Genesis 1:26

Genesis 1:26 says, 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.  People were created in the image of God.  I don't believe that this means that we look like God physically, but spiritually.  We have the ability to reason and to know right from wrong.  People were also created with a purpose.  We are to have dominion over all other creatures.  I believe this means that not only are other creatures there for our use, but we are to treat them responsibility.  We are God's caretakers of His creation.  This is about as far from evolution as you can get.  We cannot believe both, so as with all things, we have a choice.  Verse twenty-seven declares, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  God created men and women in His image.  We can either believe that life is the result of some cosmic accident or we can believe that it is the result of the creative activity of God.  Verse twenty-eight adds, And 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.  After being created in God's image, God blessed mankind.  Whether we accept it or not, we are a blessed creation of God.  As already stated, we are to be the caretakers of the earth and all that God created on it.  Verse twenty-nine proclaims, And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.  God said He gave people all the plants for their use.  Though some would say so, this does not mean that we are only to eat plants, since we know God later blessed the eating of meat.  Verse thirty says, And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.  We can either see this as God saying He gave every creature herbs to eat, or we can see it as God saying that He gave all these animals to man to use for food.  Verse thirty-one declares, And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.  God pronounced the creation of mankind as not only good, but very good, and then the sixth day ended and God's creation was finished.   I believe that is one problem with evolution.  Why did it stop with people?  With creation of all things by God we have the answer.  God was finished with creation.

Genesis1:14

Genesis 1:14 says, And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:  This is the creation of the stars, sun and moon.  They divide the day and night and set the seasons.  Verse fifteen continues, And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.  The purpose of the stars, sun and moon were to light the earth.  I know that there is a lot of debate today about life on other planets, but the Bible tells us everything in the heavens was created to support the earth.  We either believe that or we don't.  Verse sixteen adds, And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.  I believe that this was during the creation of the lights in the heavens and not a separate act after the other stars were created.  The sun lights the day, and to a lesser extent the moon lights the night.  Verse seventeen continues, And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,  Then verse eighteen concludes, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.  Once more, God called His creation good.  Verse nineteen says, And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.  Another day of God's creative period had passed.  Verse twenty says, And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.  This is the creation of the fish and the birds.  Verse twenty-one states, And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. After the seas were full of life and the heavens filled with birds, God saw that it was good.  The birds did not evolve from the sea life, but were created separately.  We either believe this or do not believe God's word.  Verse twenty-two declares, And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.  God blessed them and said for them to multiply. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.  That concluded the fifth day of creation.  Verse twenty-four says, And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.  This is the creation of all the animals.  Once more, we are not told that the animals on land evolved from the fish or the birds, but they were created.  Verse twenty-five declares, And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  All the animals were created distinctive.  One did not evolve into something else.  We will stop during the sixth day and look at the creation of mankind separately.

Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 says, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  We either accept this fact or not.  Some people attempt to totally deny or discredit creation based on science, or the knowledge of people.  Others attempt to explain creation with a combination of God creating, but doing so differently than the Biblical account.  I believe we either accept the Biblical account of creation, or we have to reject God altogether.  We cannot recreate God to suit our own beliefs.  Verse two states, And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  The earth was yet to be formed into its current shape and was void until the spirit of God moved upon it.  The world was dark.  Verse three declares, And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  God spoke light into existence on the earth.  God would later send a much greater Light, Jesus Christ, to redeem people of the world that had fallen into spiritual darkness.  Verse four adds, And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.   God saw that the light was good, and separated the light from the darkness.  Throughout the creating process, we will see that God called it good, so we must simply accept or reject that fact.  Verse five states, And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.  God called the division of light and darkness day and night, and this was the first day of creation.  We can debate whether this was a twenty-four hour period or not, but the implication is that it was.  I know that time has no meaning to God, but we can only accept what His word tells us by faith.  Verse six says, And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.  At this point, the earth was covered with water, then God separated the water.  Verse seven adds, And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.  God divided the water below the firmament, or the sky or Heaven, from the waters on the earth.   Verse eight adds, And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.  The firmament above God called Heaven.  This was the second day of creation.  Verse nine proclaims, And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.  Dry land appeared at God's direction.  Verse ten states, And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.  The earth was separated into the land and the seas.  I believe that God will keep them separated as long as the world stands.  Once more we are told that God saw this part of creation as good.  Verse eleven declares, And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.  God created the plants of the world.  Verse twelve adds,  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  This is just a statement that what God called for in the last verse happened, and that He declared it good.  Verse thirteen states, And the evening and the morning were the third day.  This was the third day, and God was halfway through His creative process.

We will review some of what Peter teaches us in his second letter.  We see that God gives us everything we need for salvation and to live in accordance with His will through faith in Christ.  Salvation is God's gift of grace to everyone who will accept it.  We are called to reach out to others with the love of God.  We may hate the actions of sinners, but we are to love them and want them to come accept the salvation of Christ.  We will not do this if we hate them.  We should live at peace in the world, because we are assured of our everlasting relationship with God.  We are changed in our nature, since we are now guided by the Holy Spirit.  Just like Peter, we must always remember the truth that salvation comes from Christ alone.  Peter witnessed the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and through faith we know this truth as well.  The life of Christ is not a myth or fable but is the truth of God.   We need to acknowledge that scripture, or the Bible, is not just for our own interpretation, but must be interpreted or understood under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We will never be led to an interpretation that is inconsistent with the teachings of the whole word of God.  We are warned that false teachers will come, as they have throughout the history of the world.  I believe some will be very subtitle, adding little lies to the gospel, and many who were close to salvation will be led astray.   We therefore must know what the word of God, the Bible, really says.  There are many people who would lead others away from the truth of God with promises of material riches or pleasure, but they are no better than animals when they do.  Also, we can be certain of the second coming of Christ.  We are to be at work sharing the gospel until this occurs or we pass from this world.  Christ will return when God says the time is right, and we do not need to spend time speculating on when that will be.

2 Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  The reason that Christ has not returned yet is that God is still giving as many people as possible the opportunity to repent and be saved.  If we are praying for Christ to return soon, then we are not exhibiting the same love for the lost that God does.  Verse ten adds, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Peter tells us that the Lord, or Christ, will return like a thief in the night as far as knowing when He will return.  I have said before that some people are convinced that the time is at hand, but we are told by God's word that we will never know the time.  We are simply to be ready and be at work sharing the gospel.  Unlike the birth of Christ, when He returns the world will be burned up.  Everyone, lost or saved, will know.  Verse eleven continues, Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,  If we believe that this is going to occur, that God's judgment is certain, then we are asked what manner of people should we be.  We should speak and live by the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twelve states, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?  We should look for the second coming in hope, and if we would hasten the day that it occurs, we must be witnessing daily for Christ.  This should be our concern, and even more so if we believe that the day is close.  We, like God, should hope that none would perish.  Verse thirteen adds, Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.  We are to have faith in God's promise of a new heaven and earth.  This is what we are to look forward to, and it will be a place with no sin or death.  Verse fourteen continues, Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.  If we are looking for this new heaven and earth, we must be diligent in our faith in God.  We can only be at peace with God and without spot or blemish by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse fifteen says, And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;  Peter tells us to count the long suffering of God in delaying the second coming as a time for others to claim the salvation of Christ.  Though some questioned the apostleship of Paul, Peter embraced him as a fellow apostle and said that Paul had been preaching and writing the same thing.  God does not have one truth for one follower of Christ and another truth for another believer.  Verse sixteen adds, As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.  Peter said that some of the things that Paul wrote were hard to understand by those that were unlearned and unstable.  Matthew Henry says this refers to those who have not truly accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, but who still attempt to interpret the gospel.  Verse seventeen continues, Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.  As followers of Christ, we know the truth of God's word, still we must be careful that we don't allow someone to lead us away from this truth.  The way to do that is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in all that we do.  Verse eighteen concludes, But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.  We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.  The world cannot teach us these things, but they are a gift from God through faith.  Therefore, we are to give God the glory now and forever.

2 Peter 3:1

2 Peter 3:1 says, This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:  Peter said that this was his second letter that he wrote to them, who would be the early believers in Christ.  He said he wanted to stir up their pure minds by way of remembrance.  We need to likewise stir up our pure minds today, remembering what Christ has done for us and keeping God's will foremost in our thoughts.  Verse two adds, That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:  Peter wanted those that he was writing to, to remember both those things spoken by the prophets before Christ came and the commandments of the apostles and of their Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  We must learn from both the Old and New Testament.  God does not change from one to the other.  Verse three continues, Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,  As this was true in the time of the early Christians, it is even more so today.  There are so many people today who would change what God's word says and call any who believe His word weak minded people who are being deceived.  They mock those who do follow Christ.  Verse four proclaims, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.  Unbelievers in the days of the early church were already asking when Christ was going to return.  They were saying that life was going on as it always had, so why should anyone put faith in the coming return of Christ.  As can be imagined, unbelievers are even more skeptical today, but we as followers of Christ must realize that Christ will return when the time is right.  Verse five adds, For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:  Peter reminded those who said that the world had always continued the same of the flood that destroyed nearly everyone in the days of Noah.  There are many people today who deny that the flood really happened or that God's judgment at the return of Christ is really going to happen, but they are wrong in both.  Verse six continues, Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:  God destroyed the world that existed in the time of Noah by water.  It was not some natural disaster, but the judgment of God.  Verse seven states, But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  God will sustain the world until He sends the second judgment of the world, when it will be destroyed by fire.  This is as certain as the promise to Noah.  I heard some say once that with the creation of nuclear weapons that God now had the capability to carry out this promise, but God Who controls everything in the universe has always had this power.  God has never needed the capability of people to carry out His promises.  Verse eight adds, But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  God's time is not our time.  We may say that it has been over two thousand years since Christ was crucified, but for God, it is no more than two days.  Even that is not totally accurate, since there is no earthly time with God.

2 Peter 2:12

2 Peter 2:12 says, But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;  This is speaking about those who refuse to listen to God's word.  Peter compares them to brute beasts, such as mules or oxen.  Verse thirteen adds, And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;  Peter warns that those who refuse to acknowledge God's word and accept salvation through Christ will be rewarded for their unrighteousness.  God does not send people to hell, but He allows them to go there if they so choose.  Those who deny Christ deceive themselves and feast on, or misuse, those who are followers of Christ.  Verse fourteen continues, Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:  Peter lists some of the ways that the unrighteous act.  They are full of adultery and cannot stop sinning.  They beguile others who are unstable in their souls, or faith.  Some people attempt to live by faith and sight, not being willing to totally commit to Christ, and are easily deceived by those who would lead them to some other way to salvation.  Verse fifteen declares, Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;  There are really only two ways to live.  One is the right way by following Christ in faith, and the other is following the ways of the world.  Some will always choose the way of the world, even claiming to follow another god.  We must choose to follow Christ and call others to do so as well, with both our words and our actions.  Verse sixteen adds, But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.  Peter was referring to when Balaam was told by God not to go speak to the king, but was going anyway, and his ass, or donkey, spoke to him to stop him.  Balaam was a prophet of God who was refusing to listen to God.  We are even dumber than the animals when we refuse to listen to God's word.  Verse seventeen continues, These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.  Those who oppose and teach others to oppose God are like wells without water or clouds blown in every direction by the wind.  They cannot offer any real relief or direction to life but are always walking in darkness.  God alone can bring us living water and everlasting light, and He does so through our acceptance of Christ.  Verse eighteen states, For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.  Those who deny God would tempt others with empty promises and the allure of the temptation of the flesh.  We who follow Christ can be cleansed from all unrighteousness that the world would tempt us with.  Verse nineteen adds, While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.  Even as the lost of the world claim to be free to do whatever they want to without being bound by God's law; they are servants of corruption.  We either serve God or we serve Satan.  If we refuse to follow God, we will always be under the bondage of sin.  Verse twenty continues, For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.  I don't believe that this refers to losing one's salvation but refers to those who temporarily follow the teachings of God but never accept Christ as their Savior and Lord.  It is even harder for such a person to then accept Christ.  Verse twenty-one proclaims, For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.  Peter tells us it is better to have never heard the gospel than to hear it and turn away from it.  This does not mean that we are not to share the gospel.  Verse twenty-two adds, But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.  Though this may not be a pretty picture, it is an accurate comparison to those who temporarily obey God's word and then turn away from it.  This can refer to those who only accept God's word intellectually for a while without ever accepting Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Still, even if our salvation is secure, we may find ourselves wallowing in the slop of the world if we do not keep God's word in our heart.