CREATION

God Created the Heavens
and the Earth

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 05 June 2013

Hi all,

Popcorn

One or two of us may remember the show “Wait a Minim” It was a successful South African show. Several of the songs are still remembered today. Perhaps the best remembered was “Ag pleez Deddy”. It contained expressions that are still uniquely South African. 

As I think back on the words they cause me to smile. Today, they are also not entirely politically correct. But I am quoting the original words of the song. I first heard it while living in England, so I can’t deny they were first heard with a touch of nostalgia for my homeland. 

Peanuts

Some of the lyrics were as follows: “Ag pleez Deddy won’t you take us to the drive in, all six, seven of us eight, nine, ten, We “wanna” see a flick about Tarzan an the Ape-men. When the show is over you can bring us back again.” The chorus was, “Popcorn, chewing gum, peanuts an bubble gum, ice cream, candy floss an Eskimo Pie. Ag deddy how we miss “nigger balls” an licorrice, Pepsi-Cola, ginger beer an Canada Dry”.

Bubble Gum

If nothing else, this reminds me vividly of my parents. They were living in South Africa and I was in England. There were only the three of us. Dad, Mom and me! We had a good relationship. It’s hard to know if it was “close” In many ways, they were still living in the past and were unfamiliar with “modern” family “style” living. 

Ice Cream

But we were always happy together. I held my father in very high regard until the day he died. He had set the pattern while I was very young and there was never any need for this to change. He wasn’t perfect by any means. But he was a good role model and to this day I’m proud of him and all his many accomplishments.

Candy Floss - Cotton Candy

Dad had an elder half-brother. His name was Charlie. He emigrated to Canada in 1930. Those were the early days of the depression so there was no work for him in UK. Charlie had a passion for Jesus. He had been something of an amateur preacher in his younger days. So when I gave my heart to Jesus in 1960, Dad was familiar with the sort of behaviour he could expect from me. Not once did he make any negative comment about my commitment to Jesus. In a way, I think he was rather pleased. He did phone me in 1986 to say that they had both (mom & dad) made a commitment to Jesus. Phyllida and I were thrilled!

Eskimo Pie

Dad was probably a Darwinist. Not that he was persuaded. In those days, it was a bit like the flu. Everybody got it. Then, because it was the prevailing belief of the day, he accepted it. The thought that it was incorrect didn’t cross his mind. He had swallowed it hook line and sinker. Not that I blame him. It was widely accepted by my school friends. I was in a Roman Catholic School but this topic wasn’t even discussed. Darwinian evolution was believed to be correct in much the same way that people once believed the earth was flat. The fact that it was at variance with Scripture was irrelevant.

It was 20 years after my commitment to Jesus that I began to question Darwin’s ideas. By the time I met and married Phyllida, it was no longer a question. We are both committed creationists and will go to the grave convinced that God made everything. It’s the only system that makes sense!

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

God Created the World in 6 days
On the Seventh He Rested from Creating.

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 05 June 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	CREATION
There is a huge difference between questioning God and asking Him questions. The issue here is challenging His authority. By way of explanation I’ll illustrate from my own experience with my father. In his own special way, my father loved me and in my own special way I loved, respected and held him high regard. I suspect most of us know what I mean because of their relationship with their fathers and sons. Whatever we did as a family, my dad made the final decision. Of course my mom and I had an input into his decision. But when it was taken, there was no further argument considered. If I moaned and groaned, Dad would deal with me appropriately. As I grew older, the more He valued my opinion. But the final decision was his. He would “truck” no challenge to his authority. To question that authority was a “no-no”. On the other hand he loved my asking him questions. He would do his best to explain comprehensively. When I could add anything to the subject, he more than welcomed it. I was not challenging his authority. It was a quiet chat between a father and son. On reflection, these were precious moments that happened all too infrequently. In many ways, our dealings with the Lord are similar. He is omniscient. He takes pleasure in helping us with questions. The best example I can think of was an Afro-American called George Washington Carver. (January 1864 – January 5, 1943) He became a Christian at the age of 10. He prayed and asked the Lord to please help him unlock the secrets of the peanut. Progressively over the years this is exactly what happened. Carver explored peanut and many other related technologies. Carver was not challenging God. He was asking God questions. The result is that God delighted to answer him. Today, the world has more or less adopted Darwin’s theory. What has happened is that the world has rejected creationism. In this they have challenged God. As a result more and more people have turned from the light of God into the darkness of human imagination. Those who choose to continue with this will be allowed to proceed.. Paul expressed it as follows: 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. Romans 1:22 NLT Read Romans 1:18-2, you will find the process described in detail. Does it matter if unbelievers unite against anything the Lord has said? Paul states in Romans 3:4 “Let God be true and every human being a liar”. So what really happened? Why did God create man? None of us have the complete answer. I certainly don’t pretend to understand the thinking of the Almighty. What I’ve put together is a possible scenario explaining what creation was all about and fitting it into what we know of the creation story. It happens to be my own opinion which has been strongly influenced by the teachings of David Pawson. In particular I am taken with his reason for the entire creation. He states that God so enjoyed fellowship with His Son and the Holy Spirit, He thought He would like a bigger family. In other words, everything He did culminated in the creation of Adam. It has also been suggested that He was looking for a “bride” for His Son. I’ve “cobbled these ideas together” and come up with the scenario described in the poetry section on the right. Am I correct? Perhaps some of it is correct. To what extent, is not important. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			14 For He knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust. Psalms 103:14 NLT 7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person. Genesis 2:7 NLT 14 I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, when I was being skilfully woven in an underground workshop. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was only a foetus. Every day of my life was recorded in your book before one of them had taken place. Psalms 139:14-16 GW 10 Don't we all come from one Father? Aren't we all created by the same God? So why can't we get along? Why do we desecrate the covenant of our ancestors that binds us together? Malachi 2:10 MSG 28 "For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Acts 17:28 TNIV 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. Psalms 103:13 ESV 38 Yet He was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times He held back His anger and did not unleash His fury! 39 For He remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns. Psalms 78:38-39 NLT	We’ve no idea how long it’s been since God began creation. The trouble is, it’s subject to our human speculation. Put it to the scientists and they do not agree. If that’s the case, there’s not much point in people asking me. But I am a Creationist. I’ve put my faith in God! And many people think that I am something rather odd. But I will not apologise; my faith in Him is sure. And all the things that He has made continue to endure. But where do people come from? Not from a ball of slime! The Darwinists suggest they do.  But that’s a waste of time. To say that we are here because of purely random chance. Is something like our teaching pigs the skills to ballroom dance. The one way it could happen is intelligent design. Another way of saying it was done by the Divine. He tells us how He did it. By using mud and clay. He squeezed it all together in a rather special way. He moulded it collectively and shaped it like a man. Then breathed the breath of life in it. That’s how it all began. I don’t know how He did it; not scientifically. But that is what He told us and that’s good enough for me. Adam was the reason why creation had begun! Father, Son and Spirit were having so much fun, They thought that They would like to have a bigger family. And all of the creation was so that this thought could be. Then, step by step and year by year, they put it all in place, Until the Lord of heaven looked at Adam in the face. But only just one person could not possibly suffice. They thought a “bride” for Jesus was surely very nice. And since the Lord is infinite, they needed quite a few. His bride would be a composite of folk like me and you. I do not know how many. The number’s been concealed. But some day in the future, all will be revealed. Then you and I will constitute the bride whom He will wed, Along with the believers who’ve risen from the dead. Jesus will be bridegroom and we will be His bride. And all the gender issues the Lord will put aside. Will the Holy Trinity increase and number four? It’s only supposition. We don’t know any more. Will the bride and bridegroom bring forth a family? I honestly can’t tell you with any certainty. But this one thing is certain. Where Jesus is adored, Nothing is impossible as Jesus Christ’s reward. Jim Strickland Written 5th June 2012.