1 and John 1 and Philippians 3!  :)  )

https://youtu.be/VXp6xcY5IqU

Good morning, Lord Jesus!  Thank you for another day in which to "live and move and have my being" - - - in You.  (Acts 17:28) What incomprehensible power!  That will be a glorious day, but not nearly so glorious as that day in which my spirit unites with You fully, for the first time, in Heaven.  I can only begin to imagine... May I worship You today, in Spirit and in truth.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

1
http://www.gotquestions.org/what-happens-death.html 

Everlasting Light

When the Bible begins, in the book of Genesis, we find God, the Creator of All There Is, "in the beginning", lighting up the darkness.

1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.4God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:1-4

The first time we meet God, He is banishing darkness, a darkness which covered everything, consumed all.  The entire creation was drowning in darkness, literally.  Water and darkness were everywhere.  Yet with a handful of spoken words, by the mouth of The Word (John 1:1), darkness fled.

The Israelites stumbled around in the desert until their Jehovah Nissi, their Yahweh God, lit up the night sky with a pillar of fire, a beacon that called them to Him, that guided their way.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; 

Those who dwelled in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined."

Isaiah 9:2

While meditating on this theme, I poked around the internet, doing a search for quotes about "darkness". What a sad endeavor that was!  There were many quotes from many gifted writers and worldly people.  Most of them were very fatalistic, along the theme of "yes, I'm smothered in the darkness of life with no possibility of escape."  And, yes, this is one of Satan's chief lies.  This is the world's mantra.  Right in the middle of that, God turns the light on.

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us, a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

and His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

God shines brilliantly the light of life on those who "live in Shadowland".  That's all of us, until we embrace His Son, the Light of the World.  Despite our best "efforts", we are unable to banish our own darkness.  As usual, God does it in a way none of us would predict: "the zeal of the God of Angel Armies will accomplish this."  He dispels the darkness in the form of a Child, laid in a feeding trough, in a stable cave.  The Light of the World breaks open the darkness as He is born, Mary's child, yet infant King.

King Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  John 8:12

In the bleariness of mid-December darkness, we light Advent candles, to symbolize the eternality of the Light of the World, to proclaim to the lost, to those stumbling in the darkness of this fallen world, that Jesus came for them.  He didn't come just for "the good" or "the shiny ones".  There are no shiny ones.   Until we meet Him, until He floods our souls with eternal Light, His glory divine, we are all feeling our way through the darkness of life.

Those of us who have encountered and embraced Him as our own may be overshadowed by darkness at times.  We may even in our confusion and despair be overcome by it momentarily.  But, this is truth:  Satan's darkness can never triumph over the eternal Light which takes up permanent residence in the heart of the Believer.  That Light can never be extinguished.  Everlasting Light!

Right now, Believer, His Light dwells in you, even as you abide in Him!  We are His light-bearers to a dark world.  One day, though, we will dwell in Heaven, a place where there is no darkness, "no night there".

22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).

Rev. 21:22-25

Enveloped in Everlasting Light, what a beautiful, blessed certainty!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvD91VKYbM8

Dearest Father, thank you for shining Your everlasting light, "the light of a million mornings", on me. My dearest, most precious desire is to shine Your light wherever You see fit to send me.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:

"Everlasting Light: A Christmas Carol for a Dark World", by Claire Cloniger and Mark Hayes
WORD Music, 1986.

His Greatest Creation

Good morning,

We read in Genesis 1:26-27 that, after creating this world, the Three-in-One decided to create mankind, a being unlike any other created thing, living or inanimate.  Mankind was the crowning touch of God's creation, the grand finale, a unique, mysterious "likeness" of God.  The writer of Ecclesiastes 3:11 proclaims that He "set eternity in the human heart".

God's desire was not for angels to rule over the rest of His creation, Earth.  It was for man to rule and reign over this planet.  But, beyond that, we see in Revelation 4:11 mankind was created, indeed all things/beings were created, for His good pleasure.  We read about Adam and Eve and God walking together in the Garden of Eden, having a kind of fellowship that we, in our fallen world, cannot yet know.  This demonstrates that we were created for intimate fellowship with God, to commune with Him, spirit to Spirit.

Even as he created our kind, though, He in His sovereignty knew His heart's desire would be thwarted by Adam and Eve's free will.  He knew that man would become trapped by the snares of the enemy. He knew, all Three knew, what sacrifice would be required to restore this fallen, human creation.

So, the love story of Christmas did not begin with Jesse or with David.  It began the moment we were conceived in the matchless mind of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The writer of Ecclesiastes goes on to say (3:11b): "no one can fathom what God has done, from beginning to end."  He is beyond our human comprehension.

Ann asks what causes us to pause in wonder.  This.

My friend, as I write tonight, is giving birth to a baby boy.  What joy!  A new life begins, with all its hopes and dreams and promises.  Our joy at the birth of our children is slight, when compared to the love and joy that sprang in the heart of the Godhead and spawned our race, all those eons ago.

Still, what God would decide to create a race of beings who He knew, They KNEW, would break their hearts?  They knew that the Son would be required to "empty Himself, taking the form of a servant, and being born in the likeness of man" (Philippians 2:7).  And, if that weren't enough, because that was NOT enough to restore us, to pay the penalty for our sin, They knew that He would wear that cloak of flesh for 33 years, before submitting Himself to the most shameful of deaths.

All for love, of us, of me.  Incomprehensible, unimaginable love, divine love beyond all human understanding!