Christianity uncovered: Understanding Creationism

One of the more common questions that arises against the belief in God creating all matter and everything that exists is the universe is "Who created God?" Let me start off by saying, before I answer this question, that if the person reading this is truly looking for an answer to that question, there is no where else to look but the bible. If someone asks this question, they are surely, but subtly, admitting God exists, but they are denying to use the bible as God's truth. This is somewhat ironic as you may be able to see. If you truly are looking for an answer to this question, then I suggest you keep an open mind and believe the resources I am going to use. But if using this question, for you, is just to deny the deity of God, asking a question about God, but not listening to what God tells you, is not the way to go about it.

Now, in the bible, we are told that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). If we are too fully understand this verse, we must dig deeper into the meaning of "beginning." Beginning could be reffering to: the beginning of time, the beginning of creation, or, as some may think, the beginng of all thing. However, it is in fact reffering to the beginning of a new dimmension called time. Humans are stuck in time, where as God is not and therefore has been and always is there. Not only does the "beginning" refer to the beginning of time for us, but it is simply an attempt for the human mind to understand how God has always been and always will be. There is no word in the english language, nor in probably any other language, that means "always before the beginning." Why? Because it is impossible to fully understand that deffinition. The reason this is such a difficult concept to grasp is because God did not give us the ability to understand us. But he did give us the ability to believe and trust him, so that is what we must do. We have to simply have faith in God's word, without faith, no person would understand this concept in the least.

Colossians 1:15 tell us:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him."

Notice it says He is the firstborn of all creation, God was the only thing there was. Nothing created him, He just was. Nothing was there before him, He simply, was. If we think about our own lives, everything we know, see, taste, hear, feel, touch, and smell were created at some point in time. At no point in time, are we physically with something or someone that wasn't created. It is our mere nature to understand that everything is created, it lives, then it dies. God, however, is incomprehendable because he contradicts what our understandable nature tells us, God truly is everlasting. We however, and everything around us, is not.

Revelation: 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Christianity uncovered: Love; Action or Feeling?

In today's day and age, love is seldom reffered to as something a person does, rather, it is usually thought of as something that has a "spark" to it and can be forgotten about over time. In my very first post; biblical love, I talked about love as, contrary to popular belief, not being a feeling for the reason that the bible tells us that love never ends and feeling's come and go. I would like to expand on this concept and explain how to apply it to our love for God and how God apply's it to his love for us.

I would first like to quote a verse out of 1 Corininthians to build off of:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Building off of this verse, we can realize that love is slow to anger, it is not boastful or envious, nor is it rude or prideful. Now if we think about this deffinition of the word love, how does it differ from that which most humans think of love today?

If I were to come up to a girlfriend and boyfriend who were arrogantly fighting but still had no intentions of breaking up, and I went over to them and asked them if they loved eachother, I would not be surprised, nor do I think any of you would be, if they responded saying "Yes, we are just fighting," or something to that effect. This is quite frankly a perversion of the word love, love is in fact an action, not a feeling.

The way the bible defines love is all by actions: selfless, not arrogant, not irritable, rejoices with the truth. Love is the action of controlling your actions and feelings, but it is not a feeling that comes and goes; for love endures all things. In order to fully understand the word love though, we must look at how God loves us.

1 John 4:16 "So we have come to know and believe the love God has for us. God is love and whoever abides in love abides in , and God abides in him."

We never speak of love in the way it is expressed in 1 John today. We never say that someone IS love. We may say they do love, but I can honestly say that I have never heard it stated in this manner. If God is love, what does that mean? It means that God endures all things, He bears all things, He is selfless and does not envy or boast. With this knowledge, we have the ability to take a great leap into a few of God's divine characteristics and therefore, respond to them better.

How do we love God then? By believing in Him, by trusting Him, by attempting to follow his commandments and rejoicing in the faith we have in Him. Without this love for God, there is no love for God's chosen people (1 John 5:1). Without love for God, life is a mere pointless breeze that will blow but have no good, or spiritual, or even meaningful effect on anyone. Without love for our savior and Lord, your life, although contrary to logic, will cease to have meaning.

1 Corinthians 13:2

"And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all

knowlege, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,

but have not love,

I am nothing."

Christianity Uncovered: Savation through works

The idea of being a good person and getting to go to heaven is a very common and accepted belief amongst christians and atheists alike. This belief for atheists presents a ground for them to fall back on, lest their ungodly beliefs be incorrect or compromised. In other words, an atheist (that has been a nice person) may believe their whole life that God doesn't exist, but many will still aknowledge the possibilty of their incorrect assumption and therefore, feel more comfortable to say that a good person will go to heaven, regardless of faith. Although this is a common and soothing belief, it is biblically incorrect and should furthermore, be studied on the basis of God's word and not be bound by human instability.

In order to strongly and accurately grasp the concept of salvation through faith alone, we must realize that our idea of something good is corrupt and should not be linked with God's divine understanding of something good. For example, today there are many things that the world would call good that God frowns upon, such as becoming drunk and having premarital sex. Not only do some people consider these good, but many people have a strong sense of pride during a time of financial success or something that has recently been accomplished by them or of something too that effect.

Not only does God consider our view of good to be corrupt, but it is in fact, impossible for a human to commit a good work. In the book of mark, Jesus is called a "good teacher", and although this seems like a good title to us, especially if it is being associated with someone
(Jesus) that has lived a perfect life, Jesus says that he should not be called good, for "no one is good except God alone":

Mark 10:18 "and Jesus said to him, 'why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.'"

If we know that even Jesus the Christ, who lived a blameless life, was not "good", then who are we to call ourselves good? We are far from it. If man is not good at all, there is no possibility of salvation through what he does, only through God's grace and mercy being shone on our absolutely corrupt lives, does the reconciliation of our sins take place. "No one in the flesh can please God" (Romans 8:8)

So, how then do humans have a hope at all of doing truly good deeds or pleasing God if we are absolutely corrupt? I must admit, I had trouble with this question as I was studying it until I stumbled upon Phillipians 2:13, which says:

"for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."

No man, on his own, and according to his own will can please God. But God can please himself. And if God is working through a man who has faith in God in order to complete his holy will, then the man with faith is not pleasing God, but God through that man and on account of that man is being pleased, therefore that man is credited for his Godly actions which are brought about by God. But without faith in Jesus Christ and God, pleasing Him, and much more, aquiring salvation, is impossible and should not be attempted.