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| Volume 25 Number 2 February 2023 |
Page 6 |
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| Volume 25 Number 2 February 2023 |
Page 6 |
Gary C. Hampton
Ruth Pearson is a dear Christian in Cookeville, Tennessee. She is now battling cancer. The chemotherapy she is receiving is so severe that her blood count, both white and red, is dropping precipitously. The doctor told her to stay away from crowds. Ruth expressed her disappointment, and he asked her where she wanted to go. She told him that she wanted to go to worship. He said, “You can go to church. Just stay away from the people.” Ruth told me she thought the church was the people.
She is, of course, right. Peter described Christians “as living stones” and went on to say they were “being built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5 NKJV). Paul said God’s people are “built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). He asked the church in Corinth, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
One interesting feature of Paul’s trip to Rome as a prisoner was the power of getting to visit with God’s people. Julius, the Roman centurion who had charge of the apostle, permitted him to be cared for by his friends in Sidon (Acts 27:3). Paul and his companions found brethren at Puteoli and were invited to stay with them seven days, which may mean they wanted to partake of the Lord’s supper with them (Acts 28:13-14; cf., 20:6-7). Brethren from Rome came as far as Appii Forum and the Three Inns, resulting in Paul growing in courage and thanking God (Acts 28:15).
Assembling with God’s people is one of the great blessings of being part of the church, the body of Christ. Spending time studying God’s Word together, working with one another and generally helping each other are continual sources of encouragement. Let us not stay away from the people, but instead, let’s treasure our time together and help one another on Heaven’s road.
The Importance of Creation
Adam Cozort
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5 NKJV)
With these words, the greatest of all books begins. These words are the foundation upon which everything else in the book is based. If these words are true, then everything else stands on its foundation. If these words are false, then nothing else said in the book matters because it begins with a lie.
There are many today who want to claim the opening sections of Genesis are nothing more than legend, bearing no more sense of reality than any other origin story out there. Many, even while stating that they believe in God, will argue that these opening chapters aren’t all that important, can’t be trusted, and what we should really focus on is Jesus.
However, what they don’t understand is without this account, the rest of the Bible falls apart. Without the creation, there is no Creator of all things to come and save us from our sins (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17). Without the creation, it is Jesus, not Satan who was a liar from the beginning and the father of all lies (John 8:44). Without the creation, there is no hope, for there can be no trust (Hebrews 6:17-19).
Genesis 1 is the core of everything. We believe in the evidence for God, and we believe the evidence for Jesus. Do we believe their claims or not? The answer is of eternal consequence.
[Editor’s Note: Doubtlessly, the masses in the world are anxious to lay aside not only the foundational doctrines of Genesis but also the entirety of the Bible. For you see, without a Creator from Whom mankind came forth, but additionally the One Who makes the rules by which humanity is expected by Him to live, there is no universal recognition of authority – no acknowledgment of even the existence of sin. Without God Who created all things, anything and everything is allowed. Glancing at or listening to media – or even looking to one’s own community – we see that godless theory played out daily – and it’s not a pretty picture. God did a reset once with a universal flood, and He plans on another, but final, universal, worldwide catastrophe (2 Peter 3:10-13). ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]