“I declare this world is so beautiful that I can hardly believe it exists.” The beauty of nature can have a profound effect upon our senses, those gateways from the outer world to the inner, whether it results in disbelief in its very
existence as Emerson notes, or feelings such as awe, wonder, or amazement.
So ... What is truth?
Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality. In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, propositions, and declarative sentences. Truth is usually held to be the opposite of falsehood (definition from google).
The picture of nature I showed above I believe you could agree is fact or reality. So, where did all this beautiful creation come from?
We will be using the Bible as our answer book today: Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
God created a lot of things
He created the stars, moon, sun, animals, fish of the sea, lakes, butterflies, flowers and the last thing God made was man and woman.
God created man in His Image (man's beginning)
1
Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
2
Genesis 1:28 (ESV)
And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
3
Genesis 1:29 (ESV)
And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
Just like God man creates
God gave man the desire to build, explore and learn about the beautiful environment He gave us!
Creation (true or false)
Does buildings, homes, things that man creates ... could/did it just evolve or did it take an engineer or person with knowledge to design and build those structures? Our great cities that man has built comes about by planning, skill set by many groups and leadership to get a project started and finished with a good outcome.
As the pictures above show, nature (land, sea, sky, stars, etc) did not evolve from nothing ... there was a great Creator (a Designer, aBuilder, a master mind).
Is there a problem?
A couple came to me one time and asked if I could prove the Bible was true. I failed them by ONLY telling them of the goodness and faithfulness of God. How God had met our needs and had always been there for us, just like the sun comes up every day without fail. However, I never really explained to them how it is by FAITH and FAITH alone we truly get to walk with God. Romans 4:3 "For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."
So then the question must be ask ... FAITH in WHAT? Believe WHAT? First, I must give you a little history.
Gen 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Gen 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Gen 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, Gen 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Gen 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, Gen 3:3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Gen 3:4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. Gen 3:5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Gen 3:9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Gen 3:10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” Gen 3:11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Gen 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. Gen 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Gen 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Gen 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; Gen 3:18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Rom 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What? I need to choose!
God loves You
Adam and Eve made a choice ... the devil caused them to doubt God and His love and care for them. The devil also convinced them that God was withholding something from them and they could be just like God.
So like Adam and Eve who made a choice concerning whether or not to eat fruit from a certain tree ... you now have a choice concerning a certain tree (the CROSS)?
2 Things to do:
You must be willing to CONFESS and BELIEVE God's Word
Rom 10:9
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Call upon the Lord
If you are willing to call upon the Lord for salvation right now, just open your heart to God and pray this simple prayer: "Dear God, be merciful to me a sinner and forgive my sins and save my soul in Jesus' name. Amen!"
Consider this:
Mat 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Last Question?
Question: "Why is the truth of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ so important?" Answer: The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event in history, providing irrefutable evidence that Jesus is who He claimed to be – the Son of God. The resurrection was not only the supreme validation of His deity; it also validated the Scriptures, which foretold His coming and resurrection. Moreover, it authenticated Christ’s claims that He would be raised on the third day (John 2:19-21; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34). If Christ’s body was not resurrected, we have no hope that ours will be (1 Corinthians 15:13, 16). In fact, apart from Christ’s bodily resurrection, we have no Savior, no salvation, and no hope of eternal life. As the apostle Paul said, our faith would be “useless” and the life-giving power of the gospel would be altogether eliminated.
