Scripture – Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Comment
You really must read this article
** God and Modern Physics **
The Big Bang Theory
You don’t look at a book and assume it has no author.
Distinguished biologist Edwin Conklin, an associate of Albert Einstein at Princeton university, agrees with St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274AD) proofs for the existence of God when he said “The probability of life originating from an accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a print shop”.
God may have created the world through a “big bang” followed by millions of years of evolution, or He may have simply created everything at once in its current form. We do not know for sure.
What is certain, however, is that it is absolutely impossible to look at an intelligently ordered and beautiful creation and deny that an intelligent creator is behind it.
Source: Do I Have To Go by Matthew Pinto and Chris Stefanick
A feature of this “scientism” is the extremely disturbing assumption that science and religion are, by their natures, implacable enemies.
Thoughtful Christians must battle the myth of the eternal warfare of science and religion.
For example, the formulator of the Big Bang theory was a priest.
When I say that the Big Bang theory itself demonstrates that the universe in its totality is contingent and hence in need of a cause extraneous to itself, atheists think I’m just talking nonsense.
Source: Fr Robert Barron
****************
MORE DETAIL
Extract of Christian v Atheist Debate transcript
How did we get a universe?
Now for a couple of centuries there was a kind of scientific answer to this question that seemed to support atheism.
Namely the universe has always existed. There has always been a universe and there is no reason to ask how we got it.
It has always been there. The universe is forever.
However one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century is that this notion that the universe is forever is factually false.
The universe is not forever.
The universe had a beginning.
In physics, it is called the Big Bang theory.
In a sense, first there was nothing and then there was a universe.
Now if you think about this for a moment.
This idea that first there was nothing and then there was a universe actually was stated before.
Before the scientists figured it out, the writers of the first book of Genesis, a bunch of Hebrews, said ‘first there was nothing and then there was a universe’.
Interestingly, if you asked these ancient Hebrews if they did any scientific experiments to figure it out they would have said:
No, we didn’t do any experiments, God told us, this is how it happened.
You may say this is common to every other religion, but actually it is not.
In most other religions, they believe God (or god’s) fashioned the universe out of some other existing stuff.
The Jews were the first to say, in effect, the universe was made out of nothing.
What I am saying today is that modern science has discovered that the belief that the universe was made out of nothing is basically true.
Not only did the universe have a beginning, interestingly space and time had a beginning.
Scientists used to believe space and time was eternal.
And so if space and time are properties of our universe, it follows that the term ‘before’ only applies to our universe.
In other words, before the Big Bang there was no ‘before’.
Source: Dinesh D’Souza vs Dan Barker – The Great God Debate.mp3
Or put a slightly different way
Discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics in the last 70 years have rendered the theory that the universe is eternal as improbable.
According to the Big Bang model of the universe all matter, energy, space and time came into being at a point in time, prior to that point the universe simply did not exist.
This fact tends to be very awkward for the atheist.
An atheist proponent of the Big Bang theory must believe the universe came into being from nothing and by nothing.
No such difficulty confronts the Christian theist.
Since the Big Bang theory only confirms what he has always believed, namely in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Source: William Lane Craig debate
A More Scientific Response (news article extract)
As science develops and the so called “Big Bang” theory of the origin and existence of the universe becomes more refined, “it becomes less and less possible for other explanations (of the universe) to be scientifically viable.”
The theory, developed by the Belgian Catholic priest and astronomer Georges Lemaître, proposes that the Universe has expanded from a primordial dense initial condition at some time in the past (currently estimated to have been approximately 13.7 billion years ago), and continues to expand to this day.
The model, according to Fr. Spitzer, has been revised, refined and scientifically established to a point that any other theory of the origin and existence of the universe has become harder and harder to defend.
Fr. Spitzer quoted the 2003 experiments by three leading cosmologists, Arvin Borde, Alan Guth, and Alexander Vilenkin, who were able to prove that any universe which has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past space-time boundary.
“Every single Big Bang model shows the existence of what scientists call a ‘singularity,’ and the existence of each singularity demands the existence of an external ‘element’ to the universe,” Fr. Spitzer said.
He quoted Roger Penrose, the world-famous English mathematician and physicist, who corrected some of the theories of his friend and colleague Stephen Hawkins to conclude that every Big Bang theory, including the one known as Quantum theory, confirms the existence of singularities. Therefore, said Spitzer, the need to find an explanation to the universe’s existence drives us to seek “a force that is previous and independent from the universe.”
“The concept at this point is clear: nothing is nothing, and from nothing, nothing comes, since nothing is... nothing!” Fr. Spitzer said, to explain the fact that contemporary astrophysics demands “something with sufficient power to bring the universe into existence.”
“It sounds like a theological argument, but is really a scientific conclusion.
“There is no way to ignore the fact that it demands the existence of a singularity and therefore of a Creator outside space and time,” he added.
According to Fr. Spitzer, “this theory has become so scientifically solid, that 50% of astrophysicists are “coming out of the closet” an accepting a metaphysical conclusion: the need of a Creator.”
“What can we conclude of this? First that the Creator is really smart... and second that it must be a loving one, because He could choose so many more violent and chaotic alternatives, that it really has to make you wonder.”
Fr. Spitzer explained that “all this information must be conveyed in a simple manner to our seminarians, our college and high school students, who are mostly ignorant of the powerful Theistic message of today’s astrophysics.”
Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J, PhD - philosopher and physicist
Source: 1-October-2009 -- Catholic News Agency
If current Big Bang cosmology is correct (and the evidence is very good that it is) then the entire space-time universe exploded into being out of nothing.
Therefore, the Cause of the universe would seem to have these attributes:
· spaceless because it created space
· timeless because it created time
· immaterial because it created matter
· powerful because it created out of nothing
· intelligent because the creation event and the universe was precisely designed
· personal because it made a choice to convert a state of nothing into something (impersonal forces don’t make choices).
Source: Frank Turek
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Genesis 2:8-9 and 3:23-24 The Garden
Genesis 2:8-9 and 3:23-24 The Garden
Genesis 2:8-9
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 3:23-24
therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Comment
We read that God created a garden and placed the first humans there.
What does God want us to have?
Life and life to the full.
That is what God wants. Never stop telling yourself that.
What does this symbolic tree of Good and Evil mean and why is it placed at the centre of the garden?
If the garden means full human flourishing, what stands as the anchor and at the heart of that process?
You need a keen sense of good and evil.
Whose prerogative is good and evil? Not ours.
We don’t, through the power of our minds and wills, determine what is right and wrong. Rather, that belongs uniquely to God.
Do you see what this story is saying?
If God and his criterion grounded in His own mind remains at the centre of your life then it becomes a garden – a place of delight.
Being seduced by the serpent, what have Adam and Eve done by eating of the fruit of the tree?
They have said:
‘We, in our freedom, our minds, our wills now become the criterion of good and evil.
We will decide what is right and wrong.
We will determine the difference between good and evil.
The lie given by the serpent that God is a rival to us has been believed up and down the ages to the present day. This is a lie and flows from the father of lies.
What is the result of eating of the tree?
Expulsion from the garden!
Don’t read it as God falling into a snit. God becoming punitive and irrational.
God has just madly broken His arbitrary law so He expelled them.
No, no.
The Bible speaks of a kind of spiritual physics.
Physics deals with basic laws.
If you do this, that will happen.
Something similar is true with the spiritual life.
When you seize of the knowledge of good and evil, you make your will the criterion of right and wrong, you ipso facto leave the garden.
Not because God is being difficult.
It is just a fact of the spiritual life.
The garden will become a place of lifelessness, aridity, a desert rather than a garden.
Sound familiar?
It should. This is our story. This is the human story to the present day.
The dynamics of this garden are going on all the time, right now.
God holding out life to us and life to the full, but we stubbornly seize at the knowledge of good and evil and make ourselves the ground and criterion of right and wrong and turn the garden into a desert.
It’s true. We know it.
The story doesn’t end there. It culminates in the journey of the Son of God into that desert.
When Jesus begins His public ministry, where does He go?
Into the desert.
What does it mean?
It means He goes into our sin.
He goes to accompany us in this place which we wander and there He confronts the devil.
The devil tempted Adam and Eve and now the devil tempts Jesus and Jesus is standing in the place of our sin.
Friends, here is a question to ask.
• What are you seeking?
• What are you making the centre of your life?
• Is God clearly at that central place?
If not, something else is tempting you – pleasure, honour, power
• Where are you in the desert?
Cling to Jesus, who on your behalf resists, and turns that desert back into a garden
And God bless you.
Source: Fr Robert Barren
www.wordonfire.org
This excerpt was transcribed from one of his many audio sermons found on his webpage
Genesis 2:8-9
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 3:23-24
therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Comment
We read that God created a garden and placed the first humans there.
What does God want us to have?
Life and life to the full.
That is what God wants. Never stop telling yourself that.
What does this symbolic tree of Good and Evil mean and why is it placed at the centre of the garden?
If the garden means full human flourishing, what stands as the anchor and at the heart of that process?
You need a keen sense of good and evil.
Whose prerogative is good and evil? Not ours.
We don’t, through the power of our minds and wills, determine what is right and wrong. Rather, that belongs uniquely to God.
Do you see what this story is saying?
If God and his criterion grounded in His own mind remains at the centre of your life then it becomes a garden – a place of delight.
Being seduced by the serpent, what have Adam and Eve done by eating of the fruit of the tree?
They have said:
‘We, in our freedom, our minds, our wills now become the criterion of good and evil.
We will decide what is right and wrong.
We will determine the difference between good and evil.
The lie given by the serpent that God is a rival to us has been believed up and down the ages to the present day. This is a lie and flows from the father of lies.
What is the result of eating of the tree?
Expulsion from the garden!
Don’t read it as God falling into a snit. God becoming punitive and irrational.
God has just madly broken His arbitrary law so He expelled them.
No, no.
The Bible speaks of a kind of spiritual physics.
Physics deals with basic laws.
If you do this, that will happen.
Something similar is true with the spiritual life.
When you seize of the knowledge of good and evil, you make your will the criterion of right and wrong, you ipso facto leave the garden.
Not because God is being difficult.
It is just a fact of the spiritual life.
The garden will become a place of lifelessness, aridity, a desert rather than a garden.
Sound familiar?
It should. This is our story. This is the human story to the present day.
The dynamics of this garden are going on all the time, right now.
God holding out life to us and life to the full, but we stubbornly seize at the knowledge of good and evil and make ourselves the ground and criterion of right and wrong and turn the garden into a desert.
It’s true. We know it.
The story doesn’t end there. It culminates in the journey of the Son of God into that desert.
When Jesus begins His public ministry, where does He go?
Into the desert.
What does it mean?
It means He goes into our sin.
He goes to accompany us in this place which we wander and there He confronts the devil.
The devil tempted Adam and Eve and now the devil tempts Jesus and Jesus is standing in the place of our sin.
Friends, here is a question to ask.
• What are you seeking?
• What are you making the centre of your life?
• Is God clearly at that central place?
If not, something else is tempting you – pleasure, honour, power
• Where are you in the desert?
Cling to Jesus, who on your behalf resists, and turns that desert back into a garden
And God bless you.
Source: Fr Robert Barren
www.wordonfire.org
This excerpt was transcribed from one of his many audio sermons found on his webpage
Genesis and John Marriage and the Eucharist – The Two shall become One
Genesis and John Marriage and the Eucharist – The Two shall become One
When we receive the body of Christ at Communion it is like the marriage act when two separate persons coming together.
Parallels use to explain why sex outside of marriage is wrong – non catholics unable to receive communion in our church.
Gods plan for marriage is that man and woman come together, they cleave together and the two become one.
The two becoming one happens in the marital act between husband and wife. They physically join and the union is real.
We, in the Eucharist, we become one when we receive Christ into our body. 2 Peter says we become partakers in the divine nature. Nowhere on this earth is this more true than when we receive the Eucharist.
The physical union is the sign that man and woman are indeed husband and wife. When people engage in physical union outside of marriage they are lying with their body. Partaking of the Eucharist is the same in that you are performing the act of union but you are lying if you don’t believe what the Catholic Church believes.
In the beginning.
Gen 2:24
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.
This text is talking about marriage in general.
There is a three step process going on here.
1. A man (and woman) leaves father and mother
2. Cleaves to wife – In other words they have a public commitment before man and God that they are committing their selves to one another for their entire lives
3. And then the two become one flesh.
The two becoming one flesh is after the man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife and not before.
There are no test runs here – like lets live together for a while and see how this works. No, there is no becoming one flesh and joining in the marital embrace physically until there is a commitment in place and when there is a commitment and the two become one flesh the marriage is said to be consummated.
John 19:30 reads
When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
However in the Douay-Rheims Bible – which is the old English version, it says
Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated
So the same language that is used where the two become one flesh, that is the consummation of marriage, is here with Jesus’ death
So keeping that in mind, when we go to Ephesians 5:31-32
V31 - "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
This is the same language used in Genesis 2:24 but it goes on in
v32 This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church;
So we have the same three step process here where Jesus becoming one with the Church as we have for husband and wife
What do we have:
Step One
Jesus leaving His Father and His mother.
Jesus left His Father to become human. He humbled himself to take on the mantle of humanity.
He left His earthly mother, Mary, because it was time for Him to establish His own household, which the bible tells us is the Church.
Step Two
He cleaved to His wife, His spouse. Jesus gave himself fully and without reservation. And basically we see this in Jesus passion where he cleaved Himself to us when He underwent the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, gave His body up for scourging, when He carried His cross through the streets of Jerusalem and when He allowed Himself to be nailed to the Cross, for us.
Step Three
John 19:30 says: It is consummated.
.
And you have this three step process:
1. Jesus leaves His Father and mother
2. He cleaved to His wife/spouse – the Church
3. And the two become one: It is consummated
In Colossians 1:21-22, it says:
“And you, who once were estranged ..… he (Jesus) has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, …”
Back in Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Jesus gave himself up for us totally and completely on the Cross. The two were made one.
Source: John Martignoni www.biblechristiansociety.com
From his MP3 talk titled Marriage and the Eucharist
However, the above text was transcribed from an interview he did on a recent Catholic Answers Live radio show.
When we receive the body of Christ at Communion it is like the marriage act when two separate persons coming together.
Parallels use to explain why sex outside of marriage is wrong – non catholics unable to receive communion in our church.
Gods plan for marriage is that man and woman come together, they cleave together and the two become one.
The two becoming one happens in the marital act between husband and wife. They physically join and the union is real.
We, in the Eucharist, we become one when we receive Christ into our body. 2 Peter says we become partakers in the divine nature. Nowhere on this earth is this more true than when we receive the Eucharist.
The physical union is the sign that man and woman are indeed husband and wife. When people engage in physical union outside of marriage they are lying with their body. Partaking of the Eucharist is the same in that you are performing the act of union but you are lying if you don’t believe what the Catholic Church believes.
In the beginning.
Gen 2:24
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.
This text is talking about marriage in general.
There is a three step process going on here.
1. A man (and woman) leaves father and mother
2. Cleaves to wife – In other words they have a public commitment before man and God that they are committing their selves to one another for their entire lives
3. And then the two become one flesh.
The two becoming one flesh is after the man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife and not before.
There are no test runs here – like lets live together for a while and see how this works. No, there is no becoming one flesh and joining in the marital embrace physically until there is a commitment in place and when there is a commitment and the two become one flesh the marriage is said to be consummated.
John 19:30 reads
When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
However in the Douay-Rheims Bible – which is the old English version, it says
Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated
So the same language that is used where the two become one flesh, that is the consummation of marriage, is here with Jesus’ death
So keeping that in mind, when we go to Ephesians 5:31-32
V31 - "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
This is the same language used in Genesis 2:24 but it goes on in
v32 This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church;
So we have the same three step process here where Jesus becoming one with the Church as we have for husband and wife
What do we have:
Step One
Jesus leaving His Father and His mother.
Jesus left His Father to become human. He humbled himself to take on the mantle of humanity.
He left His earthly mother, Mary, because it was time for Him to establish His own household, which the bible tells us is the Church.
Step Two
He cleaved to His wife, His spouse. Jesus gave himself fully and without reservation. And basically we see this in Jesus passion where he cleaved Himself to us when He underwent the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, gave His body up for scourging, when He carried His cross through the streets of Jerusalem and when He allowed Himself to be nailed to the Cross, for us.
Step Three
John 19:30 says: It is consummated.
.
And you have this three step process:
1. Jesus leaves His Father and mother
2. He cleaved to His wife/spouse – the Church
3. And the two become one: It is consummated
In Colossians 1:21-22, it says:
“And you, who once were estranged ..… he (Jesus) has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, …”
Back in Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Jesus gave himself up for us totally and completely on the Cross. The two were made one.
Source: John Martignoni www.biblechristiansociety.com
From his MP3 talk titled Marriage and the Eucharist
However, the above text was transcribed from an interview he did on a recent Catholic Answers Live radio show.
Gospel of St John - THE HOUR
Gospel of St John - THE HOUR
Mary only speaks twice in Johns Gospel.
Mary appears in the most pivotal moments in Christ’s ministry.
In fact, she appears at the very beginning of His public ministry the wedding feast of Cana and she appears at the very end of His public ministry – His climax at Calvary.
She appears when Jesus performs His first miracle at Cana and when He performs His greatest miracle as He conquers sin and death rising from the dead.
In both of these scenes Mary is mentioned three times.
At Cana she is mentioned three times and at Calvary she is mentioned three times.
There are many parallels in these two scenes.
At Cana we first hear about Jesus ‘Hour’ and it is here that Jesus refers to (his mother) Mary as ‘Woman’ and at the Cross we see what the ‘Hour’ is all about. Just before He dies on the Cross, in the midst of all this excruciating pain of the crucifixion Jesus asks the beloved disciple John to take care of His mother, and it is here where He turns to His mother and calls her ‘Woman’!
Join me as we explore the theme of The Hour
Do you remember in the wedding feast at Cana where we encountered Jesus talking about His hour?
There at Cana Jesus said to Mary in John 2:4 , “My hour has not yet come”.
And for many chapters afterwards this theme of “the hour” will recur over and over again. Jesus is going to constantly say ‘my hour has not yet come’.
Let me give you a few examples:
John 4:21-23 Jesus says"... the hour is coming, …, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth...”
In John 5:25 Jesus says “… the hour is coming, …, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God….”
So we are hearing about this hour, Jesus says ‘my hour has not yet come’ and then ‘my hour is coming’ and then when we turn to John 7:30, some of the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem tried to arrest Jesus, but the text tells us Jesus escaped through their midst because quote “his hour had not yet come”. So He escaped from their plans to kill him because His hour had not yet come. In John 8:20 they tried to arrest Jesus once again and once again Jesus escapes because quote “his hour had not yet come. “
Over and over we get to hear about ‘the hour is coming’ in Johns Gospel and by the time we get to chapter 12, we finally have a chance to hear about the hour arriving. As readers we are relieved because we are longing to find out what the Hour is all about.
So lets turn to John 12:20 to see for ourselves what is this “hour” and how it is coming to fulfilment.
John 12:20-33
[20] Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
[21] So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-sa'ida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
[22] Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.
[23] And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.
Now as Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem to die, these Greeks these gentiles come to Him and want to meet Him, foreshadowing how through Jesus death and resurrection He is going to bring about redemption and salvation not just for the Jews but for all humanity, even these pagan Greeks.
Well, Jesus at this moment, says ‘now the hour has come’.
The “hour” has finally come.
Notice in the text what the hour is all about.
The Hour is the hour of His glory (as we see in verse 23 above).
What is the “glory” of Jesus in the Gospel of John?
Take a look at how Jesus describes the moment of His glory in subsequent verses 24 and 25.
[24] Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
[25] He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
So Jesus is talking about how His hour has finally come and it’s the hour of His glory where He will be glorified.
Then He talks about this grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying and then He talks about losing your life in order to keep it.
What does verse 24 and 25 tell us about Jesus’ “hour of glory”?
He will lose His life like the grain of wheat and go down into the ground, into the tomb and then on Easter Sunday He will be raised up and bear much fruit – the fruit of salvation for all humanity.
The glory of Christ is not about worldly glory.
This is not the moment where He comes in worldly splendour and all these dignitaries and heads of state are going to bow down before Him.
Quite the opposite.
From a human perspective Jesus death on the Cross is the moment in which He is defeated, it seems, from an earthly perspective.
He is defeated by His enemies.
He is defeated by the Romans.
But yet John’s Gospel is trying to get us to look at this not just from a human perspective but a heavenly or spiritual perspective where we see that Jesus’ crucifixion at the hands of the Romans plotted through the Jewish leaders is actually Jesus’ moment of triumph because He is coming to bring about a spiritual redemption of all humanity.
John’s Gospel tells us a little bit more about this “hour” and what’s going to happen in this hour in John 12 verse 31 to 33.
So pay attention to what Jesus says will happen in His hour of glory.
[31] Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out;
[32] and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
[33] He said this to show by what death he was to die.
Notice in Verse 32 Jesus speaks of being lifted up from the earth and will draw all men to himself which refers to being raised up on the Cross and through His death all men are going to be drawn to Him to be saved.
But what is going to happen when Jesus is lifted up and He goes to His death on the Cross?
Verse 31 tells us what is going to happen.
The ruler of this world will be cast out.
Who is the ruler of this world? (see Luke 4:6, Matt 4:9)
The ruler is the devil – satan – the ancient serpent. (see Revelation 12:9)
Notice the hour of Jesus, the hour of His glory that is the hour or the moment in which the devil will be defeated.
It is the moment when Genesis 3:15 will be fulfilled, when the devil is defeated, when the serpent will finally be crushed.
(different translations of Genesis 3:15 say either crushed, bruised or strike the head)
So think about this, the hour on the Cross, when we turn to John 19 and the scene where Jesus is with Mary and the beloved disciple, this is the moment of Jesus hour.
The Hour is the hour His glory but that is also the hour when the devil is defeated - when the ruler of this world is cast out.
That is the hour when Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled and in that context of Genesis 3:15 being fulfilled and the hour of Jesus glory on Calvary, Jesus turns to His mother at that moment (John 19:26) and calls His mother, “Woman”.
What woman do you think Jesus has in mind?
Eve.
The woman of Genesis.
The woman that God spoke of in Genesis 3:15 about how a woman will have a son that will crush the head of the serpent and there in the hour where the ruler of the world is cast out here Mary is present with her son. She is the Woman and through her son, the death of her son crushes the head of the serpent.
Source: Dr Edward Sri Bible Study
Mary only speaks twice in Johns Gospel.
Mary appears in the most pivotal moments in Christ’s ministry.
In fact, she appears at the very beginning of His public ministry the wedding feast of Cana and she appears at the very end of His public ministry – His climax at Calvary.
She appears when Jesus performs His first miracle at Cana and when He performs His greatest miracle as He conquers sin and death rising from the dead.
In both of these scenes Mary is mentioned three times.
At Cana she is mentioned three times and at Calvary she is mentioned three times.
There are many parallels in these two scenes.
At Cana we first hear about Jesus ‘Hour’ and it is here that Jesus refers to (his mother) Mary as ‘Woman’ and at the Cross we see what the ‘Hour’ is all about. Just before He dies on the Cross, in the midst of all this excruciating pain of the crucifixion Jesus asks the beloved disciple John to take care of His mother, and it is here where He turns to His mother and calls her ‘Woman’!
Join me as we explore the theme of The Hour
Do you remember in the wedding feast at Cana where we encountered Jesus talking about His hour?
There at Cana Jesus said to Mary in John 2:4 , “My hour has not yet come”.
And for many chapters afterwards this theme of “the hour” will recur over and over again. Jesus is going to constantly say ‘my hour has not yet come’.
Let me give you a few examples:
John 4:21-23 Jesus says"... the hour is coming, …, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth...”
In John 5:25 Jesus says “… the hour is coming, …, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God….”
So we are hearing about this hour, Jesus says ‘my hour has not yet come’ and then ‘my hour is coming’ and then when we turn to John 7:30, some of the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem tried to arrest Jesus, but the text tells us Jesus escaped through their midst because quote “his hour had not yet come”. So He escaped from their plans to kill him because His hour had not yet come. In John 8:20 they tried to arrest Jesus once again and once again Jesus escapes because quote “his hour had not yet come. “
Over and over we get to hear about ‘the hour is coming’ in Johns Gospel and by the time we get to chapter 12, we finally have a chance to hear about the hour arriving. As readers we are relieved because we are longing to find out what the Hour is all about.
So lets turn to John 12:20 to see for ourselves what is this “hour” and how it is coming to fulfilment.
John 12:20-33
[20] Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
[21] So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-sa'ida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
[22] Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.
[23] And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.
Now as Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem to die, these Greeks these gentiles come to Him and want to meet Him, foreshadowing how through Jesus death and resurrection He is going to bring about redemption and salvation not just for the Jews but for all humanity, even these pagan Greeks.
Well, Jesus at this moment, says ‘now the hour has come’.
The “hour” has finally come.
Notice in the text what the hour is all about.
The Hour is the hour of His glory (as we see in verse 23 above).
What is the “glory” of Jesus in the Gospel of John?
Take a look at how Jesus describes the moment of His glory in subsequent verses 24 and 25.
[24] Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
[25] He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
So Jesus is talking about how His hour has finally come and it’s the hour of His glory where He will be glorified.
Then He talks about this grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying and then He talks about losing your life in order to keep it.
What does verse 24 and 25 tell us about Jesus’ “hour of glory”?
He will lose His life like the grain of wheat and go down into the ground, into the tomb and then on Easter Sunday He will be raised up and bear much fruit – the fruit of salvation for all humanity.
The glory of Christ is not about worldly glory.
This is not the moment where He comes in worldly splendour and all these dignitaries and heads of state are going to bow down before Him.
Quite the opposite.
From a human perspective Jesus death on the Cross is the moment in which He is defeated, it seems, from an earthly perspective.
He is defeated by His enemies.
He is defeated by the Romans.
But yet John’s Gospel is trying to get us to look at this not just from a human perspective but a heavenly or spiritual perspective where we see that Jesus’ crucifixion at the hands of the Romans plotted through the Jewish leaders is actually Jesus’ moment of triumph because He is coming to bring about a spiritual redemption of all humanity.
John’s Gospel tells us a little bit more about this “hour” and what’s going to happen in this hour in John 12 verse 31 to 33.
So pay attention to what Jesus says will happen in His hour of glory.
[31] Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out;
[32] and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
[33] He said this to show by what death he was to die.
Notice in Verse 32 Jesus speaks of being lifted up from the earth and will draw all men to himself which refers to being raised up on the Cross and through His death all men are going to be drawn to Him to be saved.
But what is going to happen when Jesus is lifted up and He goes to His death on the Cross?
Verse 31 tells us what is going to happen.
The ruler of this world will be cast out.
Who is the ruler of this world? (see Luke 4:6, Matt 4:9)
The ruler is the devil – satan – the ancient serpent. (see Revelation 12:9)
Notice the hour of Jesus, the hour of His glory that is the hour or the moment in which the devil will be defeated.
It is the moment when Genesis 3:15 will be fulfilled, when the devil is defeated, when the serpent will finally be crushed.
(different translations of Genesis 3:15 say either crushed, bruised or strike the head)
So think about this, the hour on the Cross, when we turn to John 19 and the scene where Jesus is with Mary and the beloved disciple, this is the moment of Jesus hour.
The Hour is the hour His glory but that is also the hour when the devil is defeated - when the ruler of this world is cast out.
That is the hour when Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled and in that context of Genesis 3:15 being fulfilled and the hour of Jesus glory on Calvary, Jesus turns to His mother at that moment (John 19:26) and calls His mother, “Woman”.
What woman do you think Jesus has in mind?
Eve.
The woman of Genesis.
The woman that God spoke of in Genesis 3:15 about how a woman will have a son that will crush the head of the serpent and there in the hour where the ruler of the world is cast out here Mary is present with her son. She is the Woman and through her son, the death of her son crushes the head of the serpent.
Source: Dr Edward Sri Bible Study
Genesis 3:14-15 – Eat Dust and Crushing Underfoot
Genesis 3:14-15 – Eat Dust and Crushing Underfoot
[14] The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
[15] I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Comment
My theme this week continues to explore the above verses.
Recently I was watching a Bible Study and the following little insights came to light.
The commentary below was taken from this Bible study.
*****
These verses are not about snakes. The word used for serpent is nahash.
Nahash is also translated in Isaiah 27:1 and also in Rev 12:9 where it specifically identifies the ancient serpent is the devil.
In verse 14, God is speaking to the serpent and not to Adam nor Eve.
And so verse 14 is a curse by God, so it is bad news for the serpent.
Verse 15 represents the first prophetic announcement of the Messiah and His victory over sin and over the devil.
Right after Adam and Eve sin, God doesn’t abandon them. He gives them hope. He tells them there will eventually be someone who will come and defeat the devil..
There are phrases in the Bible which when you see how they have been applied elsewhere may give you extra insight as to what is possibly being said here.
(Two such phrase are below)
Eat dust
Gen 3:14
The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
“Eat the dust” imagery is found elsewhere in the Old Testament and helps us understand what God is saying here.
Psalm 72:9-11 describes how the kind, the Davidic king will have his enemies bow down before him and they will eat or lick the dust.
It describes the defeat of the kings enemies.
May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
Crushing under foot
Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Bruising or crushing the head of the serpent is one way of saying the serpent is ‘under the feet’
(different translations of Genesis 3:15 say either crushed, bruised or strike the head)
“under feet” imagery is found elsewhere in the Old Testament and helps us understand what God is saying here.
Psalm 110:1 describes how the Davidic kings defeat their enemies by placing the enemies as a footstool – underneath the feet.
The LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool."
2 Samuel 22:37-43 describes how David’s enemies are crushed and trampled under foot.
[37] Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip;
[38] I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed.
[39] I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise; they fell under my feet.
[40] For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; thou didst make my assailants sink under me.
[41] Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
[42] They looked, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
[43] I beat them fine as the dust of the earth, I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.
So when you hear this idea about being under foot, crushed under foot that brings to mind a defeat, a king defeating the enemy.
When you read about the serpent being crushed by this child of a woman, crushing the head of the serpent,
it foreshadows that one day the woman will have a royal son, a Davidic son, a new king who will come and crush the serpent and defeat the devil.
Source: Dr Edward Sri - KNOWING MARY THROUGH THE BIBLE
[14] The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
[15] I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Comment
My theme this week continues to explore the above verses.
Recently I was watching a Bible Study and the following little insights came to light.
The commentary below was taken from this Bible study.
*****
These verses are not about snakes. The word used for serpent is nahash.
Nahash is also translated in Isaiah 27:1 and also in Rev 12:9 where it specifically identifies the ancient serpent is the devil.
In verse 14, God is speaking to the serpent and not to Adam nor Eve.
And so verse 14 is a curse by God, so it is bad news for the serpent.
Verse 15 represents the first prophetic announcement of the Messiah and His victory over sin and over the devil.
Right after Adam and Eve sin, God doesn’t abandon them. He gives them hope. He tells them there will eventually be someone who will come and defeat the devil..
There are phrases in the Bible which when you see how they have been applied elsewhere may give you extra insight as to what is possibly being said here.
(Two such phrase are below)
Eat dust
Gen 3:14
The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
“Eat the dust” imagery is found elsewhere in the Old Testament and helps us understand what God is saying here.
Psalm 72:9-11 describes how the kind, the Davidic king will have his enemies bow down before him and they will eat or lick the dust.
It describes the defeat of the kings enemies.
May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
Crushing under foot
Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Bruising or crushing the head of the serpent is one way of saying the serpent is ‘under the feet’
(different translations of Genesis 3:15 say either crushed, bruised or strike the head)
“under feet” imagery is found elsewhere in the Old Testament and helps us understand what God is saying here.
Psalm 110:1 describes how the Davidic kings defeat their enemies by placing the enemies as a footstool – underneath the feet.
The LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool."
2 Samuel 22:37-43 describes how David’s enemies are crushed and trampled under foot.
[37] Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip;
[38] I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed.
[39] I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise; they fell under my feet.
[40] For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; thou didst make my assailants sink under me.
[41] Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
[42] They looked, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
[43] I beat them fine as the dust of the earth, I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.
So when you hear this idea about being under foot, crushed under foot that brings to mind a defeat, a king defeating the enemy.
When you read about the serpent being crushed by this child of a woman, crushing the head of the serpent,
it foreshadows that one day the woman will have a royal son, a Davidic son, a new king who will come and crush the serpent and defeat the devil.
Source: Dr Edward Sri - KNOWING MARY THROUGH THE BIBLE
Monday, December 28, 2009
Gen 4:9-10 Who Is My Brother?
Gen 4:9-10 Who Is My Brother?
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"
And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
Reflection
“Where is Abel, your brother?
This question is addressed not only to the murderers, but to us all.
We lose credibility, as humans and Christians, if, like Cain, we try to talk our way out of our responsibility and act as though we were not our brother’s keeper.
Source
Father Werenfried (1913 – 2003)- Founder of Aid to the Church in Need
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"
And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
Reflection
“Where is Abel, your brother?
This question is addressed not only to the murderers, but to us all.
We lose credibility, as humans and Christians, if, like Cain, we try to talk our way out of our responsibility and act as though we were not our brother’s keeper.
Source
Father Werenfried (1913 – 2003)- Founder of Aid to the Church in Need
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Gen 2:7 – The Breath of Life
Gen 2:7 – The Breathe of Life
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Comment - The birth of the Church
The birth of the Church, accomplished in the mystery of Christ’s Passover, is concretely manifested in important gestures and in words: ‘The evening of the same day, the first day of the week...Jesus came...and said to them: “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you”.
After saying this he breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven”’ (Jn 20:21–23).
Very sensitive to biblical symbolism, John notes that the event dates from the first day of the week. According to the biblical account, creation began at the beginning of a week. The Breath of God hovered over the water; through the action of the Breath, Adam awakened to life. On this other first day of the week, Jesus breathes on the disciples. The gesture is creative, the Church is created in the Spirit of the risen Jesus.
Source: Holy Spirit of God
Scott Hahn
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Comment - The birth of the Church
The birth of the Church, accomplished in the mystery of Christ’s Passover, is concretely manifested in important gestures and in words: ‘The evening of the same day, the first day of the week...Jesus came...and said to them: “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending you”.
After saying this he breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven”’ (Jn 20:21–23).
Very sensitive to biblical symbolism, John notes that the event dates from the first day of the week. According to the biblical account, creation began at the beginning of a week. The Breath of God hovered over the water; through the action of the Breath, Adam awakened to life. On this other first day of the week, Jesus breathes on the disciples. The gesture is creative, the Church is created in the Spirit of the risen Jesus.
Source: Holy Spirit of God
Scott Hahn
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Genesis 1:26-27 - Let us make man in our image
SCRIPTURE - Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
COMMENT
You see an intimacy when you read that God decides to make one creature and only one creature in “Our image after Our likeness”.
God uses that word. When you come to Genesis 1 and 2, you notice God is creating by the power of His Word – “Let there be light, Let there be this and that” and by the shear power of Gods Word everything comes into existence. On Day 6 though, the language changes from “Let there be this and Let there be that” to “Let Us make man in our Image after Our likeness”. Suddenly it’s plural. It’s first person plural.
Theologians can debate why there is a change of language. You know there are various theories as to what that change of language means. Some people suppose that it is the plural of majesty, you know the way kings talk “We decree”. But that doesn’t explain why it wasn’t used before when creating the other things. Others suggest, that perhaps God is speaking to the angels, but once again nothing is mentioned of angels co-creating with God in Genesis. I don’t think the Early Church Fathers were off the mark in seeing in Genesis 1:26-27, a trace, a foreshadowing of something that wouldn’t become really clear until the New Testament.
And that is, when God makes man in their image, in “Our image after Our likeness”, He does it in a very significant way. We read about how God makes man male and female. Now He made dogs and cats with a distinction of gender but the distinction between male and female is only mentioned explicitly when God creates man in our image after our likeness to show us that in God’s plan this distinction between male and female is not merely biological but there is something theological. There is a mystery here planted as a seed that is waiting to unfold in human history.
When we realise that God makes man in the image and likeness of God there is a relational meaning to that. Theologians and philosophers debate what it means to bear the image and likeness of God. We have a rational mind, a free will and all of that is true but for the people who were reading this book, the ancient Israelite readers, would have recognised that the very next occurrence of the phrase “image and likeness” is found in the opening verses of Genesis 5 where we discover that Adam became a father of a son named Seth in his own image and likeness. So there is a concrete relational meaning to what it means for us to bear the image and likeness of God.
God has destined us to be more than just rational creatures. He has destined us. He is calling us to enter into a family bond.
The fact that God makes man male and female suggests something more intimate.
To become all that God has made us to be, we must grow ever more perfectly in his divine image. That means we must give ourselves completely. We grow perfect in the image of God only as we “become Christ”, in communion with Christ and in communion with others, in communion with the Church.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
COMMENT
You see an intimacy when you read that God decides to make one creature and only one creature in “Our image after Our likeness”.
God uses that word. When you come to Genesis 1 and 2, you notice God is creating by the power of His Word – “Let there be light, Let there be this and that” and by the shear power of Gods Word everything comes into existence. On Day 6 though, the language changes from “Let there be this and Let there be that” to “Let Us make man in our Image after Our likeness”. Suddenly it’s plural. It’s first person plural.
Theologians can debate why there is a change of language. You know there are various theories as to what that change of language means. Some people suppose that it is the plural of majesty, you know the way kings talk “We decree”. But that doesn’t explain why it wasn’t used before when creating the other things. Others suggest, that perhaps God is speaking to the angels, but once again nothing is mentioned of angels co-creating with God in Genesis. I don’t think the Early Church Fathers were off the mark in seeing in Genesis 1:26-27, a trace, a foreshadowing of something that wouldn’t become really clear until the New Testament.
And that is, when God makes man in their image, in “Our image after Our likeness”, He does it in a very significant way. We read about how God makes man male and female. Now He made dogs and cats with a distinction of gender but the distinction between male and female is only mentioned explicitly when God creates man in our image after our likeness to show us that in God’s plan this distinction between male and female is not merely biological but there is something theological. There is a mystery here planted as a seed that is waiting to unfold in human history.
When we realise that God makes man in the image and likeness of God there is a relational meaning to that. Theologians and philosophers debate what it means to bear the image and likeness of God. We have a rational mind, a free will and all of that is true but for the people who were reading this book, the ancient Israelite readers, would have recognised that the very next occurrence of the phrase “image and likeness” is found in the opening verses of Genesis 5 where we discover that Adam became a father of a son named Seth in his own image and likeness. So there is a concrete relational meaning to what it means for us to bear the image and likeness of God.
God has destined us to be more than just rational creatures. He has destined us. He is calling us to enter into a family bond.
The fact that God makes man male and female suggests something more intimate.
To become all that God has made us to be, we must grow ever more perfectly in his divine image. That means we must give ourselves completely. We grow perfect in the image of God only as we “become Christ”, in communion with Christ and in communion with others, in communion with the Church.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
Genesis 2:1-4 - Why does God rest on the seventh day?
SCRIPTURE – Genesis 2:1-4
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
COMMENT
God finished his work of creation by resting on the seventh day.
Why does God rest on the seventh day?
It is not because He needs the rest but because He knows we will need it.
He becomes our Father and we become His children.
Remember our Lord said “the Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath”.
God blessed and made holy the seventh day.
You have to understand God’s purpose for resting.
By sanctifying or making holy, God wants us to set the seventh day apart from the other days.
God uses the seventh day to reveal to Man his ultimate destiny. Man was made on the sixth day along with all the beasts. We work like all of the animals/beasts, but unlike the rest of the animals we have been created with the capacity that is divine. We are able to pray to God, we are able to love God as children love their father.
The sixth day is not enough for us. God knows that we are not made for work but for worship. We are not made to labour or for kingly dominion. We are not made for the earth but for heaven.
The Sabbath is the seventh day and the Hebrew word for “seven” is sheba. Yet sheba stands for not only for a number. Sheba is also a verb, and it means to swear a covenant oath – literally, to “seven oneself”. (see for example Abrahams covenant oath in Gen 21:27-32) The number seven is the unmistakable sign of a covenant. With the seventh day, God was making a covenant with mankind. God took Adam and Eve into His family. God made them His children.
With this shift in relationship comes a corresponding shift in language. In the first chapters of Genesis, we read of God as “Elohim”, a formal name, usually translated into English as “God”. Elohim evokes the divine power in the act of creation. In the second chapter, however – immediately in the wake of the seventh day – God appears as “Yahweh Elohim”, which is usually translated into English as “the Lord God”. “Yahweh” –which only appears after the seventh day, is a personal name, a family name.
God is not just our creator but our Father.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
COMMENT
God finished his work of creation by resting on the seventh day.
Why does God rest on the seventh day?
It is not because He needs the rest but because He knows we will need it.
He becomes our Father and we become His children.
Remember our Lord said “the Sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the Sabbath”.
God blessed and made holy the seventh day.
You have to understand God’s purpose for resting.
By sanctifying or making holy, God wants us to set the seventh day apart from the other days.
God uses the seventh day to reveal to Man his ultimate destiny. Man was made on the sixth day along with all the beasts. We work like all of the animals/beasts, but unlike the rest of the animals we have been created with the capacity that is divine. We are able to pray to God, we are able to love God as children love their father.
The sixth day is not enough for us. God knows that we are not made for work but for worship. We are not made to labour or for kingly dominion. We are not made for the earth but for heaven.
The Sabbath is the seventh day and the Hebrew word for “seven” is sheba. Yet sheba stands for not only for a number. Sheba is also a verb, and it means to swear a covenant oath – literally, to “seven oneself”. (see for example Abrahams covenant oath in Gen 21:27-32) The number seven is the unmistakable sign of a covenant. With the seventh day, God was making a covenant with mankind. God took Adam and Eve into His family. God made them His children.
With this shift in relationship comes a corresponding shift in language. In the first chapters of Genesis, we read of God as “Elohim”, a formal name, usually translated into English as “God”. Elohim evokes the divine power in the act of creation. In the second chapter, however – immediately in the wake of the seventh day – God appears as “Yahweh Elohim”, which is usually translated into English as “the Lord God”. “Yahweh” –which only appears after the seventh day, is a personal name, a family name.
God is not just our creator but our Father.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
Genesis 2:18 - It is not good that the man should be alone
SCRIPTURE – Genesis 2:18
Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
COMMENT
After each act of creation, God looked at what He had made and pronounced it “good”. To crown His work, God created man on the sixth day and gave him dominion over all the earth. Only then did God look at His work and declare it “very good”.
Adam lived in a world custom made for his pleasure, a world without sin, suffering, or disease – a world where work was always rewarding, a world that, Genesis tells us, was unstintingly good. Yet God Himself looked upon this situation and, for the first time in the Scriptures, pronounced that something was “not good”. He said “It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen 2:18).
What a remarkable statement!
Remember, this took place before the Fall of humankind, before sin and disorder could enter creation. Adam lived in an earthly paradise as a child of God, made in God’s own image. Yet something was “not good”. Something was incomplete. The man was lonely.
Adam’s world seemed complete. He had a good job, a beautiful home, dutiful pets, and plenty to keep him busy. Yet he was incomplete. Even as the ‘image of God’. He was only complete when the woman, Eve, joined him in life. The man and his wife become “one flesh”.
For “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth’ ”.
The image of God was made complete with the creation of the family. Only then was Eden truly paradise.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
COMMENT
After each act of creation, God looked at what He had made and pronounced it “good”. To crown His work, God created man on the sixth day and gave him dominion over all the earth. Only then did God look at His work and declare it “very good”.
Adam lived in a world custom made for his pleasure, a world without sin, suffering, or disease – a world where work was always rewarding, a world that, Genesis tells us, was unstintingly good. Yet God Himself looked upon this situation and, for the first time in the Scriptures, pronounced that something was “not good”. He said “It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen 2:18).
What a remarkable statement!
Remember, this took place before the Fall of humankind, before sin and disorder could enter creation. Adam lived in an earthly paradise as a child of God, made in God’s own image. Yet something was “not good”. Something was incomplete. The man was lonely.
Adam’s world seemed complete. He had a good job, a beautiful home, dutiful pets, and plenty to keep him busy. Yet he was incomplete. Even as the ‘image of God’. He was only complete when the woman, Eve, joined him in life. The man and his wife become “one flesh”.
For “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth’ ”.
The image of God was made complete with the creation of the family. Only then was Eden truly paradise.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
Genesis 3:9-13 - Why did Adam do it?
SCRIPTURE Genesis 3:9-13
But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."
COMMENT
Why did Adam do it?
The sin that Adam commits is a sin of pride and disobedience.
Why would an upright and unfallen man succumb to pride and disobey a command when he seemed to have everything.
He was the man who had everything!
It was interesting to me in analysing the problem to notice in Judaism there is really no doctrine of original sin, there is really no claim being made to have found the answer the question “Why did he sin?”
They could not grasp the stories ultimate meaning anywhere in the Old Testament. It is revealed only in the life and death of the resurrected Jesus.
It is almost as though we couldn’t understand the question of the Old Covenant and the fall of Adam until the New Covenant came and Jesus as the New Adam did what Adam should have done and undid what Adam did. So Jesus not only cured the illness, He diagnosed it.
Before that it was undiagnosed, a mystery illness.
Adam is in bliss, living in paradise and when he finds Eve he is in a state of marital ecstasy. What more could Adam want?
In a certain sense Adam couldn’t want anything more than that. But the problem is God did!
God created man in a natural paradise but He didn’t create us for it.
He created us for supernatural blessedness with God.
We have the advantage of hindsight, that even though this was earthly paradise, it was penultimate. It was second to last.
It might have been all that Adam would have ever wanted, but God was calling Adam to something more.
Heaven is not Plan B, it was the goal from the beginning that Adam was made for.
It was more than an obediential taste test - a test of “will he or won’t he” eat the apple.
It is really a test of Faith, Hope and Love.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University, Steubenville USA
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."
COMMENT
Why did Adam do it?
The sin that Adam commits is a sin of pride and disobedience.
Why would an upright and unfallen man succumb to pride and disobey a command when he seemed to have everything.
He was the man who had everything!
It was interesting to me in analysing the problem to notice in Judaism there is really no doctrine of original sin, there is really no claim being made to have found the answer the question “Why did he sin?”
They could not grasp the stories ultimate meaning anywhere in the Old Testament. It is revealed only in the life and death of the resurrected Jesus.
It is almost as though we couldn’t understand the question of the Old Covenant and the fall of Adam until the New Covenant came and Jesus as the New Adam did what Adam should have done and undid what Adam did. So Jesus not only cured the illness, He diagnosed it.
Before that it was undiagnosed, a mystery illness.
Adam is in bliss, living in paradise and when he finds Eve he is in a state of marital ecstasy. What more could Adam want?
In a certain sense Adam couldn’t want anything more than that. But the problem is God did!
God created man in a natural paradise but He didn’t create us for it.
He created us for supernatural blessedness with God.
We have the advantage of hindsight, that even though this was earthly paradise, it was penultimate. It was second to last.
It might have been all that Adam would have ever wanted, but God was calling Adam to something more.
Heaven is not Plan B, it was the goal from the beginning that Adam was made for.
It was more than an obediential taste test - a test of “will he or won’t he” eat the apple.
It is really a test of Faith, Hope and Love.
Source: Scott Hahn
Professor of Scripture and Theology at Franciscan University, Steubenville USA
Book and/or Audio Interview on: First Comes Love
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