Dear Friend, we have come to the concluding part of our first series "Born Again". Whether you were already born again or not before you went through this study, it is our hope that you would have found the reasons and basis and therefore, the foundation for your conversion, for that is really what it is about, we are translated, transported from death into life.

Do not forget to join us for our new series, to help you 'walk the walk' successfully as a born again Christian.

Now let us go to the conclusion of our study:

In conclusion, if you have sincerely gone through the previous steps in understanding, and asked Jesus into your life to be your Lord and Savior, then the Bible says that "you have been redeemed by Christ's blood (according to the acceptable sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God) delivered from the power of darkness and have been translated into the kingdom of Christ", Colossians 1:15,14.

You are now born again "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." I Peter 1:23

Your sins are totally forgiven: "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more", Hebrews 10:17.

"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

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12

You see that which seperates us from God is sin, Jesus taking that away restores us to a position of fellowship with God, being able to come in the presence of God and fellowship with Him is life, to be otherwise is death. We are by this given an oppurtunity to be born anew as it were, in a different state of mind, spirit and soul :" A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Ezekiel 36:26,27.

If you have understood and followed through to this point in your experience, that means you are born again. Congratulations! Write and share with us at biblestudy@refreshingspringsministry.org and we will rejoice with you. Got questions, need further help on this study email us.

God bless and join us for our next series that teaches how to live the new you.

REPENTANCE AND SALVATION

 Last week we learned about Jesus’ role in reconciling us to God. This week we will follow through the steps to being born again. But first attempt to answer this question in relation to last week’s study:” How then can we term being ‘born again’?” 

Answer: Being born again is reconciliation to God through His Son Jesus Christ, by specific modalities outlined by God; namely: 

1. Realize and accept that you are a part of the fallen as indicated by the following scriptures:

  Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”  

  Galatians 3:22 “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by

  faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” 

  I John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in 

  us.”

  Proverbs 20:9: “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? I  

  I John 5:17a defines sin thus: “All unrighteousness is sin:”

So who might we say is free from the condemnation of sin and thus does not need the sacrifice of reconciliation that God offers in and through Christ? None! No one is absent of sin, therefore we all need this sacrifice.

2. Realize your unsaved state in God without Jesus according to these scriptures:

Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

I Corinthians 6:9-10: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

Ezekiel 18:4: “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

James 2:10: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Romans 8:7-8:” Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” 

3. Believe and accept Jesus’ role in bringing you salvation (reconciliation with God); this is the backbone of the gospel, that Jesus paid and died for your sins and by accepting Him, you are saying “I accept for my sins to be transferred upon Him and I accept His sacrifice to wash away my sins and bring me into good standing with God”. Since God replaced the former sacrifice of animals with the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus, any one seeking a relationship with God must first of observe the modalities that He has laid out in Christ Jesus. Why? If you have been following the study from the beginning, because He is God (and this why we started the study where we started it, because a lot of people have problems with realizing God’s place in their lives and why they are under His rule whether they like it or not). If we lived in the days before Jesus, reconciliation to God and forgiveness of sins would be by observing and performing the appropriate sacrifice for one’s sin, but once Jesus came, the sacrifice was once and for all performed and anyone might avail themselves of it! Most importantly, anyone that does not come through Jesus Christ to God CANNOT BE RECONCILED TO GOD AND CANNOT COME TO GOD! Hence Jesus said “I am the way”. 

Repentance and Conversion which are two tenets of our salvation in Christ, involve the following:

4. Confessing your sins as a way of following through on the whole process, because it is not enough to just believe. You have a role to play in being part of the salvation that is through Christ.

Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

I John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Romans 10:10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

5. Repentance which can be termed as “deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or error; to feel regretful or contrite for past conduct: to repent of an act; to be penitent for one’s sins and to seek to change one’s life for the better; to remember with self-reproach or contrition; to feel sorry for; regret” It conveys the realization of error and or wrong and a change of purpose and action to that effect.

Luke 13:3: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Acts 17:30: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:”

2 Corinthians 7:10: “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

Acts 26:20: “But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.”

Matthew 3:8: “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”

6. Following repentance is “conversion” which indicates a “change in character form or function, a change of mind, attitude, habit, character, etc.”.

Acts 3:19: “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;”

Jonah 3:8: “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.”

Following these steps leads one to the wonderful phenomenon of being ‘born again’ which we will study as the last part of this study next week. Join us then. In the meantime, any questions, comments, e-mail us at biblestudy@refreshingspringsministry.org

Hebrews 9:22: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.  

Following the fall of man, man was driven from the presence of God and lost fellowship with God. He no longer enjoyed the one-on-one visitations from God, therefore, the interaction between man and God was very limited. Following the liberation of the Israelites from slavery, the Lord God made certain arrangements to bring His people closer to Him (after all, if they were to know and serve Him, there had to be some kind of interaction). He told them His ways and they pledged to observe it and this agreement was sealed with the blood of an animal being shed and being sprinkled upon the people by way of sealing the covenant (Exodus 24:8; Hebrews 9:19-21)

The breaching of any of the laws was to be atoned for by sacrificing certain animals, however, this was to be done through the Priests (the Levites who were selected by God). The Priests were first of all themselves purified and restored according to specifications from God and then God gave the priests specific instructions as to how to restore people who had sinned: this was done through the sacrificial offerings of specified animals upon which the people confessed (thereby transferred) their sins. Once the blood of the animals was shed, their sins were forgiven and the people were restored into favorable position with God until the next sin. The problem with this was that,

1.      This had to be done every time one sinned! Because there was no power in the blood of the sacrificial animals (they were merely symbolic) one sacrifice was not enough to give permanent reconciliation to God: “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Hebrews 10:4.

2.      Not even the Priests who were chosen to offer the sacrifices were in themselves good enough, seeing that they also sinned from time to time and fell short of God’s glory (Hebrews 9:7). Being mere men, they could neither stand in nor maintain a position of being role-models of what God wanted man to be, hence the entrance of Jesus who not only fulfilled the role of ‘role-model’ of what God wanted of us, but whose blood was also shed as  sacrifice to permanently restore man to a favorable position with God.

So with Jesus’ sacrifice and His blood (which still had to occur according to the pattern for sin sacrifice which God had given unto Moses), with Jesus Himself being both the Priest and the sacrifice, a new covenant was established to replace the old and everyone who wanted to walk with God and be in His good books was bound by ‘the covenant of Jesus’ blood’ and the Bible calls this “the everlasting covenant” Hebrews 13:20.

·      Mark 14:24: “And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.”

·      Hebrews12:24: “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

Romans 3:25: “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

Matthew 26:28: “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

 PART II - REPENTANCE AND SALVATION

Introduction: A New World

The coming and birth of Jesus Christ can be compared to the start of a new world. Another “in the beginning…..” It signifies the beginning of a new world, created by God after the first one was corrupted and changed from God’s original purpose through the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him (Jesus Christ) might be reconciled to Himself (God): we can therefore say that God still intended to restore man to his original position and purpose.

We will study Part II in two parts: a. How Jesus comes into the matter and b. the importance of Jesus sacrifice.

A. HOW JESUS COMES INTO THE MATTER

John 1:1-4, 14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Galatians 4:4, 5: “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

John 1:9-13: “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:16: “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 3:17: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Acts 2:21: “And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.”

Romans 8:1, 3: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”

 All these verses from the Bible which describe Jesus's role in salvation are self-explanatory, however if you have any questions, e-mail us at biblestudy@refreshingspringsministry.org.

Please join us next week for Part B. God bless you, amen.

"WHO THEREFORE IS A SINNER?"

We now come to the concluding part of the first part of our first series "Who Therefore Is A Sinner?".

In the light of the previous studies, a lot of people may be asking "but what has all this got to do with me and my relationship to God?". But it has a lot to do with who we are spiritually for as the Bible says:

Romans 5:12: "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 5:14: "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come."

Romans 5:19a: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, ..".

The Bible even tells us in Romans 5:14, that even though one's sin might differ from the sin committed by Adam, nevertheless we are all counted together with him as those who have sinned against God because we have all inherited that nature of sin from him- Adam. Welcome to Spiritual Genetics 101! We all have inherited sin and therefore will manifest it at one point or the other in our lives.

What about those who say and observe all forms of righteousness, are we saying that they are also part of the fallen race of man? Let us see what the Bible has to say about that:

Isaiah 64:6a: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;..."

I John 5:7: "All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.". Therefore, if you have even done anything that is so much as unrighteous, you are part of the act.

Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;". Every man, woman, boy and child on his own lives outside of obedience to God.

Following the above passages, do you see any where by which any one, including yourself might be excluded from the among the 'fallen'? If not, join us next Tuesday and we will learn how we might do just that.

 Assignment: Ponder these verses and join us next Tuesday. God bless.

THE CAUSE FOR THE CHANGE IN MAN'S GOD-ORDAINED PURPOSE

For the purpose of this study please re-read or refer to the Bible text of Week 5.

The first two chapters of the Bible which give us the history of 'man's' creation, also gives us the written word that everything was in a state of perfection. To use God's own words, "everything was good".

Then comes chapter 3 and we are introduced to the serpent "the devil".

He comes into this perfect situation in which God has created a 'safe haven', "an egg's nest", "a land flowing with milk and honey" in which they did not have to strive, toil or struggle to keep on enjoying their state and status.

Enters this deciever, who comes in and insinuates to them "that all is not perfect": that they are missing something; that something was left out that would otherwise make their situation better than it already was! Out of vanity and selfish ambition, they fell for it. What a perfect salesman Satan was! He (like all salespeople) appealed to their "vain spot" and whoosh! they fell for his talk and bought his merchandise.

However, like most purchases of this kind, as soon as the deal was done, they realised how foolish they had been, but it was tool late. They could not turn back the hands of time and return the product.

What makes this report of interest to us, is

1. The original podium upon which 'man' (man and woman) stood. We learnt in the previous studies,  that 'man' was deputizing for God. Therefore in this regard as a good deputy he should  adhere to the 'mechanisms of operating' in  God's stead. In order to fulfil this role, he would have to carry out the duties as assigned to him! But no! The deciever tells 'man', " you don't have to do what your boss says", "he is out to get you, so  you better get what you can for yourself before you are short-changed". Let us just stop for a moment and think ; bring it home: do you know of any leader who will be pleased with a deputy's going out of line in an effort to prove himself? Because this is exactly what Adam and Eve did: they were trying to prove themselves better than they were. If only we possessed the power of hindsight so that we could see how good we have got it now! There would be fewer crises in individual lives and the world!
2. What 'man' did, was to disobey his superior and go out of line. The Biblical  term for this is 'disobedience'. No beating about the bush, "if you don't obey, you disobey!"
3. In every establishment, whether at home, work or in the church, disciplinary actions are taken against those who disobey instructions; and this is exactly what happened with man after the disobedience - certain privileges were taken away and certain sanctions were imposed. What a price to pay for ambition!
4. God's demonstration that "He does not tolerate disobedience!" The severity of the sanctions show this. What a fearful thing to learn about our God! How careful then we must be in permitting ourselves to stray  for evenan inch out of the staus quo which He has established for us. How often we must have short-changed ourselves out of several blessings and provisions God had set up for us because we wanted to do better for ourselves; probably walked out of a lower paying job to acceopt one with more or better pay, little knowing the sacrifices, compromise to family and damages it would bring to our lives; quitting on our spouses and marriages because we believe there is something or somone out there who is better for us; losing a great friendship because someone more exciting who fed our vanities came along; mismanagement and loss of our finances as we seek to feed our lust and greed (i.e. the need to have more). There are countless ways in which God has already set us up and by which the deciever would have us think otherwise and end up losing! Why would he always want to do this you may ask? For one reason only - his purpose always is this alone: to kill, to steal and to destroy what you are and what you have! (John 10:10)(italics mine) 

The above narration is the story of many lives today; in and out of the church. God has blessed us with a situation; it could be marriage, being single, a job, children or lack of them, oppurtunities to serve (or not serve), situations of 'manna' in which although the source of our supply differs from the usual, we nevertheless lack nothing. But the devil comes in and insinuates into your mind "something is missing; you are being short-changed; it could be better" and then we get restless and start to strive to get what the devil tells us is missing and  in the words of Bishop T.D. Jakes, "in attempting to gain what we do not have, we end up losing what we already have".

I do not know what part of your vanity, ambition, or pride the devil has already appealed to or is trying to appeal to, or will appeal to in the future, but please permit me to share with you, several keys to defeating  him in his purpose:

1. Know and recognisze that "just as God did many years ago in the garden of Eden, He has already placed in your life all that you will ever need for now. It could never be better, for those things which look like they would be a wonderful addition or make your life better, compromise what you already have: they are like "green snakes under green grass"- you do not see them until you are there. 
2. Learn and practice contentment and do not try to upset your perfect balance by yielding to selfish ambition or vanity. The Bible tells us that "Godliness with contentment is great gain.For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." (I Timothy 6:6-12). It also says in Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation (your life) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee".
3. The key to keeping your balance, is going with God's plan (will) for your life; He willed you to be where and what you are now. So be obedient to it and live by faith; trusting and "being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Phillipianhs 1:6).
4. God still let man rule even over that which he had succumbed to. Praise the Lord for this grace! Even after the fall, God still decreed that 'man' would always trample the devil and his devices/plans towards and for man .
5. Stay in the "Word" (the Bible) according to Joshua 1:8 to ensure that you live in and continue to live in the will/plan of God for your life and together with this, pray pray pray!

These are some very salient points and I hope and pray that you will take the time to go over them again and again and pray over what you have learned.

Questions, comments,e-mail us at biblestudy@refreshingspringsministry.org and please join us next week for the conclusion of the first part of this series: "Who Therefore Is A Sinner?"

May you live victoriously over the devil now and forever more, in Jesus name, amen.

THE CHANGE IN MAN'S PURPOSE

In understanding the change(s) in man's purpose, we have to reflect on the past studies which gave us an insight God's  purpose for man on earth. For these are the very purposes that were changed or modified.

I know that you have taken your time to read and re-read the text that was given last week. Now let us identify the changes which God made to man's purpose as a result of the sin in the garden.

1. Man inherited a perpetual enemy: Genesis 3:15 So whereas earlier, 'man' was given dominion over all things made, now 'man' was given an enemy to afflict him.
2. "Woman" inherited the concept of sorrow and pain in childbirth.
3. "Woman's" purpose of dominion changed "as a wife". The concept of 'co- dominion' was modified between husband and wife: "As a wife", a woman no longer had the same power of rule as her husband; her husband became 'first in command'. By this change, a woman would be inherently required, to yield her authority or power to her husband. His wishes become her command. Women should therefore carefully consider whom they either desire, choose or accept to be their husbands; because you are required to live by his code and not the other way around. This also exposes the fallacy in the practice of women marrying men who neither share nor respect their values, beliefs, etc in the expectation that once married you can influence him to change over to your side or ways. Lie! By this word in the Bible, it has been established that he is not conditioned to follow your lead but it is the other way around - you are required to follow his lead. Check and double-check your values, beliefs and life-styles and only choose and accept the man who you know that yielding to his ways will not compromise either your beliefs or values. If his present life-style is a far cry from how you intend or want to live your life in any way, do not marry that man! Do not even consider doing it!
4. "Woman" also inherited the inherent desire to be married. Therefore Men, understand that this is the underlying reason why you cannot just have "an affair" with a woman. She will not be satsified, unless it leads to marriage. She will always demand it, right or wrong. There is nothing that either men or women can do to change this. Therefore Men: avoid the problem by not getting  involved with the woman except you plan to marry her!
5. "Man" inherited the role of 'provider'. Whereas earlier God had ensured that everything would produce automatically on their own and all man had to do was just take what they needed and eat, now, it became man's job to labor for food (this explains the natural aptitude and ability of men to labor and provide). And this on its own you might say, was not too bad; except that......
6. The ground now inherited the curse of not automatically on its own yield what was food to man. Whereas it was originally blessed and commanded to bring forth fruit (food for man and ability to propagate) on its own, now except man coaxed it to do so by cultivating and nurturing it, it could no longer do so; it would instead give rise to thorns, bristles (wild bushes), things which are of no use to man either for food and or sustainance.
7. Man inherited the curse of laboring to live. Whereas originally, all he had to do was maintain the produce of the earth, he had nothing to do with its productivity. But now, he would have to'work it' before he could eat from it'. He would continually work, to have.
8. 'Man' was driven from the presence of God. This more than all the others gives rise to the big change in man's purpose. Whereas initially man could feel and hear God because God dwelled in their midst, now it was different. They were banished outside of where they could feel and talk with God as they had prior to the fall.

Please note that in our studies wherever "man" is used in italics (man), it refers to the generic (the human race), but when it is used regular (man) it refers to the gender (as in male)

Questions, feedback, email us at biblestudy@refreshingspringsministry.org

Next week, we shall briefly look at the reasons for the change in purpose before going into the second part of our study.

THE CHANGE IN MAN’S PURPOSE

Because I have promised to keep our studies short, we will only have time for the text this week. All we shall do this week, is read the text, meditate on it and digest it. Please take the time to read it over and over again; this text will form the basis for understanding why and what it means to be born-again.Until next week......

BIBLE STUDY TEXT: GENESIS 3:1-19; 3:21-24

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

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;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

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.

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Last week, we looked at God’s purpose for man (male and female). This week we will conclude the portion of man’s purpose, by looking at another purpose, which centers on the female part of creation. 

Man was first created before woman. Woman was created for an additional reason to that for which ‘man’ was created.  While ascribing dominion to both male and female, God ascribed another reason or purpose to the creation of the female. By this, He instituted and established forever, the inter-relationship between ‘man’ and ‘woman’ and the functional purpose of that relationship.

Let us go back to the very verses that introduce the female into the picture: 

Genesis 2:18-24 : “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him". 

And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 

And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”. 

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh".

From the fore-going, it is clear that God determined that it was ‘not good’ for man (as in male) to be alone and in an effort to find a companion for man, ‘man’ was introduced to all the creatures. However, we are told that when this happened, ‘man’ called them all names (thereby naming them), but did not feel an affinity for any of God’s creations.

Let us pause a moment to look at the definition of ‘good’, so that we may better understand what God had in mind.

‘Good’: 1.morally excellent; virtuous.  2. satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree 3. right; proper; fit  4. honorable or worthy  5. sound or valid 6. healthful; beneficial 7. favorable; propitious 8. free of distress or pain; comfortable 9. agreeable; enjoyable 10. advantageous; satisfactory for the purpose 11. skillfully done 12. profit or advantage; benefit 13. virtue: to be a power for good.

Now, this is what I want you to do: take any of these definitions of ‘good’ and substitute it in the verse and read the verse again. Do this until you have substituted each of these words in the verse. 

So for all these very explicit reasons, God found it unsatisfactory, unprofitable, not right, not proper, not honorable or sound or healthy, etc for only man (male) to exist by himself (male).

What strikes me about this and what defeats the theory of homosexuality being alright is the fact that God did not choose to replicate man (the male). Instead, He chose to create a human (by virtue of being taken from another human) that was physiologically different from the male.  

The purpose that God had in mind for the ‘man’s’ companion would not be fulfilled by another ‘male’. He concluded that what would be right, advantageous, healthy, agreeable, enjoyable, etc. would be another human that differed from the male entirely! And so, He created woman. 

The method alone, by which God creates woman, seems to indicate how different He wanted this new creature to be from the male. Man was created from the raw earth, ‘dust’: no refined material used, save the breath and spirit of God in him. But woman; God used what was already a finished product, that identified her as an off-shoot from the man and by that, He (God) conveyed the very purpose which He had for ‘man’ and ‘woman’: extensions/parts  of one another that come together in a relationship that makes them whole!. 

It is very interesting to note the ‘man’s’ reaction when he first saw the woman. There was an affinity to which he testified and he rightly identified her source as  part of himself! What chemistry! 

The affinity between them was defined as “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh”.

This verse is as profound as the laws of 'gravity' and 'inertia'. Every thing that is made in creation will gravitate to return to its natural place/origin. It is no more different for the humans (male and female) that God created. He created them with the purpose of them being together in a way that celebrates their oneness. No other bond in human relationships has such a powerful pull. Hence our own relationship with Christ is likened to that of a ‘groom and his bride’, because indeed, a part of Him was put in us so that we might live- the same way that a part of the man was put in the woman to give her her existence.

No wonder then, that the relationship of a man to his wife, is biblically advised to be as that of Christ to the church, Christ’s bride. Treat your wife the way Christ treats and has treated the church. Likewise, wife treat and relate to your husband, the way you would and do Christ! 

These are the people to whom God gave control of all that He made: ‘male and female', who eventually become ‘man' and (his) 'woman' (wife). 

And to these: “…. God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth”. Genesis 1:28 

‘Man’ and ‘woman’, existing in the relationship which God created for them, were commanded to propagate their kind (both physiologically and relationally); and not let the resources of the earth run dry; to control the earth and rule over every other living thing that was made! These (we!) are some very powerfully privileged beings!

THOUGHTS TO PONDER 

1.      How do you view the existence of ‘male’ and ‘female’ in the world? Do you see them through God’s eyes, as He intended for them? If not, how do you see them?

2.      If you see male and female, differently than as God created them, prayerfully ask God’s help in changing your perspective back to His.

3.      Husbands and wives, try to understand your roles, purposes and relationship in the light of what you have just learned. Ask God to help you live together as husband and wife as He has ordained.

God bless you. Please join us next week for the change in man’s purpose.

In His Loving Service,

Pastor Tega Swann

I sincerely apologize for the delay in posting this. We had problems with the server yesterday. Thank you for your patience.

"MAN'S GOD-ORDAINED PURPOSE AND THE CHANGE IN PURPOSE

.From the past two week's studies, we learnt that God created 'man' (male and female) to represent Him over all of creation.

We also learnt that God's desire for this representative of Himself, was for him to have dominion. This and the subsequent changes in this purpose, is what we shall look at today. But first of all, let us go back to the verse that spells it all out.

MAN'S GOD-ORDAINED PURPOSE

A. LEADERSHIP

Genesis 1:26-27 tells us "And God said "let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them".

In order to understand this particular purpose, let us look at the meaning/ definition of 'dominion':

1. the power to govern; sovereign authority
2. the act or fact of ruling; domination

3. the territory subject to the control of a single ruler or government.

So man's (male and female) primary role was one of leadership or governance. He was (and still is) in charge over all that God has created!

B. MAINTENANCE OF THE EARTH

This role of leadership carried with it, all the responsibility of keeping the world and all that God had made in it, prosperous and in profitable conditions.

Genesis 2:8- 16 "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. "

Definitions:

'dress': 1.to decorate, to supply with accessories; 2. to adorn; embellish; 3. to cultivate (land, fields, etc.); 4. to make more appealing or acceptable, as by omitting unpleasant features or details; 5. to prepare or finish (a raw or unfinished product) by various processes, as by tanning (skins) or shaping (stone).

'keep': 1.to hold or retain in one's possession, either permanently or temporarily. 2. to hold in a given place; put or store: to keep mints in a dish. 3.to maintain (some action), as in accordance with duty: to keep watch 4. to cause to continue in a given position, state, course, or action 5. to maintain in condition or order 6.to maintain in usable or edible condition; preserve 7. to hold in custody or under guard 8. to cause to stay in a particular place; 9. to have readily available for use ; 10.to have the care, charge, or custody of  10. to maintain in one's service or for one's use or sale11. to associate with 12. to restrain or prevent, as from an action: to keep a pipe from leaking 13. to control; regulate: 14. to observe; obey or fulfill (a law, rule, promise, etc.) 15. to maintain or carry on, as an establishment or business; manage 16. to guard; protect: 17. to maintain or support 18. to take care of; tend: 19. to raise and provide for the care of as owner 20. to remain in (a place, spot, etc.) 21. to maintain one's position in or on 22. to continue to follow (a path, course, etc.) 23. to continue in an action, course, position, or state: 24. to remain in a particular place: to keep indoors 25. to continue without damage or spoilage: 26. to admit of being reserved for a future occasion 27. to stay as specified.

Wow! Two little words, "dress and keep" with great implications.

I would like to pause at this point and give you a moment to ponder your position in the world  in the light of what God expects of you as far as creation is concerned and answer the following questions:

1. In what way are you doing your part to ensure that you are fulfilling the purpose of 'dressing and keeping' the earth"?

2. In your life, what are the areas you think God might expect the fulfillment of this purpose from you? Make a list them.

3.Are there any areas regarding this that you have fallen short and need to repent and ask for forgiveness and grace to continue in your God-ordained purpose? If so, take a moment to reflect on these areas and ask God to show you how you can carry out your God-ordained purpose faithfully from now on.

Join us again next week for the discussion of the above and for the final part of 'Man's Purpose'. Remain blessed.

Pastor Tega Swann.

BIBLE STUDY, WEEK 2

KNOWING OURSELVES IN GOD (CONT.)

RECAP OF LAST WEEK'S STUDY:

A. Last week we saw that God was the Creator of the world and all that is in it.

B. We saw that God wanted a representative of Himself over all that He had made and

C. 'Man' was the result of that decision.

D. We saw that Man was created from the dust of the earth, giving him his corporal or earthly component.

E. We saw that God breathe into man and made him into a living soul.

Definition of soul:

• the principle of life, feeing, thought, and action in humans,
• regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical.
• the spiritual part ofhumans regarded in tis moral aspect,or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to com
• the disembodied spirit of a deceased person
• the seat of human feelings or sentiments

F. We saw that God created 'woman'  from one of Adam's ribs.

TODAY'S LESSON

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO GOD

We shall continue our study by looking God's relationship to man. In understanding the relationship between man and God, we need to look at the following scriptures.

Genesis 1:26a: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 3:8: And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

The ongoing, gives us to understand first of all, 'man' (male and female) was created to be replicas (image) of God. And in order to understand what that means, we have to look at who or what God is.

Webster's dictionary, defines God as " the creator and ruler of the universe; Supreme Being". 'Supreme', means 1.highest in rank or authority; paramount, sovereign; chief  2.of the highest quality, degree, character, importance, etc. 3. greatest, utmost, or extreme.   4. last or final; ultimate.

Therefore, God being the Creator and Ruler of the universe, decides to have someone like Him over all that He had made (in order words a deputy: a person appointed or authorized to act as a substitue for another or others) and 'man' was the result of that decision. This means that upon 'man' was conferred the powers and place of God over all of creation! We are mini- or  vice-gods!

The Scriptures put it like this:

Psalm 8:4-8: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas".

Psalm 82:6: "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High".

John 10:34: Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

Wow! Bet you never knew that you are 'gods'. Therefore, 'man' (male and female) were created to act in the stead of God over all of creation.

Is it any wonder then that 'man' is the most advanced, the supreme and the ultimate of all of God's creation? No. It should be no wonder for God created it to be so. It should be no wonder then, all the things that man can and does have the capability of doing. God, and not evolution, made man the most developed and the most complex with the power of thought and execution. KNOW THIS TRUTH SO THAT YOU CAN BE FREE TO RECLAIM AND EXIST IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT GOD HAS CREATED YOU TO BE!

Secondly, we find that God dwelled (lived in the midst of or amongt) the people He had created. Genesis 3:8 gives credence to the fact that God and man had a relationship in which He would come into their midst and interact with them!

God paid visits to 'man'. It should not be hard to comprehend in the context that man was His deputy - so He could and did pay him visits to as an 'overall' would.

God was close enough, that 'man' could tell when God was around Him! Would that we could all tell today, when God is in our midst.

FOR FURTHER READING: THE BOOK OFJOHN, CHAPTER TEN.

This concludes man's relationship to God. We shall now go (next week) into Man's Purpose.

Assignment: Ponder your existence or the whole of existence of 'man' in the context of what you know now. Share your thoughts, questions, comments, etc. using our 'contacts form'.

SUMMARY:

1. KNOWING OURSELVES IN GOD
2. REPENTANCE - SALVATION
3. BORN AGAIN

STUDY ONE - KNOWING OURSELVES IN GOD

INTRODUCTION

Jesus said, "marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7).

This was the accompanying response to the following encounter: "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same cam to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, "verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again (emphasis mine), he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, "how can a man be born when he old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of teh Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:1-6

Jesus's response introduces us to the realisation that there must be a point in time (similar to the point in time when we begin to exist on earth - the point of our birth), when there MUST BE  a compulsory new beginning/ new starting point in order to walk with God and inherit His kingdom.

But who did Jesus mean "must be born again"? Was it just that one man, Nicodemus?

In this study we shall do a self-discovery study of ourselves, prior to the born again experience described above by Jesus, and this will lead us to the study of 'why' and how to be born again. Also very importantly, we shall learn the role ofJesus Christ in this concept of being 'born again'.

Whether you have been born again or not, this study is for you: know the why's and wherefores.

A. WHO IS GOD AND WHAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP TO HIM?

Genesi 1:1, " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". This beginning text of the Bible, identifies God to us as the creator of all (for further reading, read the rest of Chapter One).

Comes next, "WHAT IS MAN'S ORIGIN?

Genesis 1:26-27 tells us "And God said "let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 2:7 tells us"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 (emphasis mine)

Genesis 2:20b-24  tells us "but for Adam there was not an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman and brought her unto the man. And Adam said "this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his mother and his father and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh".

The ongoing reveals to us God's plan to have a representative of Himself to look after all that He had created. This resulted first in the creation of man and later on woman.

ASSIGNMENT: Ponder carefully the above discuss, more especially the biblical text on the creation of the world and man's origin. Make your notes (mentally or otherwise) and join us next week as we continue this study with "WHAT IS MAN'S PURPOSE".