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Tag: Man made upright

Thanksgiving Series: God, The Redeemer

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On January 13, 2016

In Christian, Christmas, Perspectives, Thanksgiving

Psalm 136 can be touted as the “The Psalm of Thanks” or the “Thanksgiving Psalm.” It is a Psalm that is rich in content, apropos the character of God and since each verse in the Psalm is suffixed with “For his mercy endures forever”, it is a Psalm that is easy to read and memorize as well.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, giving thanks for the ultimate reason of sending us his only begotten Son, we will be looking at each verse in Psalm 136 and glean out the character of God from these verses, which would be reason enough to be grateful and give thanks to our LORD God.

Today we look at Verse 24.
And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

This verse starts with the word “and” implying that God not only remembered his people (as the previous verse stated) but also redeemed them from their enemies. God is not only a God, who remembers his people and leaves them in their low estate. Instead, God is an Action God who acted on the situation that his people were subjected to, due to their own disobedience, and redeem them for their enemies.

Points to ponder:
On Christmas, God acted on the situation of hopelessness that was the outcome of man’s disobedience and sin, and sent his son to redeem us, whom he remembered in our state of being slaves to sins. Man was made (deemed) upright when God created him (for he was created in the image of God), but man sought to follow his own downward path  (Ecclesiastes 7:29; KJV & NLT) and disobeyed God, which warranted God to send us his son, to Re-Deem us worthy of being upright before God. Jesus redeemed us from the enemy – Satan and his power, which is death – for everyone who believes in Jesus shall have eternal life. Are you redeemed? In other words, do you believe in Jesus as your Lord, Savior, King and Redeemer?

Psalm 136:24 (KJV)
24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.

The origin of giants; No more (earthly) giants!

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On November 26, 2013

In Christian, Genesis, Through the Bible

Genesis 6:1-4 gives the account of the origin of giants in the earth. The giants (Nephilim) were the result of an unintended union between the sons of God and the daughters of men. The Bible does not explicitly state the identity of these sons of God. Some have speculatively attempted to explain that these sons of God were the godly human descendants from the line of Seth (Adam’s son) who married the daughters from the ungodly line of Cain. However, this speculation has no Scriptural confirmation, and even falls short scientifically. Scientifically, to produce a giant, we need the giant gene. When God created man, he was made upright (perfect) (Ecclesiastes 7:29) meaning that there was no mutation. So mutation should have come about after the sin of man and while gigantism is a potential result of a mutation, this should be most evident in the ungodly line of Cain and not of Seth who were godly (Genesis 4:26). So the sons of God, could not be the sons of Seth.

The Scripture does speak of the identity of the sons of God. In the Biblical book of Job, the “sons of God” phrase is used to refer to angelic beings  (Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7), which makes us understand that the sons of God were fallen angels. These fallen angels saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and married whomever they chose and had children. These children are described as giants or Nephilim; men who were mighty and renowned.

Even though this identity is Scriptural, the identity of the sons of God as the fallen angels has also come under question. First, how could angelic spirit beings have physical and sexual intimacy with human flesh? One explanation to answer this question, is that these fallen angels possessed men who mated with the women they took as wives. However, this is purely conjecture, while not impossible. A more plausible explanation supported by the Scripture is that God created his angels, with the ability to take human form with physical attributes including sexual capabilities. The Bible gives the account of Abraham entertaining angels with a physical meal which they ate (Genesis 18:7), an angel of the Lord wrestling with Jacob physically (Genesis 32:22-32); the people of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to have vile sexual relations with the angels who had come to their city (Genesis 19). So the most plausible explanation is that these fallen angels manifested themselves in physical human form and had unintended sexual union with women. This is unintended because God intended man and woman to multiply (Genesis 1:28), not angels and women to multiply. Second, the scripture states that angels do not marry (Matthew 22:30), then how could the sons of God be (fallen) angels?. While the Scripture says that angels do not marry, it does speaks of the angels in heaven not the ones who had fallen. Angels like men were created for God’s purposes, but just as man fell, disobeying God and choosing his own way over God’s, so did the angels fall (Revelation 12:4) and can disobey and choose their own ways against God. Finally, one could ask , why is it that we do not have giants today, as in the olden days, for there are certainly fallen angels (demons) that we see manifested in possessions, even today? To answer this question, we need to go to the Biblical book of Jude, which states in Jude 1:6 that God has reserved the fallen angels, who kept not their first estate, but who left their habitation (of the heavens to dwell with women on earth), bound in everlasting chains under darkness, until his judgment. Interestingly, Jude records about these angels, right before he speaks of the evil people of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah who went after strange flesh (Jude 1:7). To these fallen angels, women were strange flesh and yet they willfully chose to not live within the authority that God had given them.

Points to ponder:
Giants came about by the unholy union of the heavenly sons of God with the earthly daughters of men whom they saw were beautiful. With the unholy origin of giants, God says, that his Spirit can no longer put up with man for a long time and restricts the normal lifespan of man to a 120 years, in contrast to what man lived before such union. What are some of the beautiful things of the earth that attract us? What are some of the giants we create by unholy affection and intimacy to such earthly things? Remember, any giant we create is only to be short-lived with a finite lifespan, so let us as children (sons and daughters) of God set the Most High God our habitation (Psalm 92:9) and not be conformed to the patterns of this world (Romans 12:1). In other words, let us seek to have no more earthly giants!

Genesis 6:1-4 (KJV)
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Jude 1:6-8 (KJV)
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

man as God which led to God as man

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On July 9, 2013

In Christian

The first part Genesis 3:22 states that the Lord God said, “Behold, the man is become one of us, to know good and evil: …”

Now first and foremost it is important to recognize that God did not say, “Man is God”, but God said that “the man is become one of us” The reference to the One God here as “us” refers to the trinity of God in three persons, who is still One God, much like in the same manner, God said, “Let us make man in our own image.” Second, it is important for us to know, the context in which man had become as God, as well. Man had become as God, in the context of knowing good and evil. When God created man (and for that matter all of creation), God declared that it was all good. Man was created in God’s own image, innocent without blemish as a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Even though he was naked, he felt no shame, because of his uprightness. Now man did not know what evil was or its wages until after he sinned – when he felt the shame of his nakedness, that made him want to hide from God.

God knew both good and evil. He knew what was good for he declared his creation as good. God knew what was evil and its effect of being separated from God, for one of his own created angels, Lucifer rebelled against him with iniquity (sin/evil) in his heart, that led to his downfall from the presence of God (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14). Lucifer becomes the adversary (Satan) of God and he knew what it meant to be evil for he personified it.

Man did not know evil, for he was created upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29) but the serpent deceived the woman and through her the man into knowing what evil is. Like God, now man knew both good (fellowship with God) and evil (separated from God for unrighteousness can have no communion with Holiness).

Points to ponder:
Because of man’s disobedience/sin, God had to say, “Behold, the man is become one of us, to know good and evil: …” Because of man’s disobedience/sin, God had to also say, “Behold, I have to become as one of man, to undo the evil and its wages (which is the need to hide from God, and be eternally separated to him by second death), with good.” (Philippians 2:7-8). For when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his Son (Jesus Christ) to be made of a woman (God made as man), to redeem man, so that man can be made upright again as children of God (Galatians 4:4). Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, the Only begotten Son of God, made of a woman, so that you could receive the adoptions as a child of God, innocent without blemish?

Genesis 3:22 (KJV)
22 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:

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (KJV)
29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

Galatians 4:4-5 (KJV)
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Philippians 2:5-9 (KJV)
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

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