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00:03 CC by Aberden Captioning (800) 688-6621 www.abercap.com 00:07 ♪♪♪ 00:13 ♪♪♪ 00:21 ♪♪♪ 00:28 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Good morning, friends, and welcome again to 00:38 "Sabbath School Study Hour," coming to you from the Amazing 00:40 Facts Studios in Sacramento, California. 00:42 We'd like to welcome those who are joining us across the 00:45 country and around the world, part of our extended online 00:48 Sabbath School class. 00:50 We'd also like to send a special greeting to our regular Granite 00:53 Bay Church members. 00:55 We pray that you will be blessed 00:56 as we study our lesson this morning. 00:59 We've been studying through a great series of lessons, 01:01 talking about the Scripture, and today 01:02 we find ourselves on lesson number eight. 01:05 It's entitled "Creation: Genesis as Foundation, Part 1," so we'll 01:09 be doing part one today. 01:11 Next week, we'll be looking at part two. 01:13 But just before we get into our lesson, we've got a few 01:15 announcements we'd like to tell you about. 01:17 We also have a free offer. 01:18 It's entitled "Amazing Wonders of Creation," and this is our 01:22 free gift for those of you who are watching. 01:25 If you'd like to receive it, just call the number 01:27 866-788-3966, and ask for Offer Number 116, or if you'd like, 01:34 you can get a free digital copy of the book by just texting the 01:38 code "SH142" to the number 40544, and we'll send you a 01:45 digital link, and you'll be able to read that online. 01:47 It's entitled, again, "Amazing Wonders of Creation." 01:50 And also, friends, if you'd like to know of different things that 01:52 Amazing Facts is doing, sending announcements of different 01:56 special programs that we might have. 01:58 You can just simply text the 02:00 word "ONLINE," to the number 40544. 02:04 Text the word "ONLINE" to 40544, and you'll be able to receive 02:09 these updates from time to time. 02:11 Well, before we get to our lesson, 02:12 let's start with a word of prayer. 02:14 Dear Father in heaven, we thank You once again that we have the 02:16 opportunity to open up Your Word and study a very important 02:19 subject, a foundational truth to our belief and understanding of 02:23 who we are and why we are here, and where we are headed. 02:27 So, Lord, we ask Your blessing upon our time today. 02:29 Be with those who are listening, joining us around the world, 02:32 in Jesus's name, amen. 02:34 Doug Batchelor: Amen. 02:35 Jean: Well, Pastor Doug, earlier this week, we were 02:36 talking about this week's lesson, and we mentioned how 02:39 important our study is today, and, really, how exciting it is. 02:43 We're talking about Genesis as being the foundation, of course, 02:46 the first book of the Bible, but also the foundation of our 02:49 understanding of so many important themes. 02:52 Doug: Yeah, they say that you can't really be happy unless you 02:55 know where you've come from, which defines what you're doing 02:59 here, and where you're going. 03:01 And so the beginnings, really, it's foundational to everything. 03:04 And so this was a good lesson. 03:06 By the way, this is part one. 03:07 I think for the next two weeks, we're going to talk about the 03:10 importance of Genesis in studying the Bible. 03:13 And maybe we ought to start with our memory verse. 03:15 The memory verse for this lesson-by the way, 03:17 this is lesson number eight. 03:19 is John 1, verse 1 through 4: "In the beginning was the Word, 03:24 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 03:28 He was in the beginning with God. 03:30 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing 03:33 was made that was made. 03:35 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." 03:40 And so, of course, Jesus is right there at the very 03:42 beginning, in the foundations in Genesis, and we're going to talk 03:46 about that in a minute, but before we do, Pastor Ross, why 03:49 don't we go back and forth a little bit, and talk about some 03:52 of the big things that matter that are important that are 03:57 foundations that are found in Genesis. 04:00 For example, it's in Genesis you 04:02 first find what the meaning of work is. 04:06 Jean: That's right. 04:08 It talks about how God created man, Adam and Eve, and had them 04:12 tend the garden, take care of it. 04:14 Right at the very beginning of Genesis 1:1, 04:17 you're introduced to who God is. 04:19 "In the beginning, God created." 04:21 Now, a couple things there that I think are interesting. 04:23 First of all, God is a God of love because He creates. 04:26 He creates beings with freedom of choice. 04:28 He creates beings that are able to worship and love Him. 04:32 He loves them. 04:34 We also see that God is referred to here in a plural sense. 04:38 "In the beginning, God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image.'" 04:41 And then you read about the Holy Spirit that was hovering on the 04:44 face of the waters at Creation, at the beginning of Creation, so 04:47 we're introduced somewhat to God, not all the details are 04:49 filled in, but at least we have an idea of a being that is a 04:52 being of love, and we recognize that there is a plurality of the 04:57 Godhead: Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, and, of course, John 05:01 even expands that and says, "All things are made through Jesus." 05:03 Doug: Yeah, that's right. 05:05 And then it's interesting that not only do you find God the 05:08 Father, Son, and Spirit there in Genesis, but when you get to 05:11 Revelation, again, it says, "The Spirit and the bride say, 05:15 'Come,'" and so you can--you read the last chapter of 05:17 Revelation, rather, and you see all three, all the way, you 05:21 know, through the Bible then. 05:23 It's in Genesis that you hear the first prophecies about the 05:28 coming of the Messiah. 05:29 It's where in Genesis 3, it's where you find out why is there 05:32 sin in the world, the introduction of evil. 05:36 You've got the genealogies in the Bible that explain the 05:40 coming Messiah through Abraham, David, 05:43 and, you know, ultimately to Christ. 05:47 The power of the spoken word is in Genesis. 05:51 That's where you first see that. 05:52 Jean: God says, "Let there be," and all of the things that 05:54 God creates in that first week, He simply speaks, and it 05:57 happens, except when it comes to creating man. 06:00 God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, breathed into him 06:03 the breath of life, and the same thing is involved 06:05 when He creates Eve. 06:06 He actually takes a rib from the side of Adam and creates Eve. 06:09 So we see the power of the 06:11 spoken word of God in that first Creation week. 06:14 We also discover that, in that first few chapters of 06:17 Revelation, God created something very good, but then 06:20 something very bad happened, so we have the introduction, or the 06:23 origin of evil, why there is suffering and pain in the world, 06:27 and it also points out as to who the author is of evil. 06:30 It's not God, but it's an adversary. 06:32 You read in Genesis chapter 3, 06:34 the devil is coming in the form of a serpent. 06:37 So right from the very beginning of the Bible, you have the great 06:40 controversy set up between good and evil, between God and Satan. 06:44 Doug: Yup, absolutely, and so, and then you even really 06:48 have the promise of restoration 06:50 because you see what is God's ideal. 06:52 People say, "If God is good, why is there so much suffering and 06:54 misery in the world?" 06:56 Well, it's in Genesis. 06:57 You read, in the garden, it says, "God made everything good, 06:59 good, good, good, very good," and so you say, 07:02 "What does God want for us?" 07:04 "Every good and perfect gift is from God," and "God will 07:08 withhold no good thing from those that walk up rightly." 07:12 And Jesus told the rich young ruler, "Only God is good." 07:15 And so you see the goodness of God and His desire to put man in 07:19 a paradise, right there at the beginning. 07:21 Jean: Now, another one that's kind of interesting, we don't 07:23 always think of it, but it's an important one: the origin of 07:26 languages and the origin of nations. 07:28 That's actually introduced to us in the book of Genesis. 07:31 You read about it in Genesis chapter 10 and 11, where the 07:34 people built the Tower of Babel, and their language, God actually 07:37 brought judgment on the tower because it was an act of 07:40 rebellion, and their languages were all mixed up, and 07:43 eventually they broke apart, and they moved to different areas. 07:46 So the origin of languages and 07:47 nations is even brought to view here in Genesis. 07:50 Doug: You know, it's probably helpful to mention, 07:52 why is this so important? 07:54 Because we're living in a culture today that, even among 07:58 Christians, many dismiss the first 11 chapters. 08:01 That's where you find the Tower of Babel in Genesis. 08:05 And they say, "Well, those 08:06 were fables that kind of give context. 08:08 They weren't literal. 08:10 They didn't really have Adam and Eve. 08:11 He didn't really have Noah. 08:12 He didn't really have this tower." 08:14 And the problem with that, though, is Jesus speaks of them 08:19 as literal, and so, if you start dismissing the first foundations 08:23 in Genesis--where is that in Psalms where it says, "If the 08:26 foundations be destroyed," you know, "what will the people do?" 08:30 And so the devil hits this. 08:32 You know, the foundations were destroyed, 08:33 and then there was war in the gates. 08:35 And so, when there's an attack of the foundations, it just 08:39 destroys everything. 08:40 And so we're showing here the authors of the lesson are doing 08:44 a good job demonstrating that foundational to so many 08:49 cornerstone teachings of Christianity and even life, you 08:54 must believe in Genesis being literal, the first 11 chapters. 08:57 Jean: The verse you're referring to there, Pastor Doug, 09:00 is Psalms 11, verse 3, in case you taking notes. 09:02 It says, "If the foundations are destroyed, 09:04 what shall the righteous do?" 09:05 And how true that is. 09:06 If your foundation of the Bible in Genesis, so many important 09:10 themes is not there, you don't have a right idea as to why 09:14 we're here, what the purpose of life is. 09:16 Doug: Absolutely. Jean: It's so important. 09:18 Pastor Doug, a couple of other important themes are introduced. 09:21 You mentioned the promise of a Messiah, and also, we have an 09:24 introduction here to the covenant people, the covenant 09:27 that God makes with Abraham and the Hebrews, but you also find a 09:30 whole lot of genealogy, "So-and-So begat so-and-so, and 09:33 so-and-so begat so-and-so." 09:35 Why is that important in the context of the beginnings? 09:39 Doug: You know, it was amazing to me--I'll just tell 09:42 you on a personal note--believing in evolution and 09:46 believing that, you know, man's been around for--at least modern 09:49 man, who's not dragging his knuckles, I used to think, 09:51 "Well, he's been around for maybe 1.5 million years--" they 09:56 got varying numbers-- "and at some point, the glint of 10:01 recognition popped into his mind, and he stopped being an 10:03 animal, and he became man." 10:06 And--but then I read the genealogies, and if you read in 10:09 Luke, it traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam. 10:14 And so I thought, "Wow," you know, first it's tedious trying 10:17 to say the names, but when you realize that those Bible 10:20 writers, the Jews, had kept such careful genealogies. 10:22 They could trace the lineage of Christ all the way back to Adam. 10:27 And in Matthew, it begins by tracing the genealogy back to 10:30 David because Jesus is the son of David. 10:33 And it says that "Your descendants would be the King, 10:36 the Messiah," and so these genealogies are really a 10:39 tremendous affirmation. 10:41 The other interesting thing about the genealogies is, as you 10:44 read through them, you say, "Oh, it talks about Tamar." 10:47 Well, there's a whole story about her. 10:48 "Oh, it talks about Rahab." 10:50 Got a whole book about her." 10:52 Ruth--got a whole book about her. 10:54 And so these characters appear in the lineage of the Messiah, 10:59 that are telling you that God saves all kinds of people, and, 11:02 yet they're His ancestors, and so there's a lot you can learn 11:05 from the genealogies. 11:07 Jean: And then, of course, the big ones that are introduced 11:09 right at the very beginning of the book of Genesis--and we'll 11:12 be talking about this a little later in our lesson two--are the 11:16 subjects of marriage and the Sabbath, and man and woman. 11:22 These are some big themes 11:23 that are introduced right at the beginning. 11:25 And Pastor Doug, it's interesting how these important 11:27 themes are under attack today, why? 11:30 Fundamentally the teaching of evolution, there's no real 11:33 difference why you're here. 11:36 It's just an accident. 11:38 And these are important themes that we need to understand, 11:40 especially in today's culture. 11:41 Doug: Absolutely, and to jump in, if you have any questions, 11:43 we're inviting questions from those who might be viewing. 11:46 I think the questions come in through Facebook. 11:47 Jean: They do. They're coming through Facebook. 11:49 And then they'll actually e-mail it to me. 11:50 Doug: It's alive. 11:51 Jean: Yeah, so here's our first question. 11:53 Doug: Okay. 11:54 Jean: All right, Matt is asking, "Were angels created 11:56 before the universe or after the universe?" 11:59 Doug: Well, I'm glad they asked. 12:01 That's actually coming up later in the lesson, 12:03 but I'll mention it now since you asked. 12:05 So when we're reading Genesis, "In the beginning, God 12:08 created--" is it talking about the beginning of all time, or is 12:12 it talking about the beginning of our world? 12:16 And so we believe from the context of what's in Genesis, 12:18 it's not talking about the beginning of God. 12:21 It's talking about the beginning of our world because the context 12:24 of everything that's mentioned there is, 12:26 on Earth, these things were done. 12:29 Man was done, the separation of the days, and so forth. 12:32 And so God had creatures prior to that, and there's this one 12:37 verse you can read in Job 38: "Were you there--" 12:40 and this is Job 38, verse 4. 12:43 "Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth? 12:45 Tell me, if you have understanding. 12:47 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. 12:50 Or who stretched the line upon it? 12:52 To what were its foundations fastened? 12:54 Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang 12:58 together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" 13:01 So here these beings are shouting for joy when God 13:06 creates the world, and we think that they're either unfallen 13:09 worlds or angels, but so I think angels did exist. 13:12 They're the ministering spirits of God, and man was made a 13:15 little lower than the angels, 13:16 so angels must have existed prior to man. 13:19 So we think the angels came first. 13:22 Jean: Okay, well then that brings us to our Sunday lesson 13:24 which is entitled "In the Beginning." 13:27 And one of the important things that are brought to view in our 13:29 lesson, and I think it's something you'll want to 13:31 remember is the active involvement or how involved 13:34 Jesus was in the Creation, even though His name is not 13:37 specifically mentioned there in Genesis chapter 1. 13:40 We have almost a parallel passage of Scripture that we 13:43 find in the gospel of John, in John chapter 1, verse 1 to 3. 13:46 Notice the similarity in wording. 13:48 It says, "In the beginning was the Word." 13:50 Well, Genesis says, "In the beginning, God--" 13:53 so you see that parallel. 13:54 "The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 13:57 He was in the beginning with God," and then, verse 3, this 13:59 John 1, "All things were made through Him, and without Him was 14:03 not anything made that was made." 14:05 So here we're introduced to Jesus, 14:07 and it says He was in the beginning with God. 14:09 Everything was made through Him. 14:11 He is the Creator of all things. 14:14 Doug: It's interesting, Jesus is called "the Word." 14:17 Jesus is called "the bread." 14:19 The bread is called the Word, and so, you know, one of the 14:23 ways that Christ is identified is "the Word became flesh and 14:26 dwelt among us." 14:28 And He is the Word of God incarnate. 14:31 We don't know anything about what Jesus looked like. 14:33 I mean, you know, there's a lot of paintings out there, and all 14:36 these are pretty much artists' concepts. 14:38 What we know about Jesus is what He said. 14:40 He changed the world by what He said, and what He said was so 14:43 important that, even when He rose from the dead and He 14:46 appeared to two of His disciples, He basically blinded 14:49 their eyes or shielded them from recognizing Him so they would 14:52 hear what He said on the road to Emmaus because what He 14:55 said was where the real power is. 14:57 Jean: There's power in the Word. 14:58 Doug: Yeah. 15:00 Jean: Now, in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1, 15:01 we kind of have a connecting verse here. 15:03 It says, "God who at various times and in various ways spoke 15:06 in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last 15:09 days," or recently, "spoken to us by His Son, whom He has 15:13 appointed heir of all things--" and here's the point, Pastor 15:16 Doug, "through whom also He made the worlds." 15:19 So from John chapter 1, verse 1, we understand Christ is very 15:21 involved in the creation of our Earth, but here in Hebrews 1, we 15:25 find out that Jesus was involved not only in creating planet 15:28 Earth, but He's involved in creating worlds, and, of course, 15:32 he uses the plural there. 15:33 Doug: Yeah, I saw an article in "CNN Science." 15:36 This goes back, like, to 2003. 15:39 It says, "Have you ever wanted to wish upon a star?" 15:41 We're not recommending that. 15:43 "Well, you have 700 million, million, million to choose 15:47 from," and it says, "the Australian National University 15:51 of Astronomers did some calculation, and they said there 15:54 are probably as many stars--" no, no, I said that wrong. 15:58 "There are ten times as many stars as grains of sand in all 16:04 of the world's beaches and deserts." 16:08 And they say, "That comes to a seven followed by 22 zeros, 16:13 which is going to be 70 sextillion stars." 16:18 And so the Lord's got a lot of life out there. 16:21 It's like that parable where Jesus said, you know, "Shepherd 16:24 has 100 sheep, but one's lost. 16:26 He leaves the 99 safe in the 16:28 fold to go and look for that one last lamb." 16:31 And Jesus left the unfallen worlds and came to our world, 16:34 incarnate, to save man. 16:36 So there's a lot of life out there. 16:38 Through Christ, God made the worlds. 16:41 Jean: Now, we have a question that's related to this subject. 16:44 Miranda is asking, "Did the other worlds exist before 16:47 creation of the universe or after?" 16:51 Doug: Well, if we're talking about other worlds that had 16:54 intelligent life, you know, we know just from our solar system, 16:57 God has some worlds that 17:00 are probably just created for exploring. 17:01 There's no life on them. 17:03 So I think that most of the planets and stars you see--of 17:07 course, stars are not inhabited. 17:09 They're fiery balls--are uninhabited, but He does have 17:13 inhabited worlds out there. 17:16 And, you know, with our limited telescopes, right now, the only 17:20 way that astronomers can tell if a star has planets around it, is 17:24 they'll see a flicker in the star, and that means that a 17:28 planet passed in front of it and--at some point. 17:32 And they say that means that a planet--they try and calculate, 17:34 well, how far from the star was it, and is it the right distance 17:38 where it could support life? 17:41 And there are so many stars. 17:43 Now, keep in mind that figure I gave a minute ago-- 17:44 what did I say? 17:46 Seven sextillion? 17:47 That's not talking about planets. 17:48 They're talking about stars. 17:50 That's the ones that are like suns. 17:51 Think about how many planets there are. 17:54 And let me read one more that goes along with the question 17:56 that was answered, and this is under "In the Beginning," 17:59 Colossians 1:16, "For by him, Christ, all things were created 18:04 that are in heaven and on earth--" so there are things in 18:07 heaven He created-- "visible and invisible--" there's the whole 18:11 spiritual world of angels that are ministering spirits-- 18:14 "whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. 18:17 All things are created through Him and for Him." 18:21 So now we're understanding not just how much was created, but 18:24 why it's created. 18:27 Jean: Now related to that, Pastor Doug, talking about God 18:30 created the worlds and, of course, you mentioned that the 18:32 verse in Job talks about the sons of God shouted for joy when 18:36 our world was created, so these other inhabited worlds are out 18:39 there with intelligent beings, but I guess one of the questions 18:43 that people have, especially those who reject the biblical 18:47 account in Genesis, "What is my purpose? 18:49 Why am I here? 18:50 Am I just the result of random chance?" 18:53 Of course, you have Darwinian evolution that really tries to 18:56 take God out of the picture, but when you try and line up 19:00 evolution with what Genesis says, especially in those first 19:03 two chapters, there is a huge conflict. 19:05 You can't marry the two. 19:06 Doug: Yeah, yeah, in Darwinian evolution, if you say, 19:10 "What is my purpose in life?" 19:13 There really is no purpose if there's no God and there's no 19:16 ultimate goal or destiny. 19:18 You're just a biological random accident, 19:20 and life is meaningless. 19:22 Some Darwinists will say, "Well, your purpose is to survive. 19:28 It's called survival of the fittest." 19:30 And that means that you take advantage of the weaker so that 19:34 you can survive, which really is not a very good worldview, but, 19:39 you know, some people live that way. 19:41 And that is so counter to what God teaches in His Word, that we 19:46 are--we exist to love and to worship God and to love, show 19:49 His love to our fellow creatures. 19:52 Jean: All right, we've got 19:53 Susie asking a question, Pastor Doug. 19:55 The question is "Did Genesis say God created Adam outside of the 20:00 garden and then put him in the garden?" 20:04 Doug: You know, it's my understanding that man was 20:07 probably made in the garden, and then God introduced him to 20:11 the--what his work was in the garden. 20:14 What are your thoughts on that? 20:16 Jean: Well, you know, again, Genesis is not always written in 20:18 exact chronological order. 20:20 For example, you have Genesis 1, that gives you an overview of 20:22 Creation, and then you come back in chapter 2. 20:25 Chapter 3, you've got more details filled in. 20:28 I think God would've created the garden and a special dwelling 20:31 place for Adam and Eve. 20:33 Was sort of their home. 20:35 Of course, they can probably wander throughout the whole 20:37 world, you know, if they had not sinned, and go back and forth, 20:41 in and out of the garden. 20:42 But it seems as though the garden, the house was prepared 20:45 for them, and they were created, and then introduced to their 20:49 environment, to their home. 20:50 So, good question. 20:52 I thank you for asking that, Susie. 20:55 All right, then moving on to our next day. 20:57 We have Monday, and it's entitled "The Days of Creation." 21:01 And, again, it's emphasizing the six literal days of Creation, 21:06 and why is this so important for us to understand? 21:09 Doug: Well, you know, the argument even amongst some 21:11 Christians who believe that there's room for either 21:15 evolution--or maybe they don't believe in evolution, but they 21:18 believe that God created in these big epochs of time--I 21:23 remember studying--I don't know if their beliefs have changed, 21:26 but years ago I studied with some Jehovah Witnesses, and they 21:28 said, "Yeah, those six days 21:29 of creation are really 6,000 years," but that's not possible. 21:36 If you take the Bible the way it reads, the word for "day" there 21:39 is the word "yom," and it means a specific day, a literal day. 21:47 You know what? 21:48 I can't improve on what the authors put in the lesson. 21:50 They did a great job here. This is Frank and Michael Hasel. 21:54 "The term used in the singular is not the plural, 21:57 meaning a single day. 21:59 Thus, the seven days of creation are to be understood as a 22:03 complete unit of time, introduced by the cardinal 22:06 number, 'echad,' 'one,' followed by an ordinal number, the 22:10 second, the third, the fourth. 22:12 This pattern indicates a consecutive sequence of days, 22:15 culminating in the seventh day. 22:17 There's no indication in the use of the terms or the narrative 22:21 form itself that there should be any gaps in these days. 22:25 The seven days of Creation are indeed seven days 22:28 as we delineate days today. 22:29 There are seven literal 24-hour days." 22:33 Says, "The evening and the morning." 22:35 And then if, you look in--says, on the third day God makes the 22:39 vegetation, but He doesn't make the sun, moon, 22:42 and stars until the fourth day. 22:43 So if He makes all the plants and if you lock those plants up 22:46 in darkness for a thousand years, or, you know, a month, 22:50 they're going to all die. 22:51 So the next day, God then makes the light. 22:54 So they have to be literal days. 22:56 Jean: Well, Pastor Doug, let's talk about those first six 22:59 and seven days of Creation. 23:01 The first thing God creates on day one, he says, "Let there be 23:03 light," and it almost appears as though the presence of God at 23:07 first brings light because as you mentioned, on the fourth 23:10 day, you have the sun that is created. 23:13 So the presence of God brings light on this dark planet. 23:16 He creates the earth. 23:18 And so, day one, He creates light. 23:20 A day two, He creates the atmosphere, or the Bible calls 23:23 it the firmament, where He separated the waters, and we 23:26 have the atmosphere. 23:27 Day three, God creates dry land, and He creates vegetation. 23:32 Day four, you have the stars, as well as the sun and the moon. 23:37 Day five, you have birds in the firmament, 23:40 and you have fish in the sea. 23:43 And day six, you have land animals, and you have mankind. 23:46 Now, the pattern that's interesting in these days of 23:48 Creation, you find God making something, 23:51 and then He fills it with something. 23:52 For example, He created the atmosphere, and then He fills 23:55 the atmosphere with birds. 23:57 He creates the sea, and He fills the sea with fish. 24:00 He creates the land, and He 24:02 fills the land with vegetation and animals. 24:05 So each of these days, a pattern is established. 24:07 God creates something, and then He fills it. 24:09 Doug: He populates it. Jean: He populates it. 24:11 And when it comes to the creation of man, you read how 24:14 that God formed Adam out of the breath--formed Adam out of the 24:17 clay and breathed into him the breath of life. 24:20 So, God, again, forms him and 24:22 then fills him with the breath of life. 24:24 Adam becomes a living being. 24:26 Now, that's particularly interesting when you get to the 24:28 seventh day because, the seventh day, 24:30 God does not make anything, per se. 24:33 Rather, He pauses. 24:35 He finishes His work creation. 24:37 He creates 24 hours, but then 24:38 He fills those 24 hours with blessing. 24:42 He sanctifies it. He sets it apart for a holy use. 24:45 So God is always making something, and then filling it. 24:48 Making something, and then blessing it. 24:50 And, of course, that's true for us today. 24:52 God wants us--He made us. 24:54 He wants to fill us with His blessing, fill us with the 24:57 Spirit, just as He filled Adam and he became a living being, so 25:01 God wants us to be spiritually living and alive. 25:04 Doug: Yeah, and He wants us to be filled with purpose and 25:08 activity, and one of the things we learn from Genesis is that 25:12 there's something different God does when He makes man. 25:14 He doesn't make man the same way. 25:16 First of all, He doesn't make man or woman the same way he 25:18 makes the other animals. 25:20 He speaks them into existence, but He does something unique for 25:22 man and woman in the way He creates them. 25:24 Because He says, "They are made in My image," 25:28 and then He gives them dominion. 25:30 And so man is the crowning work. 25:33 You know, there's a place in Psalms where it says, 25:35 "Are you not gods?" 25:37 You know, man was made to be something like the God of this 25:39 world for the creatures, and we were given the ability, as God 25:43 creates in His image, man was 25:45 able to procreate through love in His image. 25:48 And so there's something in Genesis we learn about, you 25:52 know, God fills man with His 25:54 Spirit in a different way than the animals. 25:57 He's a reflection of God. 25:59 Jean: Okay, well, that ties into another question that we 26:01 have, Pastor Doug, and the question is "What does it mean 26:03 that God made Adam and Eve in His image?" 26:08 Doug: Well, does God have a form? 26:10 Yes, the Bible describes, you know, God as having--in many 26:14 different verses, it'll talk about God the Father and 26:16 Son--now, the Spirit's unique, but the Father and the Son, it's 26:20 described as them having everything from hair, to hands, 26:24 to feet, to ears, to mouth, to eyes. 26:27 You'll see that we were made in form, similar to God, or we 26:33 have--there's features and similarity with man and God, 26:37 and--but man is made in the image of God in that the 26:44 emotions that we have, the thoughts that we think, God 26:47 loves, Bible says, God hates. 26:50 Bible says that, you know, God rejoices, God sings. 26:54 Says in Zechariah, "He'll rejoice." 26:56 So many things that we naturally have, I mean, separated from sin 26:59 or the abuse of those things, we get these things from God, and 27:04 so we're, you know, originally created with certain 27:06 characteristics and traits, and then as God creates, like I 27:10 said, through love, a man and woman in marriage procreate 27:15 in their own image. 27:16 And, you know, there's the 27:18 delight and joy that goes along with that. 27:20 Jean: And, of course, the Bible is clear that angels, they 27:22 don't marry, neither are they given any marriage. 27:24 They don't procreate. 27:26 So in that sense, we're quite different than the angels. 27:29 The angels are also very intelligent. 27:31 They're powerful beings, but one of the things that the devil 27:34 can't do--and I think that's why he particularly hates mankind is 27:38 because we are able to create in our image through children. 27:43 That's something the angels can't do. 27:45 So that's something unique that it seems God did for Adam and 27:48 Eve for this--for humanity here on this earth. 27:50 Doug: And even aside from the procreation part of it, God 27:53 created man to create. 27:54 He put them in a garden. 27:56 When He said to keep the garden, and He gives them the world, God 27:59 wanted man to be creative with what happened in the garden, and 28:03 maybe--you know, I always liked to say, "Do you realize that 28:05 there were no bananas in the garden of Eden?" 28:08 A banana is a hybrid of two Asian fruits that are not that 28:11 exciting by themselves, but you put them together, 28:13 and you make a wonder fruit. 28:15 And I think Adam and Eve were probably going to be doing some 28:17 really creative things with pollination and the creation to 28:22 make new things and shape buildings out of training vines, 28:25 and it's all--and it's hard for us to understand, but God made 28:28 man to be creative as God is. 28:30 Jean: That's good. 28:32 Doug: Train the animals to do tricks. 28:33 Jean: That's right. 28:34 Doug: He had all those animals, yeah. 28:36 Jean: All right, so we have a couple questions that's coming. 28:38 These are great questions. 28:39 Brandon is asking, "Is there a relationship between the 28:41 Sabbath and the millennium? 28:44 Does the week of Creation 28:45 represent a 7,000-year time line? 28:49 Doug: Yeah, well, now, we got 28:50 to be careful when we mentioned this. 28:52 Personally, I believe that there is a connection, 28:55 and this was the belief of J. N. Andrews, Martin Luther, 29:02 Joseph Bates, a lot of the founders, 29:06 E.G. White, that there's what 29:08 they call this great millennial week 29:10 of time, where you have approximately--and this is--I'm 29:13 very careful to say "approximately" because you 29:15 can't use this to--you can't, like, take Bishop Ussher's 29:18 chronology and say, "I'm going 29:20 to fix the day for a second coming." 29:22 But you do see that there's this epic where you have the age of 29:25 the patriarchs for 2,000 years, from Adam to Abraham, then 29:30 you've got approximately 2,000 years from Abraham to Christ, 29:35 who's the second Adam, and then you will probably have 29:38 approximately 2,000 years from 29:40 Christ's first coming to the Second Coming. 29:43 We don't know when that is. 29:45 You know, it could be later. 29:46 You have all those parables that say there seems to be a delay. 29:49 Doesn't say how long that delay is but that 29:52 "While the bridegroom tarried." 29:54 Moses goes up the mountain, and it says, "He tarries." 29:57 If that evil servant says, "My Lord delays his coming." 30:00 And there's a lot of stories 30:01 that seem to think it could be delayed. 30:02 Other places, it says He'll cut it short in righteousness. 30:05 So we don't know what the time is, but then it says that we 30:09 live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. 30:12 So you do seem to see a pattern, anyway, that there'll be this 30:16 millennial week, but don't take that and try to then peg a date 30:19 for the Second Coming. 30:20 Jean: I know. 30:21 All right, well, that's a great thought and needs study there. 30:24 Well, Pastor Doug, Tuesday, He's talking about the Sabbath and 30:27 Creation, or in Creation, and, of course, today, there's no 30:31 surprise that the seventh-day 30:32 Sabbath is definitely under attack. 30:34 Doug: Yeah. 30:35 Jean: There's two institutions that come to us 30:37 before sin ever entered the world. 30:39 You've got the seventh-day Sabbath or you've got marriage 30:41 first, and then you got the seventh-day Sabbath. 30:43 Now, talking about the Sabbath though, we've noticed that 30:45 there's even some changes in the calendar. 30:48 They have what they call the workweek. 30:51 And the workweek, the first day of the week is on Monday, and 30:54 the last day of the week is on Sunday. 30:56 Doug: These governments that have changed calendars. 30:58 Jean: Governments that have 30:59 tried to change the days of the week. 31:01 And then something very interesting that you've 31:03 mentioned before, Pastor Doug, and that is "The Papal 31:05 Encyclical" on climate change and how it's been emphasized in 31:11 having a day of rest. 31:12 Doug: Yeah, and the Pope in this 2015 encyclical, he made a 31:15 very subtle transition. 31:17 He talks about the importance of the Jewish sabbath on the 31:20 seventh day, and then he brings in the Eucharist, 31:23 which was Sunday. 31:25 And you'd be surprised how many people, when I talked about the 31:28 Sabbath, say, "Oh, yeah, I go to church every Sabbath." 31:30 So it's the seventh day. 31:32 Say, "Yeah, I go on the seventh day, Sunday, seventh day." 31:34 And there's a lot of confusion on that. 31:36 But you and I did a program a little more than a week ago 31:39 where we said that, you know, in the midst of this global 31:43 shutdown that we hope it's going to be evaporating soon, that a 31:47 lot of people are saying, 31:49 "Maybe, look at all the people resting. 31:51 The environment is getting better. 31:53 It seems like the air is a little cleaner. 31:54 People are, you know, resting at home. 31:56 Water is cleaner. Animals seem to be enjoying it. 31:59 Maybe we should start remembering to keep a Sabbath 32:02 once a week for the environment." 32:04 Others, churches are saying, 32:06 "We've been neglecting the Sabbath. 32:07 We ought to start doing it." 32:09 And I could just--I think we listed about 15 different 32:12 national sources that are mentioning a Sabbath day in 32:16 connection with the shutdown, so it is an interesting time. 32:20 Jean: And then, of course, the next part of our lesson is 32:22 talking about Jesus and the Sabbath, and we can always 32:24 follow the example that Jesus gives us. 32:26 And in Mark chapter 2, verse 27, Jesus said, speaking of the 32:30 Sabbath, "The Sabbath was made for man, 32:32 and not man for the Sabbath." 32:34 Well, of course, mankind was 32:36 made on the sixth day of the week. 32:38 Adam and Eve were created on Friday. 32:40 The first full day that Adam and Eve had was a day of rest. 32:44 You know, it's interesting, Pastor Doug, you see, God works 32:47 for six days, and then He rests on the seventh day. 32:50 Adam and Eve are created on the sixth day, the first full day 32:54 they rest, and then they work for six. 32:56 So it's the reverse. 32:57 God worked for six, He rests on the seventh. 33:00 Mankind rests for one day, and then they work for six days. 33:03 And so the Sabbath is a memorial of God's creative work. 33:07 It is a time for us to reflect upon His goodness and a time for 33:10 us to interact with His creation, time for us to 33:14 fellowship in special communion with God. 33:17 Doug: Yeah, and so the Sabbath because--and God says, 33:20 you know, "I gave the children of Israel the Sabbath day. 33:23 It's a memorial or a sign unto 33:24 them that I'm the Lord that made them." 33:26 He's a creator. 33:28 And this is also a reminder that--what else did He 33:29 do to the Sabbath? 33:31 He sanctified it. 33:32 He says that it's also a sign of His sanctifying power. 33:36 So everyone out there that needs a new heart created in them or 33:39 if we need sanctification, 33:41 Sabbath is always a reminder of that. 33:44 And one more thing, the Sabbath, 33:46 it's a reminder that there were literal days. 33:48 When they go through the wilderness, God rains bread down 33:51 from heaven six days a week, and then there's none on the seventh 33:54 day, reminding them that these were six literal 24-hour days, 33:59 otherwise, they would starve 34:01 if they went a thousand years without bread. 34:03 Jean: And, of course, we also know that the Sabbath was not 34:04 just made for the Jew. 34:06 It says there in Genesis chapter 2--well, Jesus actually referred 34:09 to it also in Mark chapter 2, the Sabbath is made for man. 34:12 Well, when it says, "man," it's talking about "mankind." 34:15 Adam and Eve were the very first people that celebrated the 34:19 Sabbath, and they weren't Jews. 34:21 This is long before the time of Abraham. 34:23 And when it says, "The Sabbath day is made for man," or 34:25 mankind, that means is for everyone. 34:27 Doesn't matter what your nationality or what your family 34:30 connection might be. 34:31 And then we also find the Sabbath an important theme, even 34:34 in the last book of the Bible. 34:36 In Revelation chapter 14, verse 7, you have the first angel's 34:40 message, Revelation 14:7, "saying with a loud voice, 'Fear 34:43 God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come, 34:46 and worship Him that made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and 34:50 the springs of water.'" 34:51 So the last book of the Bible is 34:53 calling us back to worship the Creator. 34:56 Doug: Yeah, and it's not changed. 34:58 The word Jesus uses there in Greek when he says, "The Sabbath 35:00 was made for man," is "anthropos," from where we get 35:03 the word "anthropology." 35:05 It's the study of man. 35:06 And so it's talking about mankind. 35:08 The Sabbath--Jesus do not need 35:11 rest any more or less than other races. 35:14 I mean, the spiritual rest, the worship, the sanctification, the 35:18 blessings, that's meant for--universally, for everyone. 35:21 So it is in the middle of God's law, the longest of the Ten 35:24 Commandments, and even in the Ten Commandments, it points back 35:27 to Creation as its origin. 35:29 Jean: And then, specifically, Pastor Doug, talking about the 35:32 Sabbath--you can find this in Genesis chapter 2, verse 35:34 3--notice the three things 35:36 God does in the creation of the Sabbath. 35:39 It says, "Then God blessed the seventh day. 35:42 He sanctified the seventh day, 35:45 and He rested on the seventh day." 35:47 What's the significance of those 35:49 three things that God did to make the Sabbath? 35:52 Doug: Well, I always remember hearing that this is something 35:57 that designates it as unique. 36:00 He doesn't--I mean, He calls the days good when He creates, but 36:04 when He gets to the Sabbath, God, 36:06 did He rest because He's tired? 36:09 The Bible says, "He never slumbers or sleeps." 36:11 Jesus said, "My Father works here, and too I work," meaning, 36:14 you know, God sustains things, 24 hours a day, 36:16 seven days a week. 36:18 But the word "rest" there is--it's basically when you 36:21 finish doing something, you sit back, and you go, 36:23 "That's really neat, you know?" 36:25 And you revel in it. 36:26 You enjoy something that you've made. 36:30 And so, you know, God wants to revel in His creation of man. 36:34 He wants to rejoice in His relationship with us. 36:38 It's kind of like a parent rocking a baby. 36:42 They could be resting, but they're really enjoying looking 36:44 down into that face. 36:46 And so He rested, He blessed it, He set it aside as a day. 36:51 He Didn't bless it for Him. 36:53 He blessed to be a blessing for us. 36:56 That's why it says God made man first, then He makes the Sabbath 36:59 to be a blessing to man." 37:00 He doesn't make man to exist to serve the Sabbath, which is what 37:03 was happening in Christ's day. 37:05 The Pharisees were acting like 37:06 the purpose of man was to keep the Sabbath. 37:08 And they made all these man-made rules about the Sabbath, and God 37:11 said, "No, no, God, made man, and He made the Sabbath 37:14 to be a blessing to man. 37:16 It is a law, but we're to be blessed in keeping it. 37:19 Jean: You know, what's also interesting is that we find God 37:22 blessing the Sabbath, and God also blesses marriage. 37:25 Now, of course, people today wouldn't say that marriage was 37:28 just for the Jews or just for one nation, but marriage is, of 37:32 course, for all mankind. 37:33 Well, the same word used to bless mankind is also used to 37:38 bless the Sabbath. 37:39 Therefore, the Sabbath, like marriage, is for everyone. 37:42 So, "sanctify," of course, means "to set apart for a holy use." 37:46 Use the illustration of somebody that's done something, and they 37:49 rest in satisfaction of the work finished. 37:51 I think of it as an artist who paints a beautiful picture when 37:54 everything's just perfect. 37:56 The last thing he does is sign his name on the bottom. 37:59 So the Sabbath, God signs His name on his creative work, and 38:03 it's a time for us to reflect 38:04 upon Him as the one who made all things. 38:08 That brings us to our next subject. 38:10 We need to move right along, and a very important subject: 38:12 Creation and marriage. 38:14 Not only is the seventh-day Sabbath under attack--you know, 38:17 this institution that came before sin, 38:20 marriage is also under attack. 38:22 Doug: Yeah, and, you know, you don't even know how to say 38:26 it because it's become so omnipresent in our world today, 38:32 this attitude that people are supposed to have about marriage 38:36 as sort of being, you know, whatever you want it to be, and 38:40 even a person's gender. 38:44 I'm stumbling for words because I just grew up in the day where, 38:49 you know, people said that "Girls were sugar and spice and 38:51 everything nice, and boys were dogs and snails and puppy dog 38:56 tails," and people just accepted there was a difference, and we 38:59 would celebrate those differences, and it goes all the 39:01 way back to Genesis that God created them different with 39:04 different roles, and it's part of His plan, and it is a good 39:07 thing, but now we're in a culture where everybody sort of 39:10 begins--it's like we're being bombarded by the culture, with 39:14 everything from the styles to the attitudes and the 39:17 entertainment for people to second-guess what their gender 39:20 is, where every chromosome in your body really tells you 39:24 that--Genesis tells you that. 39:27 And so, yeah, it's just, if you had said 25 years ago that the 39:32 day was coming where men would be marrying men, and women would 39:38 be marrying women, and calling it legitimate when it's so clear 39:42 from the Bible that men are to marry women, and that's the 39:45 arrangement for procreation--I mean, it's what you call--in our 39:49 Constitution, they're called--certain 39:50 truths are self-evident. 39:52 It is a self-evident truth. 39:54 And I think you were saying just before we went on the air, 39:57 you're talking about marriage and, oh, 40:01 "Honor your father and your mother." 40:03 Jean: That's right. 40:04 You've got the fifth commandment, and you've got the 40:05 seventh commandment. 40:07 Of course, seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not commit 40:09 adultery," and that commandment has been left in the past, or 40:13 society, they don't pay too much attention to that. 40:15 But the fifth commandment is kind of interesting where God 40:17 says, "Honor your father and your mother that your days might 40:21 be long upon the land which the Lord thy God has given thee." 40:23 Well, if you're living in a home with two fathers or two mothers, 40:29 how do you honor your father and your mother if you're growing up 40:32 in that type of society? 40:34 So we see, once again, the devil's attempt to not only 40:36 destroy the fourth commandment, the Sabbath commandment, but 40:39 even the fifth commandment, and, of course, even today, 40:42 it's looked down on. 40:44 Doug: Seventh commandment and the tenth commandment, "You 40:46 shall not covet your neighbor's spouse." 40:48 It says, "wife," there, and the commandments were addressed to 40:50 the men, "Don't covet your neighbor's wife," and so all 40:53 through the commandments, there's this very clear 40:55 distinction that's given. 40:57 Jean: Right, and the devil is trying to destroy that, so, 40:59 yeah, it's not a surprise that we find society in shambles 41:03 today if you destroy the very foundational unit of society, 41:07 which is the family, father, mother, children, and you 41:10 reinterpret--first of all, the children get to decide what 41:14 gender they want to be, which is amazing to me. 41:16 Even before a child is in its teen years, it gets to decide 41:19 "if I want to be a boy or a girl," and then you get to 41:23 decide if you want to marry a man or a woman--it's 41:26 just going against everything-- 41:28 Doug: Or two men and two women. 41:29 Jean: That's right. Doug: And God made one-- 41:30 Jean: Going against everything. 41:32 Doug: He made one Eve for one Adam. 41:33 Jean: Right. 41:34 Doug: And I think someone asked Benjamin Franklin, one 41:37 time, they said, "You can't show me a Scripture that says a man 41:39 can't have more than one wife." 41:41 And Franklin said, "No man can serve two masters." 41:43 Jean: That's good. 41:44 Doug: So the original plan was 41:46 very clearly one man, one woman. 41:48 Jean: All right, we have a question that's come in, and the 41:50 question is "Why didn't God destroy Lucifer and his angels 41:54 as soon as they sinned?" 41:58 Doug: Yeah, well, if God had done that--see, Lucifer was 42:01 casting terrible aspersions on God's character, saying, "God is 42:04 cruel and vindictive, and He's a tyrant, 42:06 and He's forcing us to keep His laws." 42:08 And if God had vaporized Lucifer right at that point, it would've 42:13 made Lucifer's charges look valid. 42:16 And instead of the other creatures serving God from love, 42:19 they would be serving Him out of fear, 42:21 and that's not what God wanted. 42:23 And so Lucifer knew that. He knew the character of God. 42:25 He knew that God was long-suffering and patient. 42:28 And so God, He said, "I'm going 42:30 to have to let Lucifer play out his government." 42:34 And when people here on earth said they'd listen to the devil 42:37 instead of God, he used this world as the staging ground to 42:41 play out his government, and you can see what happened. 42:44 Jean: We have a question from John, 42:45 relating to the question of marriage. 42:47 He says, "When was divorce introduced in the Bible, 42:50 and what is God's counsel on that?" 42:53 Doug: Well, and this may be a rhetorical question because 42:57 Jesus is very clear. 42:59 He said, In the beginning, God made them male and female," so 43:02 God--Jesus endorses that they 43:04 were made male and female from the beginning. 43:06 "A man is to leave his father and mother and cleave unto his 43:08 wife, and the two become one flesh." 43:10 And then Christ said that it was because of the hardness of our 43:14 hearts that God allowed Moses to have laws regarding divorce. 43:19 Now, Moses introduced several laws that were not part of God's 43:22 will, just because of the hardness of people's hearts. 43:25 The original diet is given in Genesis. 43:28 Moses said in his writings that, you know, there's a provision 43:30 made for eating certain clean 43:32 meats because of the hardness of our arteries. 43:34 It wasn't God's original plan. 43:37 And Moses made laws about slavery, not because God 43:41 endorsed slavery, but he wanted to make sure, since people were 43:43 doing it in their stubbornness, that slaves were not mistreated. 43:48 And people were abandoning their wives, and God said, "Look, if 43:53 that's happening, these need to be the criteria." 43:55 And so all of that was because of the hardness of heart. 43:58 It was not His original plan. 43:59 Jean: Not His original purpose. 44:00 Well, that brings us then to Thursday's lesson, which is 44:03 entitled "Creation, the Fall, and the Cross." 44:05 Here we have good news in the midst of, you know, the terrible 44:08 decisions made by Adam and Eve. 44:10 We find hope and encouragement. 44:12 Of course, in the very beginning, Genesis chapter 1, 44:14 verse 31, it says, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and 44:17 indeed it was very good." 44:20 So the Bible begins with "very good," but then something 44:24 happens, and it becomes very bad, and that, of course, is 44:27 Genesis chapter 3, where we have the fall of mankind. 44:31 Doug: Yeah, the devil, wanting to hide his true 44:35 intentions, he takes possession 44:38 of a very beautiful hypnotic creature. 44:40 It says it was one of the more subtle of all the creatures that 44:42 God had made, and it's probably 44:45 one of your favorite creatures if I'm not mistaken. 44:48 Jean: That's why I don't like snakes. 44:50 Doug: And through the medium of the serpent, you know, he 44:54 deceived humanity into trusting the word of the serpent instead 44:59 of the Word of God. 45:00 God had said, "Do not eat it. You will die." 45:02 The devil said, "You will not die." 45:03 They had to make a decision. 45:05 And, by the way, first question 45:06 in the Bible is doubting God's Word. 45:08 The devil says, "Has God said?" 45:11 And with doubting God's Word and not having faith in God's Word, 45:16 all the sin and misery has come into our world. 45:18 The solution is to trust God's Word, have faith in God's Word, 45:22 and that's where we find salvation. 45:24 But, you know, and then I always think it's interesting, in 45:28 Genesis, you've got man created in the garden, and everything is 45:30 good and beautiful, and then through sin, the paradise and 45:34 the tree of life is lost. 45:36 There's a serpent, there's a woman. 45:38 You get to Revelation, and you've got the woman, 45:40 you've got the serpent. 45:41 The last three chapters talk about the destruction of the 45:43 serpent, the restoration of paradise and the tree of life, 45:48 and it talks about the great wedding. 45:50 There's a wedding in Genesis, and you get the wedding supper 45:53 of the Lamb there in the last chapters of Genesis. 45:55 So it's basically how to get back to the garden is what you 45:58 find in the Bible between Genesis Revelation. 46:01 Jean: Now, it's very interesting, Pastor Doug. 46:02 In just a few minutes that we have left here, you mentioned 46:04 earlier that the way marriage occurred right in Genesis is God 46:09 caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam, opened up his side, took 46:13 out a rib, and with the rib, He made the bride of Adam, 46:18 of course, is Eve. 46:19 Now, there is a typology there for Christ and the church. 46:23 Doug: Yeah, and it's interesting that Adam is put to 46:26 sleep on the sixth day, which is the day he's created, and you 46:31 could say his bride comes from his side. 46:33 Well, you have Jesus, who on the sixth day of the week, Friday, 46:37 He says, "It is finished." He goes to sleep. 46:40 A Roman soldier pierces His side. 46:41 From His side comes that flow of water and blood, and the church 46:46 is born, you might say, at that point. 46:48 Jean: Yeah, it's a beautiful analogy, and, of course, you 46:50 spoke about the marriage supper of the Lamb at the end. 46:52 Pastor Doug, a real quick question here that's come in. 46:55 The question is "I've been wondering why did Jesus have to 46:59 wait 4,000 years to come instead 47:03 of coming right after Adam and Eve sinned?" 47:05 Doug: Well, Bible tells us, in the fullness of time, the 47:09 conditions of the world really needed to be ripe, and by the 47:13 time of Christ, you know, the 47:15 Romans were ruling much of the civilized world. 47:17 They had a common language. 47:19 There was a road system for the dispersion of the Gospel. 47:23 Humanity had also kind of 47:25 reached its lowest dregs at that time. 47:28 There were more slaves in the 47:29 Roman Empire than there were free people. 47:31 And so it was just the time when the world was ripe for the 47:35 Messiah to come, and then God needed to leave some time to 47:38 then spread that message. 47:40 So for the first 4,000 years they were saved by looking 47:43 forward to the cross in faith, the sacrifice of the lambs. 47:46 Jesus comes. 47:48 John the Baptist says, "This is the Lamb of God." 47:50 Now we're saved by looking back to the cross, trusting in the 47:53 blood of the Lamb. 47:55 Jean: 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 45, says, "And so it 47:58 is written, the first Adam became a living being. 48:02 The last Adam becomes a life-giving spirit." 48:05 The first Adam would be Adam, the one made there at the 48:08 beginning of time. 48:09 The last Adam would be a reference to Jesus. 48:12 Through Christ, we are recreated. 48:14 Through Christ, we have eternal life. 48:17 Through Adam, because of his sin, we have death, but through 48:20 Christ, we have life. 48:22 Doug: Amen, and, of course, 48:24 it's in Genesis we see death came because of sin. 48:27 "The wages for sin are death," but the promise is "The gift of 48:30 God is eternal life." 48:32 Pastor Ross, in the few moments we have before we go off the 48:35 air, if some joined us a little late, maybe you could mention 48:37 our free offer for today. 48:38 Jean: Beautiful little book, talking about the "Wonders of 48:41 Creation," and if you'd like to receive this, 48:43 just ask for Offer Number 116. 48:46 The number is 866-788-3966, or you can get a digital download 48:51 by texting the code "SH142," to the number 40544. 49:00 male announcer: Don't forget to request 49:01 today's life- changing free resource. 49:03 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 49:06 download a digital copy straight 49:07 to your computer or mobile device. 49:09 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 49:13 the keyword on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 49:18 shown on your screen, and be sure to select the 49:20 digital-download option on the request page. 49:23 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 49:26 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want and, most 49:30 important, to share it with others. 49:37 announcer: Amazing Facts changed lives. 49:40 ♪♪♪ 49:45 Diamond Garcia: Hi, my name is Diamond Garcia, and I am from 49:47 the beautiful islands of Hawaii. 49:49 I was raised in a very 49:52 dysfunctional family, like most families. 49:55 Being in that environment, I would lie, cheat, steal, rob 49:58 houses, cheat in school and tests, and lying to teachers and 50:03 getting into fights, and all kinds of stuff. 50:07 One day, I was asked to take this little box of something, 50:10 and I had to walk down the road and give it to someone, and they 50:13 would give me money, and I would walk back home, and I later 50:15 realized I was dealing drugs. 50:19 Growing up in that environment, I thought that, you know, being 50:22 an adult was a life of drinking and smoking and partying, and 50:25 that's just what adults did. 50:29 When I looked at my family and saw the world that they were 50:32 going down, getting arrested, getting beaten up, coming home 50:35 drunk and puking all over the floor, 50:37 I just didn't want that for myself. 50:41 Growing up, I had a grandma who was baptized as a Christian in 50:45 her 20s, but then she wasn't a real practicing Christian. 50:48 And so, one day, I was at her house, and there was a box of 50:51 various books, and I went to the bottom of that box and found a 50:54 book called "The Great Controversy," and I picked it 50:57 up, and I said, "This is interesting," and I opened to 51:00 the first page of that book, and it said, "If thou hadst known--" 51:05 I had no clue what it meant. And so I said, "You know what? 51:07 Forget this." I put the book down. 51:10 I just walked away. I did my thing. 51:11 But then something told me, "You know, 51:13 Diamond, go back to that book." 51:15 And so I went back to the book, picked it up, went to the last 51:18 two chapters, and I read it. 51:21 And I said to my grandmother, I said, "What church is this from? 51:25 I want to go to that church." 51:26 So she brought me down to the local church, and then I walk in 51:29 from the back door, and the piano is off key, 51:32 people were off key. 51:33 It's like, "Man, this is really kind of-- 51:35 I don't want to be here." 51:38 And I got to the front of the church, and I sat down. 51:40 I was listening to the sermon and the whole service. 51:42 It was so boring to me. 51:44 But then someone gives me this set of DVDs, and it was called 51:48 "The Prophecy Code." 51:51 It was through watching Doug Batchelor explain the truths 51:54 found in the Bible that really brought me to Christ and brought 51:57 me to realize that, you know what? 51:59 There is a life better than my family's life. 52:03 My second week at church on Sabbath, 52:05 there was one person there. 52:07 He basically told me, "Hey, Diamond, do you want 52:09 to make some money?" 52:10 And I said, "Sure." I said, "What do you do?" 52:13 He says, "Well, I'm a call porter. 52:14 We go door-to-door, and we sell Christian books." 52:17 I said, "Oh, okay, well, that sounds interesting. 52:20 I do want to make some money too." 52:21 And so he said, "Okay, well, why don't you come with me?" 52:24 We drove out to the neighborhood, parked the car, 52:27 and that night, it was just raining. 52:29 It was pouring and pouring. 52:30 It could not stop raining. He prayed. 52:33 He said, "God, this is Diamond's first night. 52:35 If it's your will, stop the rain so we can go knocking on doors." 52:38 And as soon as he said, "Amen," the rain just stopped. 52:41 I was just thinking in my head, 52:43 "Is this guy a prophet, or what?" 52:45 I mean, he just prayed and asked God, and it happened. 52:49 And so I was so happy. 52:51 I grabbed the books, and I went to the first door, and the first 52:53 door I went to, the person gave me 50 bucks. 52:56 That night was actually a big night for me because it was 52:58 where I saw God's power work in stopping the rain, and people 53:03 were actually giving me lots of money. 53:05 I then became a call porter or canvasser, and I'd save money to 53:08 pay for my way through academy, and when my church began to see 53:12 how God was using me, they immediately recognized that it 53:15 was God's Spirit moving, and they put me, you know, preaching 53:18 and teaching, and sharing my faith. 53:21 I've been engaged in ministry for the past six to seven years 53:23 now, and God has taken me all over the world on multiple 53:26 continents, sharing my testimony how God has brought me out of 53:29 darkness into His marvelous light, which is total contrast 53:33 as to how I was before and now. 53:35 You know, it's a total contrast. 53:38 My name is Diamond, and 53:39 Amazing Facts has helped to change my life. 53:44 ♪♪♪ 53:55 ♪♪♪ 54:03 Doug: Among the people living in the tropics for thousands of 54:05 years, the coconut has been a virtual tree of life. 54:09 The people use it for food, for clothing, 54:12 for water, for tools, for soap. 54:15 It does just about everything. 54:17 The coconut has also saved a lot of lives. 54:21 During World War II, pilots that were shot down or sailors that 54:25 were stranded on Pacific Islands, they lived for many 54:27 months on nothing other than the 54:29 coconut trees that were on their islands. 54:31 Yes, sir, the coconut is a tree of life. 54:35 One of the amazing things about the coconut is they're designed 54:38 so they're actually able to float across oceans. 54:41 Coconuts can go thousands of miles after many months, be 54:44 washed up on some deserted, sandy beach, then they take 54:49 root, sprout, come to life, and they'll develop a whole new 54:53 ecosystem, holding islands in place through a hurricane. 54:57 When the ancient Polynesian travelers crossing oceans saw an 55:00 island with coconut trees, they knew there was hope. 55:03 It's amazing how, in virtually no time at all, those living on 55:07 Pacific Islands know how to make baskets and all kinds of tools 55:11 from the leaves of the coconut tree. 55:13 ♪♪♪ 55:16 Doug: The coconuts even serve different purposes at different 55:18 times in their development. 55:20 The younger green coconut, they're full of water, and 55:22 that'll keep you alive. 55:24 Mm, You can even make your utensils from the coconut. 55:28 My spoon is part of the green shell, and here, 55:33 this is the coconut jelly. 55:34 Makes good for breakfast. 55:37 ♪♪♪ 55:38 Doug: The more mature coconuts, that's where you get 55:40 the meat, but you want to make sure that they're not bad, and 55:43 the way you test this is you can hear the water inside. 55:46 Hey, bring that mic over here. 55:48 Can you hear it? That's a good one. 55:50 How about we take a bite? 55:52 Now, that makes a meal that will really fill you up, and it 55:55 cleans your teeth at the same time. 55:59 Throughout the Bible, Jesus uses a number of metaphors to remind 56:03 us that everything we need to survive comes from Him. 56:06 He says that He's the living water. 56:08 Jesus tells us He is the bread of life. 56:11 His robe covers us with righteousness. 56:13 He is our good shepherd that protects us. 56:16 Jesus is the living vine through 56:18 which we get our life and our nourishment. 56:20 You might say Jesus is like the coconut tree, a tree of life. 56:25 You know, the first few verses in the Bible tell that God 56:27 provided a tree of life for man so he could live forever, but 56:31 because of sin, man was separated from that tree and 56:34 from the garden, but through trusting in Jesus and trusting 56:37 in His sacrifice on the cross, we once again will have access 56:40 to the tree of life and have 56:42 eternal life with Him in the kingdom. 56:44 But this is all made possible because we trust in Jesus, who 56:47 is the real tree of life. 56:49 Jesus said, "Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, 56:52 you have no life in you." 56:53 But when we accept Christ as our sacrifice and we allow Him to 56:56 cleanse us and fill us with His Spirit, we become new creatures, 57:00 and we can be with Him in sharing the gift of everlasting 57:02 life with others. 57:04 Matter of fact, we could do that right now by tossing a coconut 57:07 out and praying that it lands on a deserted beach. 57:10 ♪♪♪ 57:25 ♪♪♪ 57:29 announcer: Can't get enough Amazing Facts Bible study? 57:32 You don't have to wait until next week to enjoy more 57:35 truth-filled programming. 57:37 Watch "Amazing Facts Television" by visiting AFTV.org. 57:43 At AFTV.org, you can view "Amazing Facts" programming 24 57:47 hours a day, seven days a week, 57:49 right from your computer or mobile device. 57:52 Why wait a week? 57:54 Visit AFTV.org. It's that easy. 58:01 ♪♪♪ 58:13 ♪♪♪ 58:21 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-05-18