Truth Inspires

Idyllic Beauty Just recently I was thinking about this issue of evil as opposed to the condition of things on the earth before sin entered the world, i.e., the Garden of Eden from Genesis 1-3. The picture the Bible reveals is idyllic and absent from evil. It tells us that in the beginning God had created the world to be a place of unending peace--a utopia for His creation. Then sin entered the picture. Col 1:17 states: "And He [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things consist" In the original Greek, the word "consist," συνίστημι (sunistēmi) is a compound word with συν (son)and ιστημι (a "μι" verb), making one word from the two. When separated they mean "to gather or assemble," and "to stand," respectively. Compounded, they mean, "to come to be in a condition of coherence, continue, endure, exist, [and] hold together," (BDAG). The passage teaches that in Christ all things stand and are held fast togeth...

The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!! Rev. 19:7-9 states: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of "The Bridegroom Comes!" When the shouts were he...