A Christian Worldview (Part 2) Creation

by Gary T. Panell

In the beginning God (Elohim) created (bara’) the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)  Many Christians think we can compromise with evolution by maintaining that the Biblical account of creation and evolution are compatible. This kind of thinking denies the simple truth of God’s Word, and robs God of His “GLORY” in CREATION!

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:20-23)

To many Christians, in their minds, “evolution,” is very much a “fact.” No doubt, the reason for this kind of thinking is because from the time we can remember magazines, books, newspapers, television, etc. have all been teaching us that evolution is a fact. Is it then any wonder that nonbelievers, as well as Christians, have become convinced that evolution is true?!

First we must define “evolution” so we know what we are discussing. The dictionary defines evolution as, “A gradual process in which something changes into a different, and usually, more complex or better form.” Evolution today has come to mean, not only changes within species, but also a process where a primitive form changes to a more advanced form.

Here are statements, by Christians, about what happened in Genesis one: “One view is that there was an original creation which became corrupted under Satan and was destroyed by God. In this view, the creation referred to in Genesis 1:1 is the original creation and the remaining verses refer to the re-creation or restitution of the earth about six thousand years ago, after it was destroyed.

Thus the long time needed to satisfy geology occurs in Genesis 1:2. A second popular theory is that the word “day” in Genesis means age, so that we should read each verse as referring to a period of time, not a twenty-four hour day. Therefore, any age would be suitable for the earth. This theory is sometimes called progressive creationism to refer to a successive creative act of God.

Another theory is called the Pictorial Day, in this view; the six days of Genesis refer to six days in which God revealed to the writer God’s creative acts. (In other words Genesis chapters one and two are a “figurative” story God used to explain what happened.) Therefore, if we see the record as man’s response to a divine truth, we are not bound to the scientific picture of Genesis, but only by the great insights which in their simplicity and beauty rise above all other writings of the period.”

These are statements of Christians who have compromised what the Bible teaches about evolution. This professor from Vanderbilt also says, “Countless Christians, including outstanding conservative evangelicals, have concluded that an evolutionary process of some kind is as consistent with a Christian understanding of man and all creation as is instant creation. God created man by bringing forth his physical body through long stages of biological development to the point that it was ready to receive his spirit, evolution is consistent with this also. This interpretation is also a faith statement about life.”

I have been in churches where all these theories have been taught. Many Christian seminaries teach these theories about the Bible and creation. I am very thankful that I attended Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon where Dr. Henry M. Morris came to speak on creation. Now Multnomah is known as Multnomah Bible College and Biblical Seminary.

Dr. Morris has written many books on the subject of creation, and has founded the Institute for Creation Research; see our resource links for more information. He has always taught that the Bible is speaking of six literal days of creation. He and many other scientists today are sick of the guess work in science when it comes to creation. They are tired of being “brain washed” by our culture that is teaching something, they claim is science, but has no basis in the scientific method. It has got to the point that they are teaching a theory of evolution where beings from other planets seeded the earth with people. Others teach that from a dinosaur egg a bird came, and all sorts of other far fetched theories. This is come about because of the failure of the theory that life evolved from nonliving forms. And that lower forms of life can evolve to higher forms of life, which there is just no proof of this happening.

Doesn’t this just sound like the Romans passage that we quoted earlier? “.so they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.”

I know this passage is talking about people making idols in the image of man, and animals. But these verses could also apply to those Christians that worship evolution more than they worship God. They know the truth, but they desire to compromise because they think the world has a better answer for the beginning of the world than the Biblical revelation! (I like the British pronunciation of the word evolution, which when they say it, it sounds like “evil-o-ution.”) Who do you suppose has darkened the hearts of men?!

The unsaved has no excuse either, for the Bible says in the Psalms, “The fool has said in his heart there is no God…” (Psalm 14:1a) Psalm 19:1:1 teaches, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” People are not going to be able to stand before God one day and say, “I didn’t know there was a God, I thought the universe and everything in it was just made by billions of accidents.” God will no doubt remind them, that He gave them a brain to think for themselves, and will remind them of the order in the universe they can see with their eyes. He might ask them, “Didn’t it take more faith to believe in evolution than it did to believe that I did it?”

I sure wouldn’t want to be in their boots at that time. Nor would I like to be standing in Christians’ boots when they tell God they compromised with evolution because it was popular to do so, at the time they lived. Virtually every Jew and every Christian believed in six literal days of creation, until Darwin came along with his book, Origin of the Species.

“Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) and his successors created the idea that there was no such thing as sin or that sin was merely the remnant of animal instinct in man. Evolution as a philosophical doctrine goes back to the time of Aristotle, but Darwin was the first to put it on what seemed to be a scientific basis.

Darwin spent some time in studying medicine and theology before he developed his inclinations to become a naturalist. A voyage around the world on the Beagle between 1831 and 1836 convinced him that differences between living animals and fossils, on the main lands and those on the islands that he visited, could only be accounted for by biological evolution. He published his book, Origin of the Species, in 1859 after finding that Alfred Wallace had independently arrived at similar conclusions.

In his book Darwin argued that the struggle for existence kept the population of the various species constant in spite of the fact that reproduction is geometric and that many more are produced than are essential for the survival of the species. In this struggle some individuals develop characteristics favorable to survival through a process of adjustment or adaptation to environment.

These characteristics are passed on by sexual selection in which the favored males and females mate. Thus only the fittest survive. He thought that such a similarity as that of the body structure between man and animals substantiated his theory, but he forgot that this and other similarities might be evidence of design on the part of the Creator who gave His creatures similar body structures because of the similarity of their environment. Darwin applied his theory to man in The Descent of Man (1871) and argued that man was linked with animal life by common ancestral types.

Darwin’s idea of continuity between man and animal has been summarized as “descent with change.” This view is opposed to the Biblical concept of special creation by God with fixity in the groups thus created. In emphasizing similarities between man and animals Darwin ignored the uniqueness of man’s larger brain, his power of speech, his use of the opposable thumb, his memory, conscience and concepts of God and the soul. He admitted that the last three were problems for his theory.

No missing link that would conclusively identify man with animals has been discovered; in fact, crossbreeding between many groups is impossible. The use of the Hebrew word bara for the act of creation is only used of the heavens and the earth, mammals and man (Genesis 1:1, 21, 27). God is said to have made the different groups reproduce “after his kind.”.

Evolution was also used to justify the idea of race superiority because that idea seemed to fit in with Darwin’s concept of the survival of the fittest. It has also been used to justify having no absolute foundation or norm for ethics. Good conduct is merely those actions deemed suitable by each generation for the proper conduct of society. The doctrine of evolution has also been used to glorify war as the survival of the fittest.

All of these conclusions have been reached by the application of a biological theory to other fields through an unwarranted use of the argument from analogy.”

No, the universe is not one big accident, or a product of evolution, but it is a marvelous creation of God. God created the universe and everything in it, including the dinosaurs and the people, in six literal days. The Bible states very clearly, “In the beginning GOD “created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) It does not say, “In the beginning God oversaw the process of evolution!” This seems so wrong when we actually say it, but this is what millions of “Christians” say they believe.

God makes it abundantly clear what kind of day the first chapter of Genesis is talking about. When He gave the Ten Commandments He says, “Remember the Sabbath day.For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day,” Exodus 20:8-11. Would this statement make any sense if God were telling the people through Moses, to rest the seventh day just like God rested after several billion years of doing His work of evolution?

If God created the earth in six literal days, you say, “Then what do we do with the things in nature that appear to be millions if not even billions of years old?” First we need to look at how God created. Were Adam and Eve created as babies or full-grown adults? It is obvious from Scripture that Adam and Eve were created as mature adults, Genesis 2:18-25. God created all of nature in this way. He created the stars with “built-in age.”

Ok, we could be getting ahead of ourselves a little here. As you have guessed I really get into this subject. I have also had the most opposition in my ministry to the subject of creation. This opposition has not come so much from the unsaved, but Christian leaders! Satan has a mighty strangle hold on many Christians in this area, and he doesn’t want to let go!

Now let’s get back to the details of the creation week. The first verse is an introduction to the rest of creation. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) God created everything we see, and all that we don’t see. He had created the angels before this time because, Job says they sang as they saw God creating the earth. God ask Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (This is a reference to the angels.)

So angels are created beings, but they had been created prior to the creation of the universe. Interestingly enough they are watching as these scenes unfold. How amazed they must of have been, we do know they started singing! This is the reaction we should have, our reaction should not be, “Oh, it probably just came about by the process of evolution.” Our reaction should be like the angels, and as the Psalmist said, “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great:

“You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as witha curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind, Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire. You wholaid the foundations of the earth, sothat it should not be moved forever, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains. (Psalm 104) The Psalms contain eight major creation Psalms with significant scientific information: Psalm 8, 19, 29, 33, 90, 91, 104, and 139.

Christians use to worship the God of creation, now many worship the God of evolution. How could we have strayed so far from the truth? Satan has done a real “snow job” on us. I believe that this lie about God using evolution to create is nearly worldwide. What would happen if Christians really believed Colossians 1:12-18. “.giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

If you believe in the Jesus of the Bible, you should find no problem with believing in creation just as Genesis states it! To make “wine” at the wedding in Cana Jesus used His power as creator. This is how He did all of his miracles, just like He created the Universe and everything in it. If you believe Jesus did even one miracle, then why is it so hard to believe that He created everything?! Try for just a little time, as you are reading this article, to believe that it really did happen the way the Bible says it did. For a few minutes take the Bible account of creation literally. Forget that you have been taught from an infant that it all came about by chance. Forget for a few minutes those messages you have heard from even Christian leaders that evolution and creation are compatible. Then imagine that it is all true just like Genesis teaches.

Right away, though, questions come to your mind, but you say, “What about dinosaurs, didn’t they live and die before Adam and Eve?” To answer this question, I have to point out to you that we have been taught all of our lives that dinosaurs lived millions of years before man. There are several reasons why they say this; one is because we are taught that it takes millions of years for dinosaur bones to fossilize. This simply is not true! In fact, under the right conditions, fossilization can take place in a few years. To give just one example: In Australia, a miner left his hat in a mine that was closed for fifty years. When the miner was able to go back down in the mine, he found his hat, and it had fossilized. Also we are taught that dinosaurs evolved before us, and died off before man came on the scene.

What a lot of people do not know is that there is evidence from the Bible, and science that dinosaurs lived at the same time as man in the past. Look at Job 40:15-24; 41:1-34, in this passage it shows very clearly that some dinosaurs were still living at the same time as man even after the flood. The events of Job took place right after the flood of Genesis. Science also gives evidence that show man and dinosaurs co-existed before the flood. Both human footprints and dinosaur tracks were found fossilized in the Paluxy River bed at Glen Rose, Texas. Pictures on cave walls of drawings of dinosaurs have also been found in several parts of the world.

Those who say they believe the Bible, but believe that dinosaurs died before Adam and Eve sinned, have a contradiction on their hands. Romans 5:12, states that there was no death in the world before Adam.”through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, this death spread to all men.”

This is where the problem is: Man does not want to admit he is a sinner in need of a Savior. God did create us and we are accountable to Him as our Creator! The Bible says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 6:23. Turn from your sin and receive the LORD Jesus as your Savior today, and we will spend eternity together with our Wonderful Creator!

 

Back to Genesis 1:1, so the first verse is a summary or introduction about the whole account of creation. Verse two on the other hand is going into the actual, literal details of creation. There is no original creation that was destroyed, there are no long periods of time, and there is no fable here, but the actual events as they happened. The Bible is a revelation from God, and every word is true! Does it really take more faith to believe in creation than it does in the unproved fables of evolution? Does it really take more faith to believe in God as the beginning, than it does to believe everything started with gas?

In verse two, God began with an unformed planet, much like the planets are today. He created the earth just like He created man, He took unformed material and (bara’) fashioned it into something beautiful. Originally this verb carried the idea of “carving” or “cutting out.” The earth to begin with was covered with water, and totally dark. God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit all had a part in creation Scripture says. Here the part the Holy Spirit played is emphasized. The Holy Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters like a mother bird hovers over her young ones.

In verse three we see God bringing the light; He is light so now this creation of His has light. God created in stages, He could have just as easily created the whole thing instantaneously, but I believe He didn’t do this because He wanted to use the progression of creation to teach us spiritual things. History will unfold in stages, and prophecy makes this clear. We also see our need for rest, since God rested on the seventh day. So God created the light on the second day, and it wasn’t until the fourth day that God created the light bearers. You say, “Can God do that?” “Can God create light before He creates the light bearers?” you question.

The answer comes back loud and clear, God can do anything, He is God! You say, “But it takes millions, maybe billions of light years for light to get to us from distant stars, how could God do that?” He is God! He specializes in those types of things, that is the point of Scripture! Scripture is a perfect revelation from God as to exactly how it happened. You don’t have to believe it. You can mix it up with evolution if you wish, but it doesn’t change the facts, and one day when you and I stand before God, in all His glory, you and I will be glad we believed! “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto nigh reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

“Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bride groom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” (Psalm 19:1-6)

In the Hebrew way of thinking, the night comes before the light, and that is because of what we see here in the days of creation. By the way, everything God does is good; in fact it is “very” good! It is not a billion years of chaos, and then something evolves out of the primeval soup. It is not millions of years of dinosaurs killing each other, and then ape like men coming on the scene. It is God doing a wonderful work of creation! Everything He did, and does is “very” good! Look at what God said to Job in the book by the same name, Job 38:1-38.

On the second day God divided some of the water so it would be above the earth and the rest on the earth. Some have suggested this was like a canopy that surrounded the earth keeping out harmful rays of the sun. It may have even been the reason people lived for longer periods of time. At any rate it had the effect of a hothouse, can you image how things must have grown almost everywhere on the planet? Even on the poles it would have been warmer. Later in Genesis two it says, “For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. It was like a “terrarium” affect all around the planet, Genesis 2:4-6.

Then, on the third day, God divided the waters even more so that there was the dry land, and the plants on the land. You have heard the saying, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg.” All through creation it is clear the full grown plants, and animals, including people, had the seeds within them for the future of the planet. Nine times it says something to the effect everything reproduced after its kind.

There has never been any evidence that it has ever been any different from this. If evolution is true then show us even one example in all your experiments of an animals turning into another animal that can reproduce a new kind. Show us even one example in all the fossil records that there is proof one animal evolved to a different species. There is not one missing link, but billions of missing links if evolution is true. The very fact that not even one example of evolution can be shown, to prove that life has evolved from a lower form of life to a higher form of life, should be enough for people to say, I will have faith in creation and not creative lies.

Now on the fourth day God created the sun, moon, and stars. In other words the whole universe came after planet earth. Some scientist could never believe this because it is beyond their reason. Thank God for thousands of scientists today that do believe in the God of creation, and do believe God created everything just like He said He did in Genesis one and two.

Then, on the fifth day, God created the sea creatures and the birds of all kinds. We believe God created all the creatures of the oceans including the dinosaurs that lived in the sea at one time, Job 41:1-34; Psalm 104:26; Isaiah 27:1,2. Please look at the article Dinosaur Dilemma by Dennis Lindsay for more detail on dinosaurs, or our link to Institute for Creation Research for much more information. God’s creative ability is beyond our imagination! All of us have enjoyed, no doubt, magazines like the National Geographic and others that have shown us creatures of the deep up close. It is just too bad they teach from an evolutionary stand point. It would seem that after looking at God’s creation they could see design and beauty that only God could create.

I personally believe that God will finish creation when He recreates the Universe, as it says in Scripture, and will fill the other planets with creations that will be beyond our wildest imaginations. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:10-13)

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and first earth had passed away,” Revelation 21:1a. Yes, we will worship God throughout eternity, but it will not be like one continual church service. For more on this subject look at the article, Will Heaven be One Eternal Church Service?

Heaven will be like it was in the Garden of Eden before the Fall of Man. God will have a new creation that will blow our minds. It is too bad that those evolutionists that love studying this earth won’t have the opportunity to be with us. God will reveal things to us that these scientists could only wish they had made the right decision about the origin of the species. “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'” (1 Corinthians 1:9) “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

Now we come to the sixth day of creation. There is so much we could say here about the animals that were created, and then Adam and Eve in their creation. God created the wild and domestic animals, Job 38:39-39:30. He created the land dinosaurs, Job 40:15-24. He created the insects, “creeping things”, which could be snakes, lizards, all sorts of things in this category. (Proverbs 6:6; 30:25, etc.)

Some people wonder why God didn’t go into more detail about animals and insects. There are some details here, but it is true not a lot, but if you haven’t noticed this whole creation account is a summary only. The cattle of the field is a general term that includes all the animals and dinosaurs. In Job 40, and 41 He says He created them along with us. The creeping things include all the insects. I believe the insects were there, but they did not hurt people. The same was true of the snakes, the spiders and the wild animals. We see wild animals tame on the Ark. God kept them from hurting even as it will be in the millennial reign of Christ, Isaiah 11:8. Again, only after the Fall of Man into sin did the plants, insects, and animals cause problems for people.

There is order and design in creation. The light and water were created so the plants and animals could live. The animals had plants to eat for that matter people ate only plants until after the flood. So people would have fruits and vegetables to eat. Animals ate only fruit and vegetables as it will be in the millennial rein of Christ. “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD.” (Isaiah 65:25)

You see there were no animals fighting or eating one another when God first created everything, there was no death before Adam and Eve sinned! It was not until they sinned did death enter into the world (Romans 5:12; 8:19-22), but I will speak to this in more detail later. At this time animals lived on the plant life as well as the people.

As we come to the creation of Man, Adam and Eve as given in Genesis chapters one and two, we see that the world was ready for them, complete with a beautiful garden (Look at the article on Paradise). The Garden of Eden was built for them to live in as long as they did not disobey God. Even as heaven was made for the Angels before us until one third of them sinned and were cast out.

There is not even any hint that man evolved from the dust, as I heard one pastor preach. No, man was formed out of the soil “bara,” by God Himself! God breathed into man the breath of life. This is where life came from, not from some sparks from some primeval lightning striking some primordial soup!

If God had not done this there would not have been human beings. Even the animal life came by God’s spoken word, not some gradual evolution. Scientists have yet to show one example of life coming from non-life. Surely they could give us one example of how this works if it is so. Some say, “Life has been made in the laboratory.” This is not true, nothing that even resembles life has been made in the laboratory.

Now let us talk about Adam and Eve. They were created for each other. Today people want to pervert what God has established as normal. On the news the homosexual couples are almost always portrayed as happy and wholesome. We know that behind the masks it is an entirely different story. Men living with men and women living with women as “husband” and “wife” will never be truly happy, because this is not the way God created us!

In the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve sinned, it was like Paradise will be like for us when we are in heaven. Jesus said to the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in Paradise. God created us to fellowship with Him, and before they sinned they did fellowship with Him. The Bible says that God created us in His image. It takes both the man and the woman to see God’s characteristics. Look at these verses, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'” (Genesis 1:26) We were created with responsibility, but something enjoyable to do before Adam and Eve sinned. I believe it will be the same in Heaven.

They were in a perfect environment, everything was beautiful and enjoyable. The perfumes of the flowers, no insects would bug them; they were not harmed by the animals, but could enjoy God’s creation. They could enjoy eating the fruits and vegetables of all sorts. They were surrounded by pleasure all the time. God says of heaven, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

But most of all they were created to fellowship with God. The animals may have been created to have fellowship with us, but we were created to love and worship Him. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’.So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. (Adam was extremely intelligent; he was not like some Neanderthal man.)'” (Genesis 2:7-18)

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.; Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:21-25)

Genesis 3:8, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Before Adam and Eve sinned God had fellowship with them each day. This is why He had created them. “.that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:1).

(1 John 1:3-4) You see this is why God created you and I also. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2) If you and I ever hope to get to Paradise, we must repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.

Once we receive Christ into our hearts and lives we are in the church, and we are the Bride of Christ. “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:30-33)

The Book of Song of Solomon is a fitting picture here, of the “love” of man, in this case, Solomon, for his Black wife. It is also a picture of the “love” we should have for Jesus when we get saved, and the fellowship we have in the spirit. It shows His love for His new creation that is born again, because of His giving of His life’s blood on the cross to ransom us. It is not wrong to think of the beauty and pleasure in true love, between a “male” husband, and a “female” wife as God intended. At the same time think of the love God wants you to show back to Him in a relationship that goes far beyond the sensual. This is the type of spiritual relationship God wants to have with His redeemed throughout eternity. (I have only chosen a few of the verses to illustrate what it must have been like in the Garden of Eden.)

I believe this section has two meanings, (one) a man and woman in Holy Matrimony like what Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden, and Christians that are married have together. Think about how wonderful the fellowship Adam Eve had with each other and God before they sinned. It may have only been a few days or several months at most before they disobeyed, but it was a marvelous time! Hebrews 13:4, says “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” (The second meaning is the love of Christ for the church, and the church for Him!) The Jews traditionally have thought of Song of Solomon as a picture of love between the nation and God.

Read “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s”

You say what does this have to do with the Christian World View? It has everything to do with it. God created us to worship Him and have our families worship Him as well. We can not do this if we do not love each other like Christ loved the Church. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.” (Ephesians 5:25-28)

When we get saved, we are one with each other and with Christ. Jesus prayed before He died on the cross and rose again, and He was praying for us, here is what He was praying:

“I do not pray for these alone (the twelve disciples of His), but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have know You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them and I in them.” (John 17:20-26)

Then Jesus is looking forward to the time we will be with Him in Paradise so He can walk with us like He walked and talked to Adam and Eve in the garden before they sinned. “Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years, and Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:21-24

“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3) Write me at: [email protected]

by Gary T. Panell