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torical and future events that
su–
persede and nullify
the so-called
natural laws governing the ordinary
existence of the physica1 earth and
all living things.
For example, the message of the
New Testament is that humans
will be changed from flesh to spirit
(l
Cor. 15:52-53). This process
nies in the face of, and is in total
defiance of, every natural, physical
law and process known to man. lt
is totally beyond testing by the
tools at man's disposal. Such
knowledge must be revealed and
understood by faith or it cannot be
known.
In that sense, the Bible is incom–
parably more than a "lowly" scien–
tific textbook. It does not deal pri–
marily with the
inferior
physical
knowledge that líes within the
grasp of science. The Bible is the
book on how
supernatura1
law- as
opposed to natural Jaw- works.
No
One Like
God
In the Bible is a Personage who
flatly, unabashedly claims to be
like no one else-above all things.
" ... There is no other God be–
sirles Me, a just God and a Savior;
there is none besides Me.... For
1
am God, and there is no other.
l
have sworn by Myselr' (Isa. 45:21-
23).
For those who take issue with his
claim, he retorts: "The fool has
said in his heart, •There is no
God'" (Ps. 53:1 ).
This God also claims to foretell
the future. " 1 am God, and there is
no other; I am God, and there is
none like Me, declaring the end
from the beginning, and from an–
cient times things that are not yet
done ... " (lsa. 46:9-10).
He is further extolled as the
supreme power of the universe.
"Behold, the nations are as a drop
in a bucket, and are counted as the
small dust on the balance.... All
nations before Him are as nothing,
and they are counted by Him Jess
than nothing and worthless" (lsa.
40:15, 17).
This God thunders: " 1 am the
First and 1 am the Last; besides
Me there is no God" ( Isa. 44:6).
What does God say of the origin
of matter and life? Why, that mal–
ter and life are his supernatura1
acts, his creation:
26
• Job 38:4, "Where were you
when 1 laid the foundations of the
earth? Tell Me, if you have under–
standing."
• Isaiah 42:5, "Thus says God
the Lord, who created the heavens
and stretched them out, who
spread forth the earth and that
which comes from it. ..."
"In the Beglnnlng . .."
Now,
what
is this God? Actua1ly,
God is the name of a kingdom or
family currently consisting of two
spirit beings.
In the book of John, chapter
1,
first three verses, we read:
"In
the beginning
was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things
were made through Him, and
without Him nothing was made
that was made."
At that time,
before
the universe
existed, in that ageless, remote past
eternity, there were two members
of the God kingdom. One was the
Logos, the Spokesman-the one
who became J esus Christ. All
things-everything from the far–
thest galaxy to the common fruit
fly- were created by him.
Next, come to Genesis 1:1.
"In
the beginning
God created the
heavens and the earth." This "be–
ginning" is the transition time be–
tween nothing material existing
and the coming
into
existence of
the universe and earth.
Now we cometo verse 2 of Gen–
esis l. " The earth was without
form, and void; and darkness was
on the face of the deep." The
words "without form and void" are
translated from the Hebrew
tohu
and
bohu. Tohu
means "to líe
waste, a desolation" and
bohu
means "an undistinguishab1e ruin."
Further, the word
was
is from the
Hebrew verb
hayah.
In English,
the verb means "to exist" and in–
eludes the sense of "to become" or
"come to pass. "
When we read the two verses in
Genesis 1, sometbing seems wrong
or missing. First, we read that God
created the earth. Then, that it is
an uninhabitable wasteland. Yet,
God is not the author of confusion.
Isaiah 45:18 tells us that God
DIO
NOT
create the earth "in vain," that
is, in
tohu,
or desolation. Rather,
he formed the earth to be inhab–
ited.
A Questlon of Time
What is missing here? Time is
missing.
There is a vast period of
time between verses 1 and 2 of
Genesis
11
Yes, God did create the
heavens and the earth to be
inhabited, the first time, and "in
the beginning." But the Bible does
not tell us
WHEN
that beginning
was.
At sorne later time, the earth
became
a desolation. (Why the
earth and life upon it were de–
stroyed is answered in the free
booklet
Did God Create a Devi/?)
A clearer translation would make
the point obvious. "In the begin–
ning God [had] created the heav–
ens and the earth. [Now] the earth
became a [chaotic] desolation and
an undistinguishable ruin...."
Genesis
1,
beginning with verse
3, through the end of the chapter,
is describing the re-creating or re–
newing of the eartb, as well as the
re-creation of life about 6,000
years ago. At this time, tbe parent
stock of all the variety of life we
see today was created.
That is the clear and unequivocal
answer, through faith, to the ques–
tion of the origin of the universe,
the earth and life.
o
Advertising
(Continuedfrom page
15)
to have a continuing battle against
young wills when they want some–
thing you don
't
approve of. Give
short and clear reasons why you
will not buy an ítem both before
you go shopping and on the spot
where the ítem is displayed. When
adult, your chi1dren, too, will have
to live within a set income.
As a society we have drifted al–
most unawares into a greater and
greater commercialization of child–
hood. We have allowed advertisers
to aim their messages at progres–
sively younger potential customers.
It will now take a deliberate effort
of will on your part as a parent to
reverse that trend.
Take the initiative. Reduce the
influence that clever advertising
has upon far too many young chil–
dren. And on too many of us
adults!
o
The PLAIN TRUTH