Category: Genesis

  • Sealed – Holy Spirit Guaranteed

    artists conception of Noah's ark

    One of the things that always amazes me is how often we miss  critical details when we read familiar Bible stories. It may be because we have heard or read them so often that we don’t actually read them.

    Let me cite a couple of examples from the account of Noah and the flood.

    How many animals did Noah allow into the ark? Most people will say that’s easy. It’s two; he brought the animals onboard two by two.

    The Bible has a different answer.

    Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. Genesis 7:1-3 ESV

    There are pairs, seven pairs for clean animals and birds and a single pair for the unclean.

    How did the Ark stay afloat when everything else, including boats, was destroyed?

    Was it the construction? God gave very explicit instructions about how to build it.

    And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits,its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.  Genesis 6:13-16 ESV

    That may be part of the reason, but the larger portion of the answer is recorded elsewhere.

    And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7:16 ESV

    The ark remained afloat, keeping its inhabitants safe because the Lord sealed them in and the flood out.

    The Lord who sealed the ark for Noah, thus protecting Him, is the same Lord who seals us when we are Christians. It’s why Paul could say with confidence,

    Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:35-37 ESV

    Jesus put it this way:

    I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:28-29 ESV

    Believers are sealed in by God. What a blessing.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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  • Created and Being Shaped Into His Image

    Genni the wonder dog - a border collie basset hound cross

    My desk has a clear glass top. Under that, I keep various pictures of family and some of our pets over the years. Among them is this shot of Genni the Wonder Dog.

    Genni was a border collie, basset hound cross we got at eight weeks. It was an accidental breeding, and the owner was en route to the SPCA with them. Genni adopted me on the spot and lived with us for many years until she passed.

    They say (whoever the great “they” is) that dogs resemble their owners. I saw this image of Genni and realized that the saying has some truth. There is a lot of truth in that saying. She’s long in the body, short in the legs, and has big fat feet. We’re three for three there. Fortunately, I’m the taller of the two and walk on two legs so that people can tell us apart.

    The resemblances between us got me thinking about the fact that we’re created in the image of God.

    Then God said, “Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27

    What does that mean? It doesn’t mean we look like Him, since we have physical bodies, we all look different and God doesn’t have a physical body. So it must refer to something else.

    We’re unlike all the other things or beings that God created. 

    We’re the only beings that Scripture describes as being created in His image (imago dei). We were made with a higher purpose, to rule over all the earth. Being created in His image is both an honor and a huge responsibility. When creation looks to people, it should see the image of God.

    What part of Him were we designed to reflect? His character and His personality. We were created to walk in holiness and righteousness. We were designed to walk in faithfulness and integrity. We were to have passion and compassion, loyalty and levity, love and light, and more. We were designed to be wise and selfless.

    Since the time of the Garden of Eden, we’ve been sinful people with sinful nature in a sin-filled world. We don’t reflect much of the image of God. Yet, for the believer, there are ways we can begin to resemble the one in whose image we were created.

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

    When we begin to exhibit the fruit of the spirit, we start in a small way to show the image of the Creator.

    That fruit comes with maturity (as indeed does all fruit). We mature in our walk through testing and trials, through worship, through giving, and through service. We mature when we spend time communing with Him in prayer, and in meditating on and studying the Word. The fruit doesn’t just happen; it must be nurtured.

    Until next time, rejoice in the fact that you were designed in His image and open your heart to being more like Him.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Created and Being Shaped Into His Image
    Reflections on the image of God
    God sees the big picture