Category Archives: Creation

Materials for a lesson in the His Story Module.

Autobiographical, Creation

Dream – Lessons in Creativity from the Creator

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Knock, knock, knock!  I had heard that sharp sound before in middle of the night, and it had woken me up before, on at least two occasions.  The last two times I initially thought it was someone knocking on the door downstairs but then realised it had just been a dream, turned over and went back to sleep.  But a bit like the young Samuel in the bible, this third time I realised that this was actually God trying to get my attention.

“Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20).

So I went to open the door and there Jesus was, all white and shining and making the inside of my head house look positively disgraceful.  I stood awkwardly at the door, saying that the place wasn’t tidy and, actually, it was quite dirty in places and I didn’t think it was ready for him to come in.

1078-reclaimed-wood-dining-table-1

But he countered by saying that he was friends with sinners and quite used to that kind of condition and could he come in anyway?

He came in and sat down on the other side of the rough wooden table that seemed to be the main piece of furniture in my head room.  It was no great shakes, in fact all the artefacts that I had in the room looked rough and unfinished.

I had “stumbled upon” a site on creativity before I went to bed.  In it Scott Berkun makes the profound observation that “an idea is a combination of other ideas”.

Jesus sat at the table and I talked to him about that.  He said to make him a meal, it seemed that he had a cake in mind in particular.  I went to my cupboards and started looking for ingredients.  I was quite happy because I seemed to have some really good ingredients in the cupboards.

And then the dream stopped or I woke up or something.

By “God-incidence” my daughter was making a cake the next morning.

Now a cake is not an intuitive thing.  Mixing a combination of raw eggs, sugar, flour and butter together in a bowl (in the right order) and then putting it into an oven for a certain time at the right temperature is not something that is easy to think up.  It is hard to imagine that those ingredients put together would make something that, in combination, is so different from its constituent parts.

But of course that is what God does all the time.  He is the only original thinker.  He came up with the basic building blocks and put them together in different combinations so that we would get the idea.  A soft metal (sodium) combined in the right way with a poisonous gas (chloride) give us a flavour enhancer and preserver (common table salt).  Two gases combined together in the right way give us water.  And so it goes on.  God has about 90 ingredients that he combines in the most creative ways imaginable.  His favourite ingredient is carbon and his favourite combination is water.   Its another study altogether to look into why that might be so.

So now I’m going to bring out my ingredients and ask God for a recipe that pleases him.

Creation, General Principles

The Heavens declare the glory of God

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The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Psalm 19:1-6

There is so much to be learnt from a study of the physical heavens that everyone can see.  A wonderful example is the true story about the Star of Bethlehem which is quite astonishing and easily verifiable by anyone with a program that shows planetary positions 2 millennia ago.

Even simpler examples of what God wants to say to man abound in the way He created the heavens.  We have a song that we sing in Open Arms which says “Jesus at the centre of it all” and indeed He is.  And as a picture in this physical world He has put a representation of God, i.e. the Sun, at the centre of all the planets which revolve around it.

These planets include our own.   Before Copernicus said otherwise people used to think that the earth was the centre of the universe and that everything revolved around us. But God had made it so that the centre would represent Him not us and in fact everything revolves around Him.  Jesus at the centre.

Another similar example is to be found in the rotation of the earth.  As the earth turns on its axis we revolve towards the sun and then away from it and so night comes followed by day.

It is a daily reminder that if we turn away from God we will be in darkness, as we turn towards him we are in the light.

Similarly the moon often is seen as representing the devil.  It is barren and lifeless, but even it can reflect the glory of God when turned to His purposes.  Its courses are set and sometimes it even obscures the sun, sometimes partially, more rarely totally and only ever to a limited number of observers.  Likewise evil can sometimes arise and seem to obscure all that is good but that is a rare event.  Even in a total eclipse there is light around the edges, the moon can never completely shut out the light of the sun and neither can evil ever completely block out all good.  Even at its worse it is actually just an illusion, the sun still shines as strong as ever behind the moon, just as God’s power and glory is not lessened in any degree by the worst evil of men.

Some people say that before the Old Testament began to be written by Moses that some of the descendants of Shem, Noah’s son, could tell you the story of redemption from the patterns God wrote into the stars.  This may have been what David meant when he said: “Day unto day utters speech,  And night unto night reveals knowledge.”   Then again it doesn’t have to, there is enough out there that reveals knowledge without having to dig very deeply at all.

Today must have been one of the most gloriously bright days I have experienced out here in the countryside of Kildare.  It was all light without much heat…hmm.. I’m sure there is more knowledge to be revealed in there somewhere.

Creation, General Principles, His Story

Expert Witness

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A major part of my work these days involves being an expert witness at court trials. Expert witnesses are highly prized in court for their ability to explain the truth about various technical matters in a way that an untrained jury can understand. Or at least they should do that. Expert witnesses are normally completely immune from prosecution. In the UK there has only ever been one successful case taken against an expert witness which went to the supreme court there. In Ireland there hasn’t been any.

I usually give evidence in criminal prosecutions and normally on the side of the DPP (State). It actually doesn’t matter to me which side I am on since the truth will always work on the side of the innocent and against the guilty. Jesus explains this very well in John 3: 19 – 21:

“19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

On a number of occasions recently I have said to the prosecuting barristers the following: “Surely if the defendant is innocent he would be delighted with this evidence since he would point to it and say: “See I told you, this evidence backs my story up.” But if he is guilty then he would try and discredit the evidence and say “it is not good evidence”. ”

I’ve observed exactly that happen on a number of occasions recently. Once the defending barrister took so long cross examining me that I had the opportunity to say something similar in the witness stand. Several members of the jury looked at me and nodded their heads or smiled. I suppose it was no surprise then that the defendant was convicted.

Something very similar happens when I share the Gospel. Very often people will try and say that that is not good evidence when it is presented, despite the obvious truth of it. The Bible would stand up in court as expert witness material any day. As Jesus says: “the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48).

More evidence that demands a verdict can be found at www.Bethlehemstar.net. Even if the Bible itself was not evidence enough for Jesus being the Son of God the astronomical evidence about the Star of Bethlehem alone would be enough to prove it in court. And what about any detailed study of creation? See www.Creation.com for example.

But as I said to one of the engineers at work recently who, of all people, depend on the truth about creation to do their work (it won’t work unless they are aware of how God has made things whether they acknowledge Him or not): “Even with this evidence people still will not believe.”

But what will they do in the end?

Creation, General Principles, heaven

Three ways of looking at anything

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Paul went into the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) and there are a number of other indicators in the Scriptures that there are three heavens as of now.

  1. The first one is the one we can see, the universe outside this earth that extends to 15 billion light years or so it seems. We don’t know too much about it but at least we can see some of it with our eyes and various forms of telescopes.
  2. The second one is mentioned in a few places such as Ephesians 6:12 and is the place where the devil reigns.
  3. The third one is described in Revelation. Moses made a copy of it in the Tabernacle (Hebrews 11:23,24). Paul was not the only human to go to the third heaven, Moses, John, Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekial all went there and probably a few others.

There is a hierarchy in the three heavens. God in the third rules over the other two and the second one rules over the first. Unless you are “in Christ” who is seated in the third heaven (Eph. 1:20) you are inevitably under the second heaven whether you know it or not. Or at least that is what the Scripture says. And we know who rules the second heaven.

So there are three ways of looking at everything:
1) From the third heaven: God’s viewpoint, totally in control, no surprises for Him and all He does is in love, justice, mercy and grace. As an example, God’s view of a faithful Christian’s death is that He called him/her home when He had decided they had accomplished all that they needed to accomplish and blessed all they could from down here. The “well done good and faithful servant” awaited him/her. This is the viewpoint of predestination.
2) The view from the second heaven. The devils and angels fight it out for the souls of men. Personally I don’t spend much time thinking of things from this point of view. Suffice to say you had better know what you are doing if you get involved in that conflict.
3) The view from the first heaven. This is the view of man where people make choices that determine their final destiny. The really important choices are all to do with accepting or rejecting God’s words. This is the Arminian viewing place for those familiar with those views.

If you want you can think of a faithful Christian’s death from the viewpoints of the other two heavens.  I think a lot of people do.  However, I for one am going to line my views up with God’s.  Ok, maybe I don’t know exactly what He is thinking of the brother /sister or all about why He called him/her home just now.  But imagining what He is thinking sure beats imagining how the devil or men are thinking about it.

Creation, Discipleship Series, General Principles

Hidden

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The  Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory (John 1:14).

We are creatures variously described in the bible as an earthen vessel (2 Cor. 4:7); a branch (John 15:4), a member of His body (1 Cor. 12:27) but even in those descriptions there is something more than just a creature described.  We contain God Himself in some way, just like the body of Mary did and the earthly body of Jesus did and now the heavenly body of Jesus does also.  When you are born again a connection occurs with God that is beyond a simple creature/ creator relationship.  Its the relationship of a family.

So if that is the case then why are we not all Supermen?  Surely we should be imbued with astonishing, miraculous powers and be able to conquer the world, etc.

I think that some of us will be in positions of power in the ages to come if we are found worthy of that.  The way we are found worthy is by continuing to abide in the crucified Christ for crucified is the way He has chosen to live through us in this age (Gal. 2:20, 6:14).

God is regularly misunderstood, spat at, despised and dishonoured in this world for so He has chosen that it should be.  His aim is to have a remnant that love Him not because they have to, or because there is anything to gain in this life by doing so or even just because we will have a great position in His kingdom to come but because He loves us and is lovely.  Its the great romance at the heart of a lot of films.  We are being wooed by Him who appears to us in pauper’s clothes but is in fact the prince of the realm.  He asks us to join Him and be like He is, with the glory hidden in a jar of clay for a time (2 Cor. 4:7).

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  

Colossians 3:3,4.

He is worth waiting for and He thinks you are too.

Creation, Eschatology, General Principles, heaven, Worship & Song

The Sea

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Many years ago a preacher pointed out the curious statement at the beginning of Revelation 21:  

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.  Also there was no more sea.”

I’ve been thinking about that ever since (among other things).

Now I am going to make some bold statements about it all and back it up with some Scriptures.

  • The sea that is referred to is the one before the throne in the “old” heaven, i.e. the heaven that is there now (Rev. 4, 5).
  • This heaven is also known as the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) and is the place where God’s throne currently is.
  • The sea (Rev. 4:6) is the way time and events on earth look like to an observer in the third heaven (Dan. 7:2,3; Rev. 13:1).  Spirits (winds) blow upon it and things are stirred up and come up out of the sea before the throne.  However the most wonderful sight is that of the spirits of men worshipping God (Hebrews 12:22-24; Rev. 15:2).

So why is there no more sea when the new heaven comes along?

Well there is no more time nor difference between the spirit and the flesh in the new heaven.  In this life the life of this mortal body is in the blood (Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:11,14), in the new heaven the life of the immortal body will be in the spirit (Luke 24:39; 1 Cor. 15:44).  When we are seen in the existing heaven it is our spirits that are seen.  However in the new heaven we will be body and soul with the Lord forever.

There is also a very clear picture about being born again here.  What happens when we are born again?  Well, a baby moves from a place of breathing and living in water to breathing and living in air.  So we too, according to this picture of rising above the surface of the sea in heaven, move from death beneath the waves to life in the spirit above them.  The first time we do this is when we are raised together with Christ from death to life when we are born again.  I believe that walking in the spirit means walking on water (on the sea) which explains one of the main points of that miracle (Matthew 14:22-33; John 6:19).

So if it helps you, the next time you are worshipping God either on your own or at church imagine that your spirit is rising up out of the sea before God’s throne in the third heaven.  Because that may very well be what is actually happening (cf. Hebrews 4:16).