The God of
the Bible created the world in six days, and rested on the 7th. Everything we see therefore is created by
God, or constructed by God’s creations.
The observable universe is a brief and limited description of the
incredible depth of character, glory, power, and ability within the character
of the Author of Life, Jesus Christ who is God.
Nature is a picture of the beauty of God.
God created
the universe, all the galaxies, time, space, reality, and even the small marble
called Earth. On Earth, with great care
and love God built the first humans Adam and Eve. God gave the greatest gift imaginable when he
gave free will, the ability to choose right or choose wrong.
The first humans existed in a state of spiritual and physical perfection, in the direct presence of their Father, God, who had made a garden on the surface of the Earth for their dwelling and relationship.
In addition to the divine God of the universe and the first humans developed by God, there were also spiritual beings called angels which God had created, given the gift of free will, and freely served their heavenly Father as well. One of these angels was named Lucifer whom is described here:
Ezekiel 28:11-19 (NIV) 11 The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.[a]
Your settings and mountings[b] were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.’”
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.[a]
Your settings and mountings[b] were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.’”
"Moreover
the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the
king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the
signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in
Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering,
carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire,
turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your
engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an
anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain
of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your
ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in
you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and
you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom
for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you
before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your
iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your
sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and
I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All
who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a
dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19) - See more
at:
http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm#sthash.7ObNuCnU.dpuf
"Moreover
the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the
king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the
signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in
Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering,
carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire,
turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your
engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an
anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain
of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your
ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in
you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and
you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom
for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you
before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your
iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your
sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and
I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All
who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a
dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19) - See more
at:
http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm#sthash.7ObNuCnU.dpuf
"Moreover
the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the
king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the
signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in
Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering,
carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire,
turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your
engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an
anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain
of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your
ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in
you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and
you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom
for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you
before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your
iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your
sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and
I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All
who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a
dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19) - See more
at:
http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm#sthash.7ObNuCnU.dpuf
This spiritual being corrupted by his own desires for pleasure came into the garden and suggested to the first humans that they ought to be their own gods, accountable to no one and so the first humans sinned and fell under the dominion of Lucifer, also known as Satan the evil one.
At this moment of prideful disobedience humanity turned on their God to pursue their own way. God might've destroyed the first humans and been done with humanity at that moment forever, but he had mercy. God set up a final chance for humanity, allowing the sin their hearts conceived of to spread through the garden, across the Earth and the universe itself. At that moment the perfect universe became a crippled tangent universe destined for destruction, death, and rebirth. That is why the universe is so barren, why stars burn out, why seasons shift between fall, winter, spring and summer, all creation was affected by the curse of sin. Death entered the human race. And the natural inclination to sin, to plot a course outside of the sovereign God of the universe, became the natural state of all humans born into the line of Adam and Eve. Lucifer attempted a rebellion to supplant God and place himself in charge of the universe but failed. Satan's dominion was and is over all born into the line of Adam and Eve.
God continued to interact with humanity, and pursue humanity, establishing the nation of Israel through the line of Abraham, as the descendants of Adam and Eve multiplied. God gave Israel his laws. Israel was unable to follow the laws. So God gave himself, Immanuel, as an offering to allow his lost people to be rejoined to him as family, justified by faith.
We live by
faith in God, who is Jesus Christ, and is also the Father, and is also the Holy
Spirit, a succession of revealings of God the architect of the universe and
originator of all human souls.
Faith is not
blind, but is highly reasonable and coherent.
We believe in the radical notion of reasonable faith in God, the God of
the Bible in the makeup of the universe, of Earth, in geology, in astronomy and
all the sciences, as well as empirically, historically, and
philosophically. God’s existence,
attributes and divine work are easily demonstrated as all the evidence points
to the fact that an intelligent designer is required given the fine tuning of
the observable universe, as well as the complex architecture of the human body,
and the need for a prime mover outside of space and time.
We believe
the Bible is the full and completed revelation of God to the whole of
humanity. The Bible, being the most
extraordinary document in human history, contains the literal records of the
origins of humanity, Israel, all the way to the literal birth of Jesus Christ,
virgin born by the work of the Holy Spirit, who was Immanuel, God with us. The Bible describes in perfect form the past
history of humanity and the prophesied future of humanity.
The life of
Jesus Christ is the framework and perfect example as to how Christians should
live in the world today. We believe in
the most dedicated service to Christ and others, and refuse any notion of
casual connection.
Philippians
2:1-11 (NIV) 2 Therefore if you have any
encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if
any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then
make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in
spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or
vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not
looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same
mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
The death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact given evidence and
faith. The work of Jesus Christ on the
cross blotted out the sins of all who would put their faith in Him and
repent of their sins, choosing consciously to follow him. The work is complete and the resurrection of
Christ pays for all sins of the believer, past, present and future.
The only way
to lose this gift is to consciously choose to withdraw faith in Jesus
Christ. Shipwrecked faith and falling
away is too consistently mentioned in the scriptures to ignore.
The current
ministry of Jesus Christ is in heaven where he literally lives, alive and well
since his resurrection and ascension; these are recorded miracles with powerful
empirical evidence to back them up. Jesus
Christ therefore sent the Holy Spirit the third revealing of God who currently,
today, works among the nations of the planet Earth to do the will of God, whom
he is.
We know from the scriptures that humanity is no longer subject to the laws of Moses in the Old Testament, but the Old Testament is filled with great wisdom and teaching that ought to be thoughtfully applied to the life of the believer. We believe the law of Moses is summed up best by Jesus when he said:
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31 NIVWe believe in discipleship, missionary work, and consider the task of making disciples of all nations to be the primary imperative of the church of God on Earth.
We believe this is best accomplished by a humble, humble, humble attitude of service, service, service, through love, love, and more love.
Amen.
