INTO EXISTENCE

Time with Jesus - 6 Aug. 2013

Hi All,

Taking us to the Zoo

Do you remember the song, “Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow; zoo tomorrow; zoo tomorrow; Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow. We can play all day!”

It’s hard to forget! Although it was sung by an adult group, there was a sense of breathless excitement and anticipation in the words, only children really know! It’s a feeling or an experience buried deep within us, that becomes less familiar as we grow up and mature. 

Santa Clause

Perhaps mature is the wrong word. In this regard we don’t so much mature like a good wine. Instead we go stale like a piece of last year’s bread. The best illustration from my own life, was when I found out that there was no such person as Santa Clause or the tooth fairy.

The "Tooth Fairy"

As a little boy growing up, the prospect of what Christmas would bring, was breathless excitement of the highest quality. Almost simultaneously, as my baby teeth started to be pushed out, there was the excitement of putting the old tooth under the pillow on my bed and going to sleep. The next morning the tooth was gone. In its place was a shiny new six penny piece! Life was just beginning for me and these little things brought that childlike excitement. It began to fade as I became aware of what was really happening.

Today I am accused of teaching children to tell lies, with the suggestion of the idea of Father Christmas and the tooth fairy. It’s rather sad. People think that way and criticise those who “teach error” to children. Childhood is a time of great fantasy. Allow children to enjoy it. If the Lord tarries, the time will come when they too will be parents taking care of their own children. Let them enjoy their own fantasies. 

It’s a bit like sex education for six year old children. Surely it’s best to allow them to play and have fun while they are still children. For Phyllida and me, children are being pushed into adulthood too soon, thereby sacrificing their years of innocence.

God knows better than any of us the need for retaining innocence. 

"Light Be!"
and it was so.

After all, why did He commence creation? The best explanation I’ve heard is, God the Father so enjoyed fellowship with His Son and The Holy Spirit, He “thought” He would like a bigger family. How the Trinity went about putting all this in place is the story of Creation. 

God is always thorough. He leaves nothing to chance. In His dimension, there is no such thing as chance. So when He decides to do something, He already knows the best way to go about it. Against this background, our time space continuum was created. This is not the “time” to ask how long it took Him.

Creating our Time/Space Continuum

Creationists speak in terms of thousands of years. Evolutionists think in terms of billions of years. For what follows, take your pick. In any case, He is not constrained within the boundaries of either. He lives in the eternal “now”. So from Him, it’s only just happened!

When everything was prepared, God created man in His own image. We are all familiar with His creating Adam. What we sometimes don’t spot is that Adam was created innocent. The creation he was to take care of, was initially, only the Garden of Eden on this planet. We don’t know whether or not his responsibility would have extended into the distant galaxies later. 

It doesn’t matter. Adam was in a world that was sin free and death free. You and I don’t have the remotest idea what that was like. Certainly it was grossly different from what it is now.

God told Adam that he could eat anything he wanted in the Garden. (not animals) There was only one restriction spelled out to him in Genesis 2. ¹⁶ But the LORD God warned him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden ¹⁷ - except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die." Gen 2:16-17 NLT. Shortly thereafter, God gave him his wife – Eve!

Eve was
taken out of Adam

The story of the fall of man, is one with which we are all acquainted. What we may not have realised, is that God knew what would happen. Every detail from the “time” of creation was known in advance. Nothing was overlooked. Neither was it forgotten. (God never forgets anything) We are tempted to wonder what was in His mind as He breathed the breath of life into Adam. 

The answer is obvious. You cannot be surprised by what you already know perfectly. Paul stated this in his letter to the Ephesians. ⁴ Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. ⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. Eph. 1:4-5 NLT

They call it Science?

The implication of this is, God knew completely, all the details of every second in our time space continuum. He knew it before creation began. It follows that when this creation is replaced by the new one, all of us will be in a position to acknowledge, in spite of all our terrible history, the price was worth it. Don’t ask me how. I thought I might ask you.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 6 August 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	INTO EXISTENCE
You and I have a major problem when it comes to visualising eternity. Our closest approach is probably a ring. It’s more or less circular with apparently no beginning and no end. But a ring is not eternal in the sense that it goes round and round. If we start at point “A” we will eventually come round to point “A” again. Even a ring with an infinite diameter is not exactly “eternal” in the sense that God is eternal. We may never be able to arrive at point “A” again. But we know it is “there”. God’s “eternity” does not have a beginning nor an end. Instead it has a never ending “now”. Which means, no matter where we are in “time”, it is “now” with God. For us, this has a universal “spin off”. It means that at any point in our time, salvation is obtainable “now”. It also means that there is no such thing as eternity past and eternity future. It is always “now”. It also means, Jesus’ death on the cross is always “now”. In other words, those born before Jesus was crucified and those born after he was crucified were all saved “now”.  This also confounds the concept of “how long will people be in heaven or hell?” They will be there as “long” as God is “alive”. They will be dwelling in the ever present “now”. We have no way of describing this in a manner that is meaningful. What I believe we can say, is that Jesus’ death is somewhere in the middle of “now”. It also explains how we can say: 8 Everyone living on earth will worship it, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life. That book belongs to the lamb who was slaughtered before the creation of the world. Revelation 13:8 GW If nothing else, this proves one thing. Your and my salvation, through Jesus’ death on the cross, was catered for before God commenced creating. I don’t know what this does or says to you, but I’m utterly flabbergasted. This means that God knew all about the Crusades before they happened. He knew all about the holocaust in the Nazi concentration camps from before the beginning of time. He has always known the time, place and date of my birth, and the time, place and date of my death. People are often inclined to look at the world around them and complain bitterly about the way things are. Evil appears to be everywhere. Things look as though they are out of control. They ask why God doesn’t do something about it. The fact is He already has! Jesus Christ, slain before the foundation of the World! There is nothing He doesn’t know about and is beyond His control! I gasp when I think of this. It seems to be far too good to be true. But this does not take into consideration the power and knowledge of God. No matter what we may think, God is still in charge. Satan may seem to be giving Him the “run around”. But God knows all about that too. What I think is the most stunning conclusion about all this is: One day (if I may use such an expression) things will draw to a conclusion. God’s “whistle” will have blown and everything will have been dealt with. End times, judgement and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth will be “history”. Then in His infinite wisdom, God will point to all that has taken place; all the sin, disease, suffering and hate. Looking back at it all, He will ask the question “Was it worth it? We will look at Him and say, “Yes Father, You were right!” Jim & Phyllida Strickland			17 He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. 18 And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and--leading the resurrection parade--he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. Colossians 1:17-18 MSG	When you look at Jesus, what is it that you see? Upon first observation He looks ordinary. To see Him walking on the shore, I’m sure I’d double-take; And ask, “Is this man genuine, or is He just a fake?” I’m sure I couldn’t answer. What man can raise the dead? Who can say the sort of things that Jesus Christ has said? Who can clothe eternity with mortal flesh and bone? Who performs these miracles, save God and God alone? But it is so incongruous. That God may be a man! It seems to be impossible. No human being can, Enfold within his body incarnate Deity. Which person can believe it apart from you or me? And yet it is so obvious. There’s no alternative. Not if human beings are ever going to live. Unless the Lord takes action, each one of us are stuck. There is no other way the Lord could save us from the muck! And yet this is His purpose and very fascinating. One hundred million robots are easy in His making. But why would they obey Him? There’d be no other choice! They’d instantly obey the mere suggestion of His voice. But could they ever love Him? Not of their own free will. He’d have to give them choices if they were to fulfil, That which He intended when He started to create. Even with ability to govern their own fate! This would take great wisdom and many years of time. Freedom to obey Him, or embrace a life of crime. How intimidating and downright dangerous. When you think the outcome was creating all of us! Before He even started, He had to make a place, Suited for the purposes of all the human race. When it was completed, that’s when He next began, Creating men and women, generically called “man”. No one could resist Him. No one could tell Him “No!” No one could prevent it when He decided “Go!” He created Adam and a woman they called Eve Equipped with what was needed so that she could conceive! He knew just what would happen when Satan came along. And when He went ahead with it, He didn’t get it wrong! The pieces of the puzzle were firmly in His mind; And that the final outcome had been properly designed. It wasn’t all just guesswork. He knew that man would fall. And He had made provision for people great and small. He even planned the agony of dying on the cross. Though man was given freedom, it’s clear He’s still the boss. And even in this wicked world, He’s firmly in control. And not just of a little bit, I’m speaking of the whole! Jim Strickland Written 16th August 2012
			14 "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. Revelation 3:14 ESV
			22 "The LORD formed me from the beginning, before He created anything else. 23 I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began. Proverbs 8:22-23 NLT
			27 I was there when He established the heavens, when He drew the horizon on the oceans. 28 I was there when He set the clouds above, when He established springs deep in the earth. 29 I was there when He set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when He marked off the earth's foundations, 30 I was the architect at His side. I was His constant delight, rejoicing always in His presence. Proverbs 8:27-30 NLT
			13 "And that is not all! I have always been God, and I always will be. No one can save people from my powerful hand. When I do something, who can undo it?" Isaiah 43:13 NIrV
			8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. Revelation 13:8 TNIV
			2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 TNIV