Tag Archives: God´s creation

Creation – Six-Day Journey…

Articles November 1, 2021 Leave a comment

 

“Then God said …;” “And it was so …;” simply denote the authority of our Creator God…“And God saw that it was good;” “and behold, it was very good;” speak absolutely of the excellence of God.”

Cecy Yépez

Following the commitment of “Towards Excellence” we now share a second excerpt from the study “The God of creation as author and example of excellence”, this time focused on the extraordinary six-day journey in which the wonderful creation took place.

It is important to mention that the English version of this article has been translated from the Spanish version of Towards Excellence (https://hacialaexcelencia.org/2021/11/01/creacion-una-jornada-de-seis-dias); not from the original texts and works of authors here cited. The Bible verses used are from NASB.

So, sit back and let’s briefly travel through time!

Herbert Wolf states that Genesis was written as the prologue to the rest of the Bible. In general terms, Genesis expounds on the origin of the universe, the physical world, human life, cultures and certainly the nation of Israel. All this without considering the detailed explanation of how sin entered this world and how it ruined God’s original creation.[1]

It is interesting that throughout the creation account the frequency of at least 4 phrases to which much attention should be paid is observed: “Then God said …;” “And it was so …;” “And God saw that it was good; ““And behold, it was very good”.

The first two sentences: “Then God said …;” “And it was so …;” simply denote the authority of our Creator God. His Word is truthful and trustworthy. What God says that is fulfilled. As it is stated in Psalm 33: 8-9 (NASB):

“Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood firm.”TE.Palm33

The second two sentences: “And God saw that it was good;” “and behold, it was very good;” speak absolutely of the excellence of God. But these last two sentences are definitely connected with the first two. God declares His Word with authority and truthfulness, consequently His decrees are executed, and they are executed with undoubted excellence.

Don Fleming, author of the “Concise Bible Commentary,” in his section “Plan of the Genesis account,” states that the Earth constitutes only a small part of God’s creation. And he adds:

“The Genesis account is concerned with showing that God made everything from nothing, that He worked from what is without form to what has form, from the simple to the complex. He describes how He led the universe through various stages until His creative activity reached its climax in Adam and Eve.” (Fleming 1994)

Thus, it is time then to travel through part of the great creative work of God. Let us start our imagination for this journey…a journey that originally lasted six days, exposed in Genesis 1: 1 – 2: 3. And for this purpose, we will quote again Fleming, who in a simple but dynamic and creative way, superbly synthesizes this work:

At first the earth was shapeless and in darkness, due to the surrounding mass of water, but as the thick clouds of steam began to lose their density, a hazy light came from the invisible Sun (1: 1-5 – Day 1).

And as they lost greater density, the vapor clouds rose from the ground, producing a clear distinction between the surface of the oceans and the roof of the heavy clouds above (1: 6-8 – Day 2).

Meanwhile the Earth (the planet) was drying up and the Earth as such appeared visible. Simpler forms of life began to appear. Various kinds of soils and climatic conditions produced various kinds of plants, which were thus created so that they continue to produce more plants according to their own species (1: 9-13 – Day 3).

The heavy cloud above, which gradually became thinner and thinner, finally broke apart. And so the sun, moon and stars that were previously hidden are now clearly visible. And its effect on the land allowed a variety of climates and an annual pattern of seasons to occur (1: 14-19 – Day 4).

As God’s creative activity progressed, animal life began to appear, with creatures in the sea and creatures in the sky (1: 20-23 – Day 5).

Creation-girl and forest2The Earth also experienced the appearance of animal life, until it was also filled with all kinds of creatures. And finally, the first human couple arrived, representing the pinnacle of God’s creation. Unlike other living beings, the human couple was created in the image of God. (1: 24-31 – Day 6).[2]  And about this we will talk later, in a future article, about how God, their Creator, prepared everything for their arrival and reception.

Throughout this journey of creation, it is important to note that five of the six days of creation itself, the following statement is reiterated: “And God saw that it was good.”

Henry M. Morris III, in his article “Genesis and the Character of God”, points out that it is the same word in Hebrew that is used every time and means exactly what is expected, that is: good, pleasant, charming, excellent, beneficial. In fact, this term is used more than 500 times in the Bible. There is nothing so unusual about the use of God’s Word, Morris says, except that it is repeated often and that it is God who uses this term.[3]

And the sixth time, precisely on the sixth day, a greater emphasis is observed, “And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

The Hebrew word for good is טוב [TOV] and from the Hebraic perspective it means that “TOV” is practical and functional, not just a state of pleasure. Thus, in Genesis 1:31, it is observed that God saw that His creation worked perfectly.[4]

On the other hand, Nachmanides interprets the word מְאֹ֑ד [ME´OD] as “mainly,” that is, the world is “mainly good,” quoting Onkelos, it would be further specified as “very orderly” and “appropriately arranged.”[5]

Throughout the six-day journey, it is undoubtedly shown that creation displays the Creator’s mark of excellence. In fact, the Creator Himself stated that His creation is flawless in every way. It is impeccable for sure in beauty, in function, in purpose, and in potential. After the creation, God saw all and saw that all created was very good.[6]

More of the God of excellence in our next post. See you soon!

 

[1] Herbert Wolf, An Introduction to the Old Testament – Pentateuch (Chicago: Moody Press, 1991), 79-80.

[2] Don Fleming, Concise Bible Commentary (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1994), 13.

[3] Henry M. Morris III, “Genesis and the Character of God,” Institute of Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/genesis-character-god/

[4] CMJ Israel, “Hebrew Word Studies,” CMJ Israel, https://www.cmj-israel.org/yeshiva/hebrew-word-studies

[5] Zachary Braiterman, “Tohu and Bohu are TOV – Genesis,” Jewish Philosophy Place, https://jewishphilosophyplace.com/2014/10/19/tohu-vabohu-is-tov-genesis/

[6] BibleRef, “What does Genesis 1:31 mean?,” BibleRef, https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/1/Genesis-1-31.html

 

Human Sexuality in the Biblical View

Interviews February 12, 2018 Comments: 3

“God created our body (man and woman) with sexual needs for the very purpose…Sexuality is God´s design.”

Hoai Truc Huynh

Hoai Truc Huynh

Hoai Truc Huynh was born in Vietnam, where she is living now. She grew up in a Christian family but she attended church without having a true relationship with God. It was until she was 18 years old when Hoai Truc Huynh became a devote Christian.  Then, she responded to God’s calling in her life by enrolling as MDiv. student at “Torch Trinity Graduate University” in South Korea. There, she also involved as a missionary for Vietnamese workers.

After graduating, she went back to Vietnam, where she is mainly involved in teaching ministry. Her students have taken the online classes and some had attended the traditional classrooms. She serves through children´s ministry as well.

Hoai Truc Huynh has the vision and special call from God for the mission field, Christian education, and for imparting Christian thought and culture into the lives of young people.

Tell us what inspired you to write this book “Human Sexuality in the Biblical View”? 

My heart has deeply concerned for today´s young generation of the church and the community, since their values of life have been diverged from the truth and Christian ethics in many ways. Secularism and culture have been sophisticatedly affected their thinking and lifestyle through the influence of books, films, television programs, and social networking sites. Many young people are struggling to seek the answers to their concerns and questions about life and themselves, including sexuality. But the answers which are based on the truth seem to be very rare in the community nowadays. Most of the answers are likely offered by secular psychologists based on hypotheses and human knowledge.

Teaching young people in church – Vietnam

Yet the teachings and instructions based on the Word of God are truly beneficial for mankind and have eternal value. Also, I recognized that understanding about sexuality is a legitimate and necessary need for young people. Last summer, in a survey of a course that truly responded to the needs of young people in my church, they told me that they wanted to learn about sexuality. Then, after the course was done, the young people gave their feedback and said that the course was so good and how much they needed that kind of information and instruction for their lives.

And then, God’s voice came to my spirit and stirred my heart. The Holy Spirit urged me to write the book on sexuality and to publish it so that many other young people could learn from it. I obeyed Him and began writing the book. All thanks to the Holy Spirit! He led me from this astonishment to the other. I was very excited as I could hear His voice by giving me many ideas and thoughts on human sexuality, during my time of meditation on the Bible,  and the time I spent studying and researching about this topic. Finally the book was written in about 60 days!

When the world talks about “sex,” people usually makes fun of it. Movies, theaters, magazines, websites show sexuality in a very distorted way. Then, how we could say that “Sexuality is God´s design”?

Sexuality is a part of the whole being of mankind. To know exactly about it, we need to start from the origin of mankind –Who Am I- because knowing our origin determines our behavior in social life as well as in the way we receive the teachings concerning sexuality on the basis of the Bible. Among many hypotheses of human origin, Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution claimed that mankind is evolutionary animals, in other words, we are evolved from the great apes. If we accept the theory of evolution without thinking out, when it comes to sex and sexuality, we will use sex in a way as an animal does.

On the contrary, if we clearly and rationally determine that human being is the creature created in the image of God as what God has revealed to us in the Bible, we will accept the biblical teaching about mankind. The Bible revealed that in the beginning God made human beings (man and woman) in His own image (Genesis 1:26, 27). In a very complex and miraculous structure of the human body that consists of eight organ systems operating harmoniously to sustain life, God designs the genital system in it. And through the genital system in each gender, sexuality is expressed and carries out its function. God created our body (man and woman) with sexual needs for the very purpose.

The world tries to devalue what God created, so sexuality is often shown in a very distorted way through movies, magazines, humorous stories, and websites. Yet the truth belongs to those who walk in the light. On the very basic of the revealed Word of God, we could say that “Sexuality is God´s design”.

As you know, our young people are currently facing critical problems mostly related to gender and sexual orientation. Nevertheless, it seems like our societies are accepting them as normal (homosexuality, transgender, being part of movements like LGBTI, etc). How do the so called “traditional families” can deal with it, and actually fight against it and protect their children?

Hoai Truc Huynh and her family

Since the fall of mankind, sin has led people into wrongdoing even in their own gender. When it comes to the problems related to gender and sexual orientation (homosexuality, transgender), the secularist view assumes the conditions of early childhood such as education and care. And many scholars share the view that sexual orientation has developed very early in most people at an early age because of the mutual complicated impact of biological, psychological and social factors. Also, in psychological and psychiatric field, some secular people argue that homosexual behavior is entirely determined by genetic factors beyond one’s control. Therefore, homosexuality is not immoral and it is not something that homosexual offender has to be responsible for his or her behavior. Consequentially, it seems like our societies are accepting them as normal. However, the so called “traditional families” need to go back to the Bible, the ultimate truth, in order to find out the right answers to these critical problems or the real causes of them. We must go back to the Word of God to fight against the ideology of this sinful world, or the way-of-thinking of the flesh. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul repeatedly condemned homosexuality. He claimed that these sinful practices are contrary to the natural law of God (Romans 1:26,27). In other passages of the Bible, Paul named homosexual offenders with others terms “male prostitutes” and “perverts” (I Corinthians 6:9; I Timothy 1:10). The Bible says that the end of those who choose to walk in such sexual impurity is to receive eternal punishment, for the Kingdom of God is not for them.

Teaching the new generations – Vietnam

Also, the Bible disclosed the fact that transgender and homosexuality was due to the very reason that although human beings knew God, they did not worship Him as God and desired to follow the foolish thought of their depraved heart. Therefore, God gave them over in depraved and shameful practice.

We must teach our children the truth that unnatural sexual orientation which has emerged in human society since ancient times has not really been a matter of psychology, of education, of gene, or of living environment; it is actually the very problem of human sin, the deliberate rejection of human beings to God and His plan for their life.

Another cause for someone being consistent with unnatural sexual orientation in his or her life is being possessed by demons. Series of sins made sinners unable to inherit the Kingdom of God: “the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers” (I Corinthians 6:9-10), then the Apostle Paul immediately emphasized, “Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (I Corinthians 6:11-NET Bible). The truth revealed here is that while a person is bound by Satan, he or she may be a slave to unnatural sexual desires “passive homosexual partners or practicing homosexuals”.

And until that person is rescued in the Name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he or she will be released from homosexuality. Therefore, the cause of these sinful practices is the problem of the spiritual field. It is the possession of evil spirits in one’s life. A person who is possessed by demons and becomes homosexual offender, he or she must be set free in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Does God (Jesus) love homesexuals? If so, are they accepted as such?

As we all know, God loves the sinner but He hates sin, and God had a perfect plan to rescue sinners from sin through Jesus Christ. Similarly, God (Jesus) truly loves homosexuals but he does not accept their sinful acts or their practice.

Is there any hope for this world who transgressed God´s law / design?

Always there is hope for this world who transgressed God´s law / design. Hope is available for those who come to Jesus Christ. God never fails in the place of mankind’s failure. If repentance comes first, hope will follow. Once man brings all his transgression to light and surrenders his life to God, he will be saved in Jesus Christ. Those who expose everything clearly in their repentance before the Lord Jesus will be rescued from darkness from the past and brought into the light of life.

 

“Human Sexuality in the Biblical View” will soon be released in English and Vietnamese. If you are interested in getting this book, kindly contact “Towards Excellence.”

 

Excellence Stems from the Heart – Part 2

Articles, Inspiration April 10, 2017 1 Comment

“The excellence of the heart of God was definitely impregnated in our heart, now it is we who must expand the heart of God wherever we go.”

 

As I shared in the previous article – Part 1, God did not only prepare everything in advance to welcome us in this planet, but when He created us, He certainly did it with excellence, with deep love and by the way, carefully and wonderfully.  The Bible – His Word reveals it so and science does confirm it as well.
Psalm 139:13-14,16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb; I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well…Your eyes saw my unformed body.” This is expressed by this Psalm with vivid poetry that God, the Creator knotted us in such a way, which as a result every human being is truly His masterpiece. But His creation does not only encourage poetic expression; but science as such, definitely confirms how wonderful it is.

So let’s take a look at what National Geographic states about the human brain: “It is, nevertheless, one of the body’s biggest organs, consisting of some 100 billion nerve cells that not only put together thoughts and highly coordinated physical actions but regulate our unconscious body processes, such as digestion and breathing.”[1]

The brain is the most complex information management system in the universe. [Image from the Internet]

And for instance, let me quote Wernher von Braun (1912 – 1977), a space engineer who stated, “Certainly there are those who argue that the universe evolved out of a random process, but what random process could produce the brain of a man or the system of the human eye?,” [2] questioned the creator of the V-2 Rocket for Nazi Germany and Saturn V for the United States.

 

Dear friends, here we are talking only about the brain, which, by the way, we see it as one of the key organs of human life, in fact, it is the most complex information management system in the universe.
As we see, science itself leads us to study and understand that the human body is a wonderful, extraordinary machine. It is the most accurate and efficient machine that has ever existed and does not compare at all with any machine created by man.

But, not only our complex physical body as it is, is the evidence of the existence of “an intelligent being” who is certainly behind the creation of all this magnificent universe, but also our soul that is sealed with the mark of excellence of this being, called God, the Creator, Jesus Christ himself.  “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation …—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”  (Colossians 1: 15, 17)

And it is precisely our soul that was made in the image of God, the Creator, “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female he created them”. (Genesis 1:27).
Wernher von Braun recognized it so, God’s masterpiece is the human soul. [3] And it is in the human soul that God has impregnated His image.

Let’s just take a look around us for a few minutes… look at those living beings that are close to us and are not our peers. Namely, we contemplate the garden of our house, the plants that embellish our room, we hug our pets, or maybe we remember some of our visits to the zoo or some botanical garden. These beings are extraordinary, the animals, flowers, plants, trees; but none of them would dare to compare itself with the smallest of human beings, if it could.

Human beings are truly privileged and unique. Only men and women are the ones who reflect the extraordinary characteristics of God, the Creator.

We are highly creative beings. The creativity of the human being is evident every day, in the music we listen to, in the works of art that delight us, in the beauty of the varied crafts that characterize different peoples and nations, in the extraordinary scientific inventions.

One of the greatest inventions, the car by Ford. [Edison & Ford Winter Estates]

We are intelligent. The human brain has intelligently created the horse’s saddle, the carriage, the boat, the bicycle, the car, the light aircraft, the plane to transport increasingly faster and more comfortably.

But his creativity and intelligence is ongoing, the human brain has crossed the limits of our planet, it has reached the moon and continues to explore space non-stop.

We are beings who communicate with each other. The spoken, written word or sign language are exclusive to the human being. We have been given the privilege of expressing what is in our heart through the word. In fact, God created the universe, through His Word (Genesis 1). Through the word we have the power to build or to destroy, to spur or to discourage, to love or to hate.

These are just some of the characteristics that our God, the Creator has impregnated in our soul. We are indeed His masterpiece! And every “masterpiece” is admirable and worthy of replication.
The excellence of the heart of God was definitely impregnated in our heart, now it is we who must expand the heart of God wherever we go.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Sources:

[1]  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/brain/

[2] http://www.icr.org/article/wernher-von-braun-father-space-flight/

[3] http://www.wnd.com/2016/06/this-rocket-scientist-had-amazing-view-of-god/