Lecture on Genesis(64)
Scripture
Genesis 2:18-19
[18] Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
[19] Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the 64th Lecture on Genesis.
In the last lecture, I explained God had a plan from the beginning to give Adam 'a helper suitable for Adam.'
God intended for a man and a woman to have a beautiful relationship of understanding and helping each other as a couple in marriage.
As the end time comes nearer and nearer, sin has become rampant in the world, and the relationship between husband and wife has also changed into a fleshly relationship.
The end time is not a time for being fruitful and multiplying; it is a time to adorn yourself as a spiritual bride while waiting for the Lord's coming.
That's why it is written that 'it is better not to get married' in many parts of the New Testament.
Let me continue to explain why the Bible says that it is better not to get married.
The first reason is that, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 7:28, marriage will bring upon you the "trouble in this life."
1 Corinthians 7:28 says, "But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you."
When daughters get married, their parents cannot be at ease.
They miss their daughters, and they worry whether or not their daughters can be loved by her husband or in-laws, and whether their daughters may go through some kind hardships.
Apostle Paul cared for the believers just like these parents who send their daughters off for marriage care for them.
He was worried about the troubles of marriage, and thus he suggested it be better for them not to get married.
The second reason why not getting married is better is because your heart will be divided if you get married.
What God wants the most from His children is their heart to love God first and foremost.
Matthew 22:37 says, "And He said to him, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'"
Those who love God with all their heart, mind, soul, might, wisdom, and with all their lives are the true children that God truly desires to receive.
If you remain single because you love the Lord, then you will probably try to fill your heart with the hope for Heaven thinking only about God.
On the other hand however, once you get married, your heart will be divided.
1 Corinthians 7:32-34 says, "But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband."
In real life, some people used to lead a diligent believing life before getting married, but after they get married, they change.
They get stained by fleshly life style and stop praying.
Then they begin to take the worldly things one by one and bring upon themselves trials.
Even though their faith might not change this much, it would certainly be different before and after the marriage.
Before the marriage, they can always focus on the works of the Lord.
They can freely work for the Lord whether it is in the early morning or late at night.
After marriage, however, they are bound to the family.
If each seeks the benefit of their spouse and let their spouse work for the Lord freely, it's a relatively better case.
No matter how considerate your spouse is, however, the husband basically has the duty to support his family.
And the wife has the responsibility to serve her husband and family.
Neither of them are able to rest just anytime as they please; nor can they work for God as much as they please. They have to consider the situation of the family.
Before marriage, they could rest and refresh themselves as much as they needed or they could freely do the work for God during holidays or vacation time.
But now, they have to take care of their family.
As a wife, as a husband, as a daughter-in-law or as a son-in-law, they are supposed to take care of the family of their spouse as well.
Likewise, once people get married, their hearts become divided...
...not to mention their finances and their time!
I'm not saying it's wrong to take care of your family.
You should certainly take the responsibility for each other, and you should obviously care for your family.
This is the way to be 'faithful in all God's house.'
The point is, if you can choose, and if you choose the way to offer your time, money, and effort to God, then how much more beneficial would it be in a spiritual sense?
I said it's a better situation if both the husband and wife have good faith to share spiritual love together.
They will support each other to pray more and to store up more rewards so that they can go to New Jerusalem.
Both of them can become good friends in faith, and compete with one another in running the race of faith.
In real life, however, it is not a common occurrence.
Besides, if both of them accomplished this kind of faith, they would be satisfied only with the Lord, and they wouldn't feel the need to get married in the first place.
I am not saying, "Do not marry," or "You should not get married."
I'm explaining the 'Biblical View on Marriage' that you should understand as you live in this end time.
I'm just explaining what is more beneficial for those who have faith and hope for Heaven.
Those who have already married; you can support each other to go into better heavenly dwelling places, and you can cultivate spiritual love.
I will tell you about the ideal model of husband and wife that God wants as we get to Genesis 2:21 which begins to describe how God created woman.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, Genesis 2:19 says, "Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky..."
I said that, when God created the first man, Adam, God 'formed him of dust from the ground.'
Now, this verse says that the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky also out of the ground.
Does it mean that He formed these countless animals and plants one by one all by Himself?
As you read Genesis Chapter 1, when God created the animals and plants, God commanded with His word and it was done so.
In Genesis 1:20, God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens," and it was done exactly so.
In Genesis 1:24, God commanded with His word, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind," and it was so.
Now, were the animals created at His word?
Or, were they created from the ground?
The answer: As God commanded with His word, they were created from the ground.
Let me explain what it means.
As I told you in the last lecture, before God began the creation work, He already had plans for everything.
He had blueprints and materials for all the creatures; He also had ideas about how to create them.
For example, the blueprint for a human being had all kinds of information about the human body.
The material to create a man was mud/clay which consists of proper ratio of water and ground.
The creation process for a man was 'to form man from clay according to His own image and then breathe the breath of life into his nostrils.'
Likewise, God had all the creation plans for each and every creature in His heart.
It is said that there are about 350,000 plants and more than 1 million species of animals on earth.
The blueprints of all these plants and animals were contained in the heart of God.
The materials that God used to create them were also the ground and water the same as He created man.
However, the creation process was different from when He created man.
As God gave out 'the word' in His 'voice,' the ground and water obeyed.
At this moment, the 'word in His voice' contained blueprints for each and every creature.
Let's say, there is a scene that God created plants in Genesis 1:11.
It reads, "Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so."
God divided plants into 3 major categories, and commanded the earth to 'bring them to sprout.'
The word in His voice was quite simple, but His word contained blueprints for all the plants.
And thus, the earth did sprout with all the plants according to the blueprints.
Let's think about a coffee vending machine.
Nowadays, you can get various kinds of coffee even from a vending machine.
Inside the vending machine, you can find materials which are used to make various kinds of coffee.
When you insert money and press a button, you can get your favorite coffee.
It is possible because the machine is made to mix a cup of coffee according to a signal that it receives.
And so, when you press a button that says 'caf? latte' you get coffee with creamer, and when you press a button that says 'American Original,' you get the American Original plain black coffee.
Do you remember that God surrounded the entire earth with the original light and put it in the water of life?
Just like a fetus in amniotic fluid, the earth was being prepared for living creatures.
When God surrounded the earth with the Original Light, the law of nature was set up.
And when the earth was put under the water of life, the life force went into the ground of the earth.
Since the water of the earth was originally the water of life, it had the life force from the beginning.
When compared to a coffee vending machine, all the materials and an automatic system to make a cup of coffee was already in place.
And then, just as you press a button on the vending machine, when God gave out the word in 'in His voice' the work of creation took place just as He spoke.
It was the same when fish and birds were created on the 5th day, and the animals of the earth, on the 6th day.
The materials for all the creatures are ground and water that have the original light and the life force.
Only the kind of ground, the composition ratio of ground and water were different for each creature.
The blueprints for more than 1 million animals were all contained in the heart of God.
As God had the blueprint in His heart and gave out the word in His voice, an animal was created.
That's why I told you that the creation took place from the ground when God commanded with His word.
Therefore, 'God created all kinds of animals and birds from the ground' does not mean that He formed each and every one of them with His own hands.
Only the first man, Adam, God formed with His own hands.
Indeed, He created him according to His own image.
From the fingertips of God, the Original Light continuously came out as He formed Adam.
As God formed the head, it was not a lump of ground any more, but it was already the complete head of a man.
From head, to the neck, to the torso, and to arms and hands, and finally to legs and feet; by the original light that came out from the hands of God, the man came to have a perfectly formed body.
The skin was not dark brown like the color of the ground, but it was a bright milky color.
And then, as God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, Adam became alive and began to move.
You can see how much great love and care God had and how delicately He created man unlike He created other creatures.
God could have created man with His word just as He did to other plants and animals.
However, He formed man with His own hands to show His genuine and earnest love.
Dear brothers and sisters.
At the end of human cultivation, the Lord will come in the air, and then those asleep in death who were saved will be resurrected.
Their spirits and souls will come down from Heaven along with the Lord, and their body will be resurrected from the earth.
The resurrected body and the spirit and soul combine together to become the completed 'resurrected body.'
How can a shapeless body which died long ago and decayed resurrect like this?
It is possible by the power of God and His divinity.
The original constituents of a man's body were decomposed and went back to the ground.
It is just as God said in Genesis 3:19, "By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."
However, the constituents do not disappear from this world.
They just go back to the ground.
And when the time of resurrection comes, by the power of God, the constituents come together, and compose a resurrected body.
The same method was used when dried bones became soldiers as in Ezekiel Chapter 37.
Ezekiel 37:5-8 says, "Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.' So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them."
Ezekiel the Prophet recorded this as he saw a vision. However, at the time of resurrection, the bodies of those asleep will also resurrect in the same way.
Even if the bones are completely decomposed and go back to dust, it will re-gather again and make up bones.
Then, sinews will form on them and skin will cover them, and it becomes a holy body.
When God created plants and animals with His word, the ground and water became mixed in much the same way and each creature was created.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
The plants and animals in the Garden of Eden were also created in the period of 6 Day Creation.
There are both ground and water in the Garden of Eden as well.
The ground and water became the materials to create the plants animals of the Garden of Eden following the same method on the earth.
All kinds of plants and animals that exist in the earth can also be found in the Garden of Eden.
Of course, they are much more beautiful than those on the earth.
The exception is the dinosaur that first existed only in the Garden of Eden, but not on earth.
Therefore, dinosaurs had the unique characteristics of the Garden of Eden.
By the way, some animals in the Garden of Eden were created from the ground of the earth.
As God created Adam in the earth and led him into the Garden of Eden, He led some other animals into the Garden of Eden along with Adam.
Even though they were created from the ground of the earth, they adapted themselves well in the Garden of Eden.
They lived well along with the animals that were created in the Garden of Eden.
Even though Adam was created from the ground of the earth, he lived well in the Garden of Eden. There were some animals just like him.
So, in the Garden of Eden, there are animals that were created from the ground of the earth, and other animals that were created from the ground of the Garden of Eden.
You cannot tell the difference of the two by their outer appearance.
The animals in the Garden of Eden have kept the same look that they had when they were created in the beginning.
According to their kinds, they have unique yet beautiful look as well as meek nature.
On the other hand, some of the animals from the earth were taken but changed a lot after Adam committed sin.
As evil sneaked into the earth, the appearance of some of earth's animals changed to become ugly, and their nature become ferocious and violent.
By the way, not only on the earth and in the Garden of Eden, but there are animals in the 3rd heaven as well.
Just like angels and cherubim. God created them with His word.
Since Heaven is the perfect spiritual realm, the animals didn't need to be created from the ground.
They were just created to put on a unique spiritual form.
The animals in Heaven are so beautiful that the animals of the Garden of Eden cannot even come close being compared to them.
Its reason is obvious; the earth, the Garden of Eden, and Heaven are in the different levels of space.
Each heaven has their own unique characteristics according to the space they belong to.
The light is different, and so is the density of spiritual characteristics.
Therefore, not only plants and animals, but everything that exists in each space is different.
Jewels or flowers in the first heaven, in the second heaven, and in the third heaven; they all have different colors and give different impressions.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this lecture, I told you about the 'Biblical View on Marriage' and how God created the animals and plants in the earth and in the Garden of Eden.
The first priority of life for those who live in this end time should be to accomplish the spiritual and holy heart that resembles the heart of God the Father who is Spirit Himself.
I will conclude this message as I tell you where we are at in the period of human cultivation.
As I explained in Genesis Chapter 1, the earth was created first, and after quite a long time passed by, there was the 6 Day Work of Creation.
Adam was created on the 6th day, and he spent countless ages in the Garden of Eden.
As Adam was driven out to the earth after committing sin, human cultivation began.
God fixed 6,000 years as the period of time which human cultivation would run.
Now, scientists say the earth is 4.5 billion years old.
Under the assumption that the earth is 4.5 billion years old, if you calculate 4.5 billion years as one year, the 6,000 years of human cultivation can be calculated to be approximately 4 hours 17 minutes and 30 seconds.
Therefore, if the earth had been created on the first day of January, then human cultivation would have started at 7:42:30 p.m. on December 31.
As we run toward the end of the human cultivation, it's already bypassed 11:59:59 p.m. on December 31.
Not even just a single second is left for the Lord's coming in the air.
This is where we are at now.
Ephesians 5:15-16 says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."
May you consider the rest of the time as an opportunity you would never get again in your life, and focus on coming into the spirit and whole spirit, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!