Rev. Don Campbell
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, JANUARY 1, 2019: A BOOK OF “FIRSTS” [Gen 1-3]
Today, this family of God in Tennessee begins a Bible-reading journey that will take us, the Lord willing, through the entire Bible in one year. We will attempt to read it chronologically, rather than book-by-book. Each Sunday morning, we will discuss what we have read. In this column, I will be sharing with my readers some gleanings from these readings. I have included in brackets the passages upon which the gleanings are based. If you do not have a daily reading plan, you might find that following this one which is from Bible Gateway profitable.
Genesis is not only the first book in the Bible, but it is also a book of firsts. In chapters 1-2, after God created the heavens and the earth, he created the first vegetation, the first animal life, and the first humans. Moses wrote that at the end of the first five creative days, “God saw that it was good.” At the end of the sixth day when he had created mankind in his image, “God saw that it was very good.”
We are not told how long Adam and Eve lived in marital bliss, but in chapter 3, we see how the first sin shattered that bless. It was not only shattered for the first couple, but we their offspring share the consequences of their sin: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom 5:12).
For as long as there have been theologians, they have argued about whether this means we are all born totally depraved and if so, what does that mean. I am not personally concerned about Adam’s sin, because Paul also said, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:18-19). What was lost in Adam is restored in Christ.
I see the debate as a device of Satan. If he can keep me busy debating Adam’s sin, he can distract me from my sins, and I have plenty that need my attention: “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Rom 14:10-12).
We can bow the knee and confess Jesus as Lord now and be saved, or we can wait and be damned: “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev 6:15-17).
