Psalm 19 is the go-to passage for the witness of the heavens to the glory of God. But, in fact, it is only one of a number of scriptures that explore what the starry skies reveal about the nature, will and purpose of God.
Power
Gen 1:2 famously says that ‘in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ In fact, the first two chapters of Genesis witness of the creative power of God in creating the cosmos and everything in it.…
Very often it’s put to us as a stark choice: either you accept the biblical account of human origins, or you accept the scientific account. Either you believe that we are all direct descendants of Adam and Eve, or that we are all products of a long evolutionary process, stretching back a million years or more to a (non-human) common ancestor.
But can we have our cake and eat it? Can we hold both to the essential factual historicity of the accounts of creation in Genesis 1 and 2, and to the validity of evolutionary science?…
Life in lockdown has, for Christians, raised questions about what it means to meet God when our places of worship (aka ‘churches’) are closed.
Old Testament
Genesis 28:10-19 records Jacob’s experience of seeing in a dream angels on a stairway that led up to heaven, and of hearing God’s promise to give his descendants the land. Jacob concludes: “Surely the LORD is in this place, but I did not realize it!”
Specific localities are important in Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush, and in the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. …
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
In his commentary on Romans, C.H. Dodd famously contended that Paul speaks of ‘the wrath’ ‘in a curiously impersonal way’. He writes:
…‘Paul retains the concept of “the wrath of God” not to describe the attitude of God to man but to describe the inevitable process of cause and effect in a moral universe.’
1 in Creation
God the Father spoke, Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light.”
God the Son was the Word spoken, John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word.”
God the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, Genesis 1:2; Job 26:12,13.
2 in the Incarnation
God the Father gave His only Son, John 3:16.
God the Son was born into the world, Luke 2:11.
God the Spirit came upon Mary to cause conception, Luke 1:35.…
A term used frequently in Scripture to denote a right attitude towards God.
1. IMPORTANCE
Deut 4: 10 “…that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children so.”
Prov 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”
Eccle 12:13 “…the whole duty of man.”
Luke 12:4, 5 “…fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell.”…
The Bible says many different things about God, at many different times and by many different people. It is all too easy (wrote Ian Paul some while ago) to simply read the words on the page and then decide whether we think we believe them or not.
Think of the passage in Numbers 15:32-36, where God says concerning the man who was caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath, “The man must die”.
It is conceivable (just!)…
Gen 1:26 – ‘Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness”.’
Much has been made of the plural name for God here (‘Elohom‘) and of the expression ‘Let us make…’. A number of interpretations have been proposed:-
Polytheism. But modern commentators agree that Genesis 1 ‘is distinctly antimythological in its thrust, explicitly rejecting ancient Near Eastern views of creation. Thus modern commentators are quite agreed that Gen 1:26 could never have been taken by the author of this chapter in a polytheistic sense.’…
The presence of God’s glory is in heaven;
the presence of His power on earth;
the presence of His justice in hell;
the presence of His grace with His people.
If He denies us His powerful presence we fall into nothing.
If He denies us His gracious presence we fall into sin.
If He denies us His merciful presence we fall into hell.
Fear God for His power.
Trust Him for His wisdom.
Love Him for His goodness.…
What! he who guides the stars, and keeps them revolving in their orbits by the motions of his fingers, does he need an insignificant atom like one of ourselves to serve him?
What! he whom all the hosts of angels do worship, and before whose throne the cherubim do veil their faces with their wings, does he need a tiny creature like man to give him homage and reverence?
If he did need men, he could soon create as many mighty kings and princes as he pleased to wait upon him, and he could have crowned heads to bow before his footstool, and emperors to conduct him through the world in triumph.…
