Messages

Rest is a rich theme, one of those threads that can be traced through the entire scriptures, and God is very interested in rest.

"God creates the world in six 24-hour days and rests on the seventh. We take a close look at the terms used to indicate the timeframe in which the Lord created the world. Words in Gen 1 indicate time: Beginning, evening, morning, one day, day, days 1-7."

Light is a frequently used metaphor in scripture, and Jesus calls his disciples the light of he world. That is our identity, and in this context Jesus ties it to an expression of our identity as Christians by doing good works. In our witnessing, living as aliens, as light and doing good works will undergird and give legitimacy to the gospel we preach. Not for our own glory, Jesus denounces this in Matt 7, but humbly, for the glory of God our good works should shine before men.

God the Father is sovereign, creating history itself, and he sovereignty planned to save individual Christians, even to crucify his own son. God's foreknowledge is a synonym of elect with a sense of distinguishing love and affection.

Everything created by God is good, and everything is to be received with gratitude. After God creates man and woman in his own image, he made food and works for them. In the law, certain foods were prohibited for the purpose of distinction between God's people and the world, similar to how today we should stand out as ambassadors in this world. God created work before the fall as a good thing in creation, and it is one of the expressions of creativity in God's image. But don't destroy the work of God for food. We pursue the things that make for peace and encourage one another in love.

God created man and woman to rule over the earth, man specifically as the head of the wife, and implicitly parents over children. God institutes marriage between the first man and woman.

God delights in his own creation, proclaiming it is

As Christians, we are aliens, sojourners, part of the dispersion here, citizens of the new heavens and earth but temporarily on earth, serving the Lord.

Peter exhorts believers, his beloved brethren, to be diligent to serve the Lord in practical labor, not being sluggish, so that we will be full in Christ, now and forever.

God is righteous and just and be will not forget or neglect your work and love. We often forget and others may never know how we serve the lord, but God does not; he remembers and is pleased with every act of love and good work.