Enjoying the Journey

(Genesis 3:15) The teaching of salvation is wonderfully simple in Scripture. God has made a way for man to be saved from himself, from his sin, from the wrath of God. Nothing else is more important than knowing the answer to the question: "What must I do to be saved?" (0956250304) ----more----   The Question of Salvation Some questions in this world are more important than others because some questions affect not only time. They affect all of eternity. Questions like what think you of Christ. Or how about this question, sirs? What must I do to be saved?  Soteriology: The Doctrine of Salvation We've come in our study of what God says in the word of God to a subject that is of supreme importance because it affects where you're gonna spend eternity. And that is what the Bible says about salvation. Perhaps no other doctrinal subject has been more debated and more discussed and more misunderstood. Then the doctrine of salvation. And yet in scripture, there's a beautiful simplicity to the message of salvation.  The First Promise of a Savior I want us to begin where God begins with the very first promise of a savior. It's found all the way back in the Book of Genesis, in Genesis chapter three. It's a great reminder that Jesus Christ truly was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That from the very Garden of Eden, God viewed Golgotha. In fact, before he ever created Adam. In the mind of God, his precious son, the Lord Jesus Christ was already on the cross. From the beginning of time, God intended to redeem fallen humanity, and that's revealed in Genesis chapter three and verse number 15, where the Bible says God speaking, "And I will put iny between thee." That's the devil between the and the woman. "And between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel." Now Genesis three 15. It's easy to breeze over it, but Oh, don't do that. Mark it in your Bible and mark it in your heart, because Genesis three 15 is the very first promise in the Bible that a Messiah was coming, that a redeemer, a savior was coming. And in it we find the very first message concerning the doctrine of salvation. Remember, someone has said that the first 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis are a seed bed of doctrine, and that every great doctrine in the Bible can be found there in seed form. And when you come to the New Testament, you find those same doctrinal truths just in more fully developed form. We've been discussing from the Book of Genesis what the Bible says about man who man is. We've discussed what the Bible says. About sin, but now we come to the good news. Aren't you glad that the God who made man and the God who knew we would sin provided salvation? He made a way so that we could be saved.  Understanding Our Need for Salvation Now, what are the basic lessons we learned from Genesis three 15? The first is that man is a sinner. That we are fallen. You don't need a savior unless you have been separated from God. Something has come between you and God. So the very first thing we must remember in the doctrine of salvation is that everybody needs it. Remember what Jesus said in Luke chapter 19, verse number 10, he said, "For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." People have to understand they're lost before they can understand what it means to be saved or even have a desire to be saved. We might say it this way. You have to understand the bad news before you can appreciate the good news. The good news. That's the gospel of the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But frankly, who cares that he died was buried and rose from the dead if there wasn't a necessity for that, but there wasn't a necessity because we're all sinners. Romans chapter three, verse number 23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." We needed a savior. So it brings us to the second great truth. God's Provision of a Savior The first is that man is a sinner, and the second is that God alone can provide a savior. God is the savior. He promised that the seed of the woman would come. That's the lovely Lord, Jesus Christ. That's why it's important that we acknowledge that Christ was born of a virgin. He didn't come through Adam's lines. Sin was passed down from Adam to the next generation through the mainstream of humanity. But he did not come from Adam. He came from God through a virgin Mary. The seed of the woman and the seed of the woman when he came for one purpose. And that purpose was to redeem fallen humanity, to restore us to God, to bring us back to the righteous God. Our sins separated us from the Lord, but Jesus Christ came for one purpose, and that is that we could be saved. John chapter three, verse 16 says, "For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life." No man cometh unto the father, but by me. How about Acts 4:12? "Neither is there salvation in any other. For, there's none of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." The verse that I quoted at the beginning of our study today, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Here's the answer in Acts 16"31 "And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved, and thy house." Salvation is not an institution. Salvation is not a, process of turning over a new leaf and trying to be a better person. It's not a 12 week program you go through. Salvation is not coming to know some human being here on earth. It's not being baptized. It's not all of the externals. Salvation is one thing. Salvation is a person. His name is Jesus Christ.  Receiving Salvation Through Faith And you receive salvation when you receive the person of Jesus Christ. John chapter one, verse number 12 says, "But as many as received him to them, gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Here are the two key words, receive and believe. How do you receive salvation? You receive salvation by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. You receive salvation the moment you put your simple faith in Christ and Christ alone for your soul's salvation. Many years ago, just as a child, I came to God in simple repentance and faith. I didn't even know all the right words, all the doctrinal terms, but that's what happened that day. I came to God and I confessed that I was a sinner and couldn't save myself, and I called on the Lord and God kept his promise. Oh, what a glorious promise. Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Salvation is not something. It is someone, and His name is Jesus.  A Call to Believe and Rejoice I hope you'll come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior. If you've never believed on the Lord Jesus, would you look to him right now in simple faith? Would you pray a simple prayer, faith from your heart to God? He's listening. At this moment. He's listening. He wants to hear your cry. Simply say to Him, "Lord, I'm a sinner and I can't save myself. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior." Look to Christ and be saved today. And if you are a Christian, rejoice in it and never get far from the simplicity of the gospel. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Coreth and he said, "I fear that is the serpent Belial through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." He went all the way back to Genesis and he said, "As sneaky as that old serpent was in the garden, he's just as deceitful and deceptive today. Don't let him get you arguing and debating lots of things, and forget that salvation is very simple. It is the Lord Jesus Christ and Christ alone." They asked John Newton - the man who wrote, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound who saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see." They ask him on his deathbed at the end of his life. His mind was about gone. His memory had slipped, and they said, John Newton, "What do you remember?" And Newton's response was simple but profound. He said, "There are many things I do not know at this stage in life, but there are two things I remember. One is that I am a great sinner, and two is that He is a great Savior." Friend, that is the essence of salvation. That is what the Bible says.  Outro and Resources Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on enjoying the Journey.

(Romans  3:23) How would you draw sin? Satan and the world draw only a picture of the pleasure of sin. God draws vivid pictures of sin's results. Today we examine three words that picture perfectly what sin is in the eyes of God. (0955250303) ----more----   What Does Sin Look Like? If you had to draw a picture of what sin looks like, what would that picture be? Our world draws a picture of pleasure and riches and happiness. That's the picture the devil wants to draw. But let the Lord, the true artist, the one who most accurately reflects all truth. Let him draw the picture, walk through scripture and see the pictures that he gives symbolic of sin. Biblical Symbols of Sin When He paints the picture, He says, it is darkness. It blinds. He calls it leaven. It spreads. He says, it's sickness and disease. It corrupts and it is pervasive. He calls it cords and chains. It binds a man, he calls it fire all consuming. He calls it poison deadly. I tell you, if we could see sin, like God sees it, no matter what kind of sin it is, we would think differently about the sin in our own life. Examples of Sin in the Bible It doesn't matter what your sin is. With Aiken, it was stealing with David, it was adultery. With Saul, it was jealousy. With Cane, it was murder. Judas was betrayal. Nebuchadnezzar's pride lot. And Deus loved the world. Coral rebelled against authority. Solomon loved pleasure anoni and of fire lied. Why do you think God gives us all of these pictures? He draws these pictures for us in scripture so that we will come to see sin like he sees it. Sin is worse than you think it is. It is worse than you think it is.  The Nature of Sin It's a state of rebellion against God, an absence of righteousness. It is a nature that has come into every one of us. Romans chapter three, verse 23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Do you know that you are a sinner by nature? That no matter what you have done or haven't done, you're a sinner because you were born that way? We're all born that way. It was passed on from Adam and Eve. In, into all of our lives and that we have become sinners by nature. You don't have to teach a child to misbehave or to cry. You have to teach it to be good and obey. Why is that? Because the rebellious part comes naturally to all of us. And then in a practical way, sin is an act. It's disobedience to the known and revealed will of God and our sin. Nature works its way out in our sins every day. Three Words That Describe Sin Now God calls sin many different things in scripture, but I want today to talk to you about three words, if I might, three words that really describes sin and the way God paints the picture of sin in scripture. God uses words to convey great truth. Every word is purposeful. And there are many different words used in the Bible for sin that help us understand it. Words like evil, that's a good word for sin. Or unrighteousness or wickedness or ungodliness. Those words are all used frequently. But there are three words that are used primarily to represent what sin is in the sight of a holy God. And I'm giving you these three today and I'm gonna give you a little object lesson and if I might for each, that I think will help you remember it. I hope you can see what I'm about to say.  Sin, Transgression, and Iniquity The first word, the most obvious word is the word sin for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now that word is used over 500 times in the Old Testament. It's used over 200 times in the New Testament. And the New Testament word that is used for sin literally means to miss the mark. Listen to Romans 3:23 again, "For all of sin and come short of the glory of God." So it is to fall short of the mark. You shoot at it you try to be good. You try to do right. You want to be perfect, but you miss it, and you miss it. Be it intentionally or unintentionally. You not only miss the mark, you hit the wrong mark. Imagine that we were shooting at a target. Some friends and I recently were doing that, had a great time together, and these men that I were, was with, they were much better shots than me. Let me tell you, it doesn't matter if you miss the bullseye by an inch or by a hundred yards either way, friend. You missed it, the bullseye, the perfection of a holy God. God is holy. Heaven is perfect. And it doesn't matter if you're a good moral person or you've lived the most immoral life possible. Either way, you are a sinner. You have missed God's mark. So if you can imagine a mark of holiness, of righteousness, that's God's standard. You fell short of that. Sin is missing the mark. The second word is the word transgress. And the word transgress is used all through scripture. It literally means to cross the line. So there's some lines God draws and he says, this is my law. This is what I expect out of you. This is what I want you to do in obedience. And when we transgress God's law, we rebel against God. We literally cross his line. So remember, sin falls short of God's perfect line. Transgression goes beyond God's line. It literally means to step over the line to cross the property line. One illustration of this in the Old Testament frequently we have reference to the ancient landmarks. Remove not the ancient landmarks, which thy fathers have set. Those ancient landmarks in Bible days were simply property lines. They didn't always have fence rows like we have today to mark property distinction. And so they had these landmarks set up and you didn't cross the ancient landmarks, and you certainly didn't remove them. They were there to show you what was yours and what was not. And God says, I have erected some ancient landmarks. That's my word. It's my law. And when you disobey me, you've crossed the line, you've transgressed. So now remember, sin is falling short of the line. Transgress is to go over the line. And the third word is the word iniquity. What does iniquity mean? It means crookedness. So imagine that iniquity is to draw a crooked line sin. It falls short of God's holy line. Transgression goes beyond God's. Line of law and iniquity means that where God wants a straight line drawn, I've drawn a crooked line. See, our God is always straight, always forthright, always the same, unchanging. But as sinners, we fluctuate back and forth. We break God's law. It literally means to be lawless. And when you live without law, you are living a crooked life. Did you know as a sinner, you're a crook? We wanna talk about other people being crooked and committing crimes, but we all are criminals in the sight of a holy God, we all. Are crooks. And if you think that's awfully cruel, that's awfully unkind. No friend. That's the truth that leads you to the greater truth. And what is that? That only God can forgive sin, and only God can bring his righteous record onto your account and only God can straighten out the crookedness that's in your soul. The Consequences of Sin Only God can do all of that in the life of an unbeliever sin. His unbelief, his rejection of a holy God will send him to hell forever. And the life of a believer sin is also awful. We have this idea, sometimes it's only bad for lost people. God especially deals with it in the lives of his own children. He hates sin in the life of his children and the life of a believer. You lose fellowship with God. You break fellowship with him because of your sin. Would you look at yourself today? It would you look at your sin, your transgression. Your iniquity, like God sees it. Would you look at the picture he has painted? Is that really what you want for your life? Oh my friend, the only victory over sin is through the savior.  The Need for a Savior Sin is why we need a savior. There's no sense talking about Jesus. If you're not a sinner. If you don't need a savior, we need Christ because we are lost without him. If you don't know him as your personal savior, would you pray that simple prayer that Jesus taught Lord to be merciful to me, a sinner? And if you're a Christian and you say, I've already been saved, acknowledge this. You still have a sin nature. Be willing to agree with God about your sin. First John one, nine says, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  What to Do About Sin Look, when you start talking about what the Bible says about sin, don't stop with sin. Run to Jesus. Just talking about sin will lead you to despair, getting beyond that to the savior now that will lead you to hope. Look to Jesus today and see what the Bible says. Not only about the reality of your sin, but the reality of his grace. Only Jesus can deal with your sin. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe.  Outro and Resources We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on enjoying the Journey.

(Mark 1:1-4) Nobody looks forward to the hard seasons of life, yet God looks at them as holy moments for us to know Him more intimately. Are you weak or wounded today? Listen to this episode to hear how God can use your valley.  (0954250301) 

(Romans 5:12) Sin has not gone away; it just doesn't get talked about much. It is a reality in all of our lives and the source of every sorrow in this world. We must learn the truth about our own sin and about the only Savior who can deliver us from it. (0953250228) ----more----   Ignoring Sin Whatever happened to sin? Many years ago, people used to talk about sin. Preachers used to preach against sin. People used to fear sin, but now there seems to be so little talk about it. And yet, while we're talking about it less, it seems sin in our world and in many of our lives is growing. It's getting bigger. Left unchecked apart from God.  Hamartiology: The Study of Sin Let me give you one verse today as we begin our study of what the Bible says about sin. Romans chapter 5 and verse number 12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." That's a powerful verse. There's a lot of doctrine, a lot of truth wrapped up in that one verse. This is what the Bible says about sin. Now, we most recently talked about what the Bible says about man. And there's a natural progression here because man enters into the world and soon on its heels, sin enters into the world. The Origin of Sin from Lucifer to Adam Wherefore, as by one man, who is that one man? That's Adam. By Adam, sin entered into the world. That means that the state of sin, fallen humanity, began in the garden. We trace it all the way back to the very beginning. Someone has said that woven through the Bible there are cords or threads that are consistent throughout. One of those is the gold thread of God's promises. It's woven throughout. God's faithful. One of them is the red thread or the crimson thread of the blood of Jesus and blood atonement, the sacrifice for sin. Aren't you glad for the mercy of God that is faithful? But one of those cords that is woven throughout from beginning to end is the black cord of man's sin of disobedience. And Romans 5:12 tells us not only where it came from, but where it led to.  The Consequences of Sin: Death and Destruction The Bible says wherefore is by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin. James says it this way, that lust, when it is finished, brings sin, and sin when it is finished brings death. Where does sin lead to? It always leads to the same place. In every generation and in every nation, in every person, and in every place, sin always produces the same thing. It produces death. Did you know sin is older than the world? Certainly older than man. Because there was sin in the universe before there was sin on earth. You remember that sin began, not first with Adam, but with the tempter that came to Adam and Eve. It began with Lucifer. Sin began in the heart of one that was created but thought he knew better than his creator. And from the very beginning, sin always led to destruction, to death. The Bible passes this judicial statement on all of humanity in Romans 5 verse 12, "And so death passed upon all men." The gavel fell. The Judge says the sentence is death.  Sin's Universality: All Have Sinned Romans chapter 3 verse 23, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." We've all missed the mark. We're all sinners, and because of that, the sentence of death is passed upon every one of us. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death." There's not a single person listening to me right now that's not a sinner, not one. Every last one of us is a sinner. Now, we don't like to think about it. You may not want to hear this today, and I really don't enjoy talking about it, but there's no fact so evident and no subject more important than the subject of sin, because sin is the reason Christ died. You can't appreciate the good news until you understand the bad news. Sin is the thing that keeps men from God. Sin is the thing that holds back Heaven's blessing.  Theological Connections: Sin and Doctrine In a sense, sin connects to every doctrinal thing we're talking about. It connects to our theology, what we believe about God, because God is holy and hates sin. It connects to what we believe about Jesus Christ, because that's why Christ died. He's the sinless Son of God who died for sin. It connects to what we believe about the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit comes to reprove the world of sin. It certainly connects to what we believe about man, because it's through our disobedience that through Adam's disobedience, that many were made sinners. And it is through our daily disobedience and our own sin, That fellowship is broken with God. I'm telling you, we must understand what the Bible says, not what people say. Some folks say it's not really sin, and they've started rebranding it and renaming it. Oh, but I say to you, we must call it what God calls it. We must say about it what God says about it. We must understand sin from the perspective of the mind of God, not the perspective of a so called moral society. Why is that? Because Society's mores, the standards can change. Man's opinion changes with the wind. God's attitude about sin never changes. And the only way to be free of sin is to know the truth. Jesus said, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  Personal Reflection: Recognizing Our Own Sin Now, here's the most difficult part of talking about sin. Alright, are you ready for it? Our heart is so sinful that oftentimes we don't even understand how sinful it is. Jeremiah chapter 17 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" I need to understand how sin works in me. If I'm going to hate it, if I'm going to despise it and deal with it in the right way, and let God deal with it in my life, then I must hate it like God hates it. As sinners, it's very easy for us to spot sin in someone else's life. But what about the sin in my own life? I can spot your sin at a hundred yards and tell you all about it and what's wrong with it, but, oh, my own heart lies to me. And Satan is a liar. And so sin can captivate you. It can bring its delusion into your mind. And what does it lead to? It always leads to sin. Romans chapter 7 and verse 13 says, "Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid, but sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." Would you meditate on those words? Exceeding sinful. Has your sin become exceeding sinful to you? It's exceeding sinful to God. God hates it. I wonder, I've even been meditating on this recently in my own life, do I hate my own sin? It's easy for me to hate everybody else's sin and want everybody else to get right with God. It's easy for me to fuss at the darkness around me and miss the darkness that is creeping into my own soul. Do you hate your sin? We can talk about the origin of sin. We all know the origin of sin in the universe was the devil. We've talked about that when we talked about the devil. And the origin of sin in the world, read Genesis chapter 3. Commonly called the fall of man. A man disobeyed God and immediately sin entered into the world. So we can talk about the origin of sin. We can talk about the effects of sin.  The Reality of Sin: Its Cost and Impact But I want you to think today about the reality of sin in your own life. I want you to think about what sin costs you. I want you to think not only about the evil that sin brings into your life, I want you to think about the good that sin keeps you from. Perhaps the greatest judgment is not what we get, it's what we miss. Imagine getting to heaven someday and seeing all of the answers to prayer that you never received, all of the blessings God had reserved for you, all of the good things God wanted to do, all of the people God wanted you to reach except for one thing, and that was your sin that stood between you and God. And if your sin stands between you and God, then your sin is standing between God and God's purpose in your life. And my friend, that's a fearful thing. One of the things that's missing today is the fear of God in our world. Romans 1 says, describing sin in the world, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Applying Biblical Teachings on Sin And I want you to pray today. I'm praying today, Lord, help me to see sin like you see it. Hate it like you hate it. And help me to look beyond sin to a holy God and help me to fear God. Help me to love righteousness and hate iniquity in my own life. Help me to take what the Bible says about sin and apply it to my own heart. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe.  Outro and Resources We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the Biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Genesis 1:27; 2:7) Man was created in the image of God. Our sin has marred that image, but our gracious God has made a way that we can be restored! The Bible is the only book that can accurately explain our past, present, and future. (0952250227) ----more----   The Creation of Man in God's Image "And God said, let us make man in our image." What a privilege. What a mind-boggling truth that we, humanity, were made in the image of our Creator. Now that is found in Genesis chapter 1 and in Genesis chapter number 2. God expounds upon that. He gives even more detail to His creative work. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 2 verse number 7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." The Unique Formation of Man If you want to know how man is different than the animals, Here's how. He was, first of all, the only part of the creation that was literally shaped by the hand of God. We preachers get pretty artistic at times and we say God flung the stars into space and He carved out the rivers with His finger, but actually that's not what He did. Now when you read Genesis 1 and 2, you find that God just spoke. That's the power of the Word of God. He just said, light, and there was light, and it was very good. So God spoke all of the created world into existence. But with man, this was the first record that we have that God of His own hands formed man. He took the dust of the ground and He shaped him. Why would He do that? I think it's a very beautiful picture to all of us that from the very beginning of time, God always intended for man's life to be in His hands. In a very real sense, your life is in His hands today. Your times are in His hands. The time of your life and the time of your death is all in the hand of God, not in your own hand. But I wonder, is your life really in God's hand today? Have you put your whole life in the nail pierced hand of Jesus and realized it's not your own? Have you said to your Creator, I want you to be my Redeemer? Have you said to the One who gave you life, I want this new life that comes through Jesus Christ? So the first way we are distinct is that we were formed by His own hand in this creative work. He made us.  The Breath of Life and Eternal Soul And then, He breathed into our nostrils the breath of His life. Ecclesiastes says that God has put a little bit of eternity in every one of us. That's quite a thought, to think that God has put an eternal soul in all of us. Everything is going to burn up, die, disappear, be gone, but not man. A million years from this moment you will be alive somewhere forever because you have an eternal soul. God says He made you a living soul, and when God gives that kind of life, His own life, put into man, There is no end to that. Man's Constitution and Likeness to God We've been talking about how God created man, but think about man's constitution. He was made in the image of God. That word image literally comes from a word that means to shade. The illusion of something, the resemblance of something. It doesn't mean that we are little gods. It means that He has made us in His likeness to, to resemble Him. He has used His own nature, if you will, as a model for creating us. Like God, we have life, an eternal soul. Like God, we have intelligence with the ability to reason and think and decide. Like God, we have emotional and relational capabilities. Like God, we have been made in three parts. Our God, the Godhead, we've talked about this, is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We have spirit, soul, and body. Man is a spirit. And that's literally the part of you where God dwells. You have a soul, your intellect, your emotion, your will, and then He's given you a body. He's put that spirit and soul in a body. And with your body you have five senses to relate to the world around you. That's really a beautiful thing to see how God has reflected His own nature in the creative work. When He made us without sin. Every sinful thing, every wicked thing, every vile thing in this world did not come from God. Everything good had its beginning in God. Everything evil has its beginning in God. in the devil and man's disobedience to his Creator. Sin is the source of every unholy thing. But in the beginning, Adam and Eve were made with innocence. He didn't have the presence of sin because God's not the author of evil. He had the possibility of sin. He was made with the ability to choose, with a free will and a responsibility to His Creator. Now aren't you glad God made us as free moral agents, not as robots? He could have made us like robots. People sometimes argue that. Why would a good God make us So we could do wrong. Let me ask you a question. Why would a good God make us to only do what He says do? Why would He not make us to have a free will to choose? And so this was the way God created us in our constitution.  The Fall of Man in the Garden Then you gotta look beyond man's creation and his constitution to his condition. His condition in the garden was wonderful. It was beautiful. What a life it was. Suddenly sin enters into that garden. Sin enters into the heart of man. And suddenly his condition is very different. The day that man sinned against God, the image of God was not lost, but it was marred. We might say it was not erased, but it was defaced. Because when sin enters in, it brings every wicked, vile, evil thing with it. Which means that without God, we are sinners. We're lost in our sin, we're spiritually dead, we're under the wrath of God. And the only thing that separates us from eternal death is one breath. Aren't you glad God did not leave us that way? Now think about for just a moment the way God created man. Man was made to have what? Dominion. That means to rule and reign with His Creator and for His Creator. Now when He sinned against the Creator, what happened? He switched roles. Instead of being a man who had dominion over, now he is dominated by. Sin takes control of him. The devil takes over. His flesh suddenly becomes his own master.  Redemption Through Jesus Christ The only cure for that, friend, is Jesus. Aren't you glad that God sent a perfect man? He sent his own son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, we're told in the book of Romans. Who would live a sinless life and die for the sins of mankind so that we could be set free from the domination of sin. See, when Christ has dominion over us, you're free from the dominion of sin. And what does the Lord do? The Lord not only restores what Adam has, but I want to tell you, in the authority of the Word of God, praise God for this, He gives you much more. And now I'm saved. I'm a child of God. I have God's favor. I am as sure for heaven as if I were already there. And the Lord begins to restore the very image of Christ. That's what the Lord's doing in your life today, by His Holy Spirit. He's, He is seeking to restore the image of God. To allow you to once again reflect His beauty, His glory, His holiness, His light. And of course, someday we're going to rule and reign with Him. Adam was supposed to do that in the beginning and he messed it up. Someday we're gonna rule and reign with Jesus Christ on this earth and then for all eternity. Are you getting ready to reign? Are you getting ready to rule with Christ?  Knowing Your Creator Personally All of this talk about man leads us to talk about God. And so may I speak to every person who's listening to me today. If you're a human being, I'm talking to you. First of all, you need to know your Creator in a personal way. And the only way to do that is through His Son, the perfect man, the Lord Jesus Christ.  If you're not a Christian, right now, would you just bow your head and by simple faith, would you repent of your sin and trust Jesus as your Savior? Would you say to the Lord, I'm a sinner and I'm lost and my life has been marred because of my sin nature? But I believe Jesus died for my sin. Would you invite the Lord Jesus to come into your life? You can enter into a new relationship with God, one that will not be broken. Praise God for that. And if you are a regenerated person, if you already know you've been born again, and you've come into the family of God, would you just pause and praise God who created you and has sustained you and saved you? And would you ask the Lord today to form the image of Christ in you? And to make it so that your life reflects more of Christ than it does of Adam. Would you pray right now that your life would be everything the Creator says that it should be.  Outro and Resources This is what the Bible says. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Psalm 8:4-9) Today we examine great questions connected to our own existence. What is man? Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? Only our Creator can give an answer. We must uncover what the Bible says. (0951250226) ----more----   Fundamental Questions About Humanity Where did man come from? More important, why is he here? What makes him distinct from the rest of the creation, from everything else in the world? And perhaps the most important question, where does he go when he dies? Now these are basic questions about humanity, and the truth of the matter is, if you want to get the answers, the right answer, the only answer, You've got to ask man's creator. Man and His Relationship with God When you start talking about humanity, it leads you very quickly to talking about deity. You've got to go beyond man to the God who made him. Because man is simply a reflection of the image of God. Psalm 8 and verse number 4, we read these words, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou made us tend to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou was put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen. Yay, and the beast of the field, the foul of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever pass it through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth?" Biblical Perspective on Man's Creation When people wanna talk about man and build man up, they miss the point because as you study, man, it leads you to the God. That created man. Man is the crown of creation. He's unique. In the words of scripture, God is mindful of him. Aren't you glad God thinks about you today? And then the Bible says that God visits him. Aren't you glad that God visits you? That He desires fellowship with you? I think this is one of the most humbling passages in all of scripture as it relates to the way God made us. And all through the Word of God, God is connecting us to Him. Psalm 103, verse 14, He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 139, He knows our thoughts. Yeah, that's right. Your secret thoughts today that no one knows and that you don't express, God knows them. Matthew 10, verse 30, He knows the number of hairs on our head. John chapter 2, verses 24 and 25, Jesus said, He didn't need anybody to testify what was in man. He said, "I know what is in man." Understanding Man Through the Word of God If you want to understand man, study his creator. If you want to know something about humanity, study the Word of God. Today we're talking about what the Bible says about man. Not what man says about man. Not what you think about yourself. Not what picture someone draws of what the perfect man is supposed to look like, but rather, let's look in the mirror. And the mirror is the very Word of God.  Genesis: The Beginning of Man We must begin where God does in Genesis chapter number 1 verse number 26, the Bible says, "And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them, and God blessed them. And God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Now why are we starting in Genesis chapter 1? Because you've got to begin where God begins to reveal something about man and his original intent. These are foundational truths to understanding ourselves. If you want to understand you, and you want to understand mankind around you, then you must go to God. I was in an airport the other day, and I was sitting doing some studying, and I had my Bible open, and my computer open, and to be honest with you, it was oblivious to what was around me. And a lady walked up to me, and she handed me a card, and she obviously saw my Bible, and she was a kind Christian woman, and she handed me a card that was a little promotional thing for a website on creationism. And I thanked her for it. And I thought how interesting it was that the moment she saw an open Bible she immediately connected that with the Creator. She saw in me someone that would understand. That God had created the world.  The Significance of Man in Creation So we've got to begin talking about man by saying God created him. Everything begins with God, including man. In the beginning, that's the point of creation. God created, that's the person of creation. And the word created means out of nothing, to make out of nothing, so that's the power of creation. We didn't give him anything to work with. In fact, God made man out of the dust of the ground and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living soul. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That's the product of creation. Everything that you see, God created. But the prize of creation. Now that's another thing. The prize of His creation was man. Why was man the highest creature? of the created beings. Man's Unique Fellowship with God Because in man, God created the ability to fellowship with the Creator in a way that is beyond anything else in the creation. Now the heavens declare the glory of God, the earth showeth His handiwork all of creation does what the Creator says. But we have the ability to have a family relationship with Him, to know Him intimately to enjoy Him personally. And that ought to make you think about how special it is that God has created us as we are. That's also the reason why when God made trees and birds and water, there's no record that the devil did anything. But when God created man, immediately the devil went to work. When God created this being that had the capacity to fellowship with Him as well as to obey Him, then the devil saw in that the ability to truly hurt the heart of a loving God. What the Creator wanted more than anything in the world was He wanted fellowship with His prized creation. He wanted fellowship with man. So these opening verses give us these opening truths. God created us. He created us in his own image. We'll talk more about that. He created us in his own image and he blessed us. He created us in his own image and he blessed us in order to make us fruitful so that we would accomplish on this planet what God himself God has given us to do. And it makes me think, even now, just reflecting, am I fulfilling what God desires in my life? The Bible says in Him we live and move and have our very being. He is as close as your breath, my friend. God gave you life. God has sustained your life. God has a purpose for your life. Don't just think about man. Think about God.  God's Order in Creation You'll notice that man was created after everything else was created. Why was that? Because God is a God of order. Man was only created when the earth was ready for him. Isn't that beautiful? He is literally the crown of creation. Everything that God created, he said, that's good, that's very good. The only thing that was not very good was for man to be alone. Gentlemen, aren't you glad God created a help meat? And he gave Adam Eve. What a beautiful thought! Taking a rib from his side. Someone said not out of his foot to be trampled on, not out of his head to be lorded over, not out of his hand to be manipulated by, but out of his side to be close to. Out of under his arm to be protected and close to his heart to be loved. So God created man and woman after everything was ready for them and watch this, just before the work was to commence. Reflecting on Our Creator We'll talk more about that next time, but God created man at the end of the creative week, just prior to the day of rest. And just prior to all of the work that God had created man to accomplish, I tell you, my friend, today, as you think about your life, as you take your breath, even now at this moment, would you ponder what a wonderful Creator we have, what a mighty God we serve. Indeed, the psalmist was right, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth. Outro and Resources Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the Biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(1 John 4:4) There are three angels called by name and two "orders" of angels identified in Scripture. Lucifer led a number of angels to rebel against the Lord and these fallen angels now operate as enemies of God. In today's study we see what the Bible says about each of them and about the God who is above all.  (0950250225) ----more----   Angels and Demons in the Bible Can you tell me the name of any angel? Specifically the name. There actually are only three that are given to us in all of Scripture. Now, why is that so important? We've been studying the fact that angels are God's messengers and that they are not to be worshipped. In fact, they would be the first to tell you worship God only. It's not their name that's important, it's the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus Christ. And we don't want to go beyond what the Bible says when it comes to angels. Now today, we're discussing not only angels, but demons and the devil. Why is that? Because demons and the devil himself, who leads that demonic host, they are simply fallen angels. They are created beings who were given certain power and gifts and then rebelled against God and are now using those against their creator.  Exploring the Three Named Angels Who are the three angels that were named specifically? Michael is named. He is the archangel. We find him in Daniel chapter 10 and verse number 21 and we find him in Jude, we find him in the revelation of Jesus Christ. The name Michael means who is like God. Isn't that beautiful? For In other words, even the archangel, the highest angel says, I want you to know there's no one like God. There's no one like our creator. Then there's Gabriel. Gabriel's mentioned in Daniel chapter 9 and of course famously known in Luke chapter 1 as the angel that announces the birth of Messiah. And Gabriel's name means the mighty one. Now, these angels are mighty because they were created by the almighty God. And then the third angel given by name in scripture is Lucifer, son of the morning. You can read about him in Isaiah chapter 14, what a description of him. His name means he who is the light of God. Now, hear that carefully because you want to remember that Lucifer becomes Satan, becomes the devil, and plunges into sin. He brings the whole world into darkness. He is the chief of the darkness. And yet his name originally was one who reflected the light of God. If you reject light, you enter into darkness. And Satan is the classic example of that.  Orders of Angels: Seraphim and Cherubim If there are three angels given by name, there are two orders of angels given to us in Scripture. There may be more than this. Scripture talks about the principalities and the powers and We honestly don't know all the orders of angels and all the things going on in the spirit realm, but we know these two groups of angels. There are the seraphim, the seraphs, and there are the cherubim. The seraphim you find in Isaiah chapter 6, in Isaiah's vision of God, His holiness. And what are they doing? They're just worshiping the Lord. They seem to be leaders in praise. People that are just created, or beings rather that are created to do one thing, and that is to give glory to the God who's worthy of all glory. The cherubims, or the cherubs, you find in Genesis chapter 3, and again in Ezekiel chapter 1, and they are always connected to the glory of God. Both of these orders of angels, the seraphim and the cherubim, are always in some way connected to God's throne. You find them Very near to the Lord.  The Fall of Lucifer: From Light to Darkness Now we shift from thinking simply about angels, to talking about the devil and demons. Why? Because the devil was a created being. In fact, he was a chief angel. Listen to the words, the description given to us of Satan, Lucifer, originally in Ezekiel chapter number 28, beginning in verse 13. God says, "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardis, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle in gold, the workmanship of the tablets of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee thou wast upon the holy mountain of God. Thou wast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till iniquity was found in thee. By the merchandise of thy, by the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence. And thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." What was his chief sin? Ezekiel 28:17 tells us, "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings." I might go so far as to say that the root sin of all sin is pride, thinking that we know better than God or that we deserve more than God. What do we learn? We learn that Satan was a real person with intelligence and emotion and will and moral responsibility. He was a created being, the highest created angel. He belonged to the order of the cherubim as best we can tell from Ezekiel 28. But he sinned against God by lifting up himself above the Lord. And he became God's adversary. In fact, if you're wondering where the name Satan came from, the name Satan literally means adversary. And he is the Lord's adversary. You think he's your enemy? No, He's only your enemy because he's God's enemy. He hates man because man is God's chief creation, the one capable of fellowship with him. Do you know why the devil wants you? He doesn't want you because you're that important. He wants you because you're that important to God. And he knows if he can get at you, he can grieve the heart of a God who loved you so much, he gave his own son for your soul.  The Rebellion of Fallen Angels Satan led quite a rebellion of fallen angels against the Lord. You can read more about these fallen angels in Revelation chapter number 12, but basically they decided they were going to follow Lucifer instead of the Lord. That, my friends, was a very bad decision. We refer to these fallen angels typically as devils, plural, or as demons. And you find them all through scripture. You see them in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, rearing their ugly head up against Messiah. Because everything God ordains, Satan opposes. The Apostle Paul refers to them, and there are many of them. You remember, Mark chapter 5, Jesus cast Satan out. A demon or demons out of a man, and that demon's name was Legion. In the Roman Army, there were 6,000 people in a legion, so there were a lot of demons possessing that man. And they can possess lost men and they can oppress believers there, fears and violence. All this violence we see going on around us today. What is that? It's the work of the devil and his minions, the hounds of hell, stirring it up because they know that their time is short.  The Power of Christ Over Demons And I want to remind you today as we talk about angels and the devil and demons, I just want to remind you that none of them are as powerful as our Christ. God is greater. Their power is limited in scope and praise God it's limited in time. You should take them seriously, but not be afraid of them. I'm thinking now of the words of the prophet to his servant in 2 Kings  6:16, when the enemy came against them. And he said, "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." At that moment, the young man's eyes were open, and he saw the angels of God, the armies of heaven on the mountains round about. I want to say to God's people today, if you know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, The devil may be strong and the demons may be at work but they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And I'm not just referring to angels, I'm referring to a greater than the angels. Someone better than the angels. Christ is with us. We can't see him in the flesh but we have him and we have another comforter, the Holy Spirit of God. Who abides with us. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. I end today the same way we ended our last episode, reminding you that though you should believe in angels and believe that there's a devil and believe that there are demons, you should trust the Lord alone. Because God is able to rule the good and overrule the evil. That, my friends, is what the Bible says. Outro and Resources Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the Biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Psalm 103:20) We must be very careful not to fall short of Scripture, and not to go beyond it. Angels are real, created beings, messengers of the Lord. Today we discover what the Bible says about them. Believe in angels...but trust in the Lord! (0949250224) ----more----   Angelology: The Doctrine of Angels What does the Bible say about angels? In our world today, there's a great deal of speculation about these invisible creatures and who they are and what they do. And then some people on the other end of the spectrum say that's all imaginary. That's just make believe. It's like some children's fairy book tale. It's something that was just concocted from the imagination of some person. But what does the Bible say? What does the Word of God teach about angels? In Psalm 103, verse 20, we read these words, "Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word." I think that probably is one of the greatest summary verses on the doctrine of angels that you'll find in all of scripture because it reveals so many primary truths about them. Now there are many things we do not know about the angels. But there are a few things we do know. One is that they are created beings. The Bible says that they are His angels. Where did they come from? They came from the Lord. And what do they exist for? Psalm 103 verse 20 answers that. They exist to do His commands. They hearken to the voice of one person. They don't come to do our bidding. Instead, they exist to do the bidding of their Creator. Primarily, that is to bring Him worship and bring Him praise. The Bible says they are to bless the Lord. Everything they do is connected in some way to the glory of God. That's why when you talk about Satan and the fallen angels, their great sin was in detracting from the glory of their creator. Stealing from God, if you will, the glory that was due to His name alone. Now these angels are higher than man, but they're lower than God. The Bible says here in Psalm 103 verse 20 that they excel in strength. They're greater than man. In the sense of their created abilities and yet they are not God. They should not be worshiped as God. I think there are several errors and misinterpretations when it comes to the subject of angels. One is that some people have just outright rejected the idea of angels. Liberal theology attacks, anything that's miraculous or supernatural or invisible. They say, if you can't prove it, then it can't be. But that is totally against the principle of faith. So God's Word teaches that there are angels. We're going to learn more about them. We can't reject them. Then, on the other hand, some people have made idols out of angels. Many people have perverted the place of angels in worship. They have exalted them to the place of a Savior to be prayed to, to be trusted in. And my friend, that's idolatry. Colossians chapter 2, verses 18 and 19 says, Let no man beguile you of your reward. In a volunteer humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things, which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head, from which all the body, by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth. The bottom line is this, the angels must never take away from the place that Christ alone is worthy to have. Now that portion of scripture in Colossians 2 also tells us a third misinterpretation of angels. Some people reject them, some people make idols out of them, and then some very well intentioned people presume to know things about them that God's word is not clear on. Sometimes writers of fiction have assumed and attributed things to God. To angels that are not scriptural they have overemphasized the place of angels. I want to tell you this. We must not fall short of scripture, but we certainly must not go beyond scripture. Let me say it this way. We must not be unwise about what is written. We must be wise about what is written. In other words, we must know what does the Bible say about angels. Psalm 148, verse 2, and again in verse 5, we read these words, Praise ye Him, all His angels. Praise ye Him, all His hosts. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded, If you follow the angels back to their origin, you will find the one who is worthy of worship, and that is the God that the angels serve. As a matter of fact, in scripture, when men fell down at the feet of created beings, of angels to worship, those angels very hastily said, Stand up, get up, don't worship me, worship God. Why? Because they reflect the glory of God, and they deflect all glory. back to God. Now, what do we know about angels from Scripture? ‌  First of all, we know they're real. They exist. They appear all through the Word of God. They're mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament. Job tells us that they were present at the creation. They were there at the fall of Adam. You remember the cherubim and the flaming sword guarding the way of the tree of life. They were there when Sodom was destroyed. They were present at Jacob's Ladder. They were present when the firstborn of Egypt died. They were protecting Israel. You remember Numbers 22 from Balaam. They killed 185, 000 Assyrians and delivered Israel. On and on through the Old Testament.  Angels in the New Testament When you come to the New Testament, they are mentioned 165 times.The vast majority of times that they are mentioned in the New Testament, they're connected to Christ. They are connected to His birth, they are connected to His temptation, to His time in the Garden of Gethsemane. We're told in Scripture that twelve legions of angels stood ready to deliver Christ from the cross. All He had to do was say the Word. Aren't you glad He didn't say the Word? It was an angel that rolled the stone away and announced the resurrection of Christ. It were angels that accompanied him in his ascension back to glory. So the angels are closely connected to the Lord Jesus Christ and it's very significant because it tells us something not only about their reality but about their responsibility. The word angel literally means a sent one, a messenger.  The Role of Angels Today So the angels were constantly ministering to Christ, but now what do they do? Now they minister to us. They are the Lord's messengers, to minister, to help believers. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 refers to this, to the angels that minister to us. And I just want to pause today and say, what a mighty God we serve. It's not the angels that I am standing in awe of. It is God that I'm standing in awe of, that he has so many messengers, and that he loves us so much that he would use those messengers to minister to us. You'll read in scripture that the angels have a great deal of responsibility in the future, in prophecy. And we could get into that study, but I want to just, Say today, they are real and they are doing the work of God at this present hour. Now, this is very important. They do not do our bidding. They do God's bidding. They are not with you today to do what you say. And we don't pray to the angels. No, we pray to the God who created all things and the God who created all things, uses whatever means He so desires to minister to our needs day by day. In fact, you have someone better with you, greater with you today than any angel. You have Christ in you. You have the person of the Holy Spirit of God living inside of you.  Trust in the Lord of Hosts In fact, you should do today exactly what the angels are doing, and that is bless the Lord. Give Him praise and give Him glory. We might say it this way. Believe in angels, but trust in the Lord. I believe in angels. I believe in them because the Word of God teaches me all about them. Scripture talks about their existence and their power and their wisdom. All of that, but really all that's just a reflection of their great God. Their intelligence, just a reflection of His wisdom. Their power, just a reflection of His omnipotence. And so though I may believe in angels, my friend, I trust in the Lord. And I hope today you'll put your trust in God and God alone and know that He has you in the palm of His hand. Believe the God of the Bible. and discover what the Bible says about every question. Outro and Resources Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the Biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Mark 1:16-20) Only Jesus could transform ordinary fishermen into soul-winners! However, this transformation required some sacrifice from His disciples. How can one become a fisher of men today? (0948250222) 

(2 Corinthians 13:14) There is only one God. That God has expressed Himself in three Persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It should be our greatest desire to grow in knowledge of and love for every member of the Godhead. (0947250221) ----more----   The Divine Trinity Over the last several studies, we've been looking at what the Bible says about God, about the Lord Jesus Christ, and about the Holy Spirit. Come to see that God the Father is God, that God the Son is God, and that God the Holy Spirit is God. And we don't have three gods, we have one God expressed in three persons. The Bible says there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And so they are distinct and separate persons of the Godhead. And yet, they are co-equal, co-existent, and co-eternal. The word that is frequently used to describe our God is the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Really the word Trinity is a great word. It means three in one, the triune God, Trinity in unity.  Understanding the Godhead But the Bible word for it is the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, working together. Jesus spoke about this in John chapter 14 when Philip came to him and said, "Show us the Father and it sufficeth us." We want to see the Father. And Jesus says to him, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." In other words, if you want to know the Father, You have to know the Father through the Son. In the same chapter in John chapter 14, He said, "When I leave you,(when the Son leaves), I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth." And he says, "The Holy Spirit's going to come and dwell with you and be in you and he's going to reveal more of me to you." So watch this. If you want to know the Father, you've got to know the Son. And if you want to know the Son, then you've got to know the Spirit. Do you see how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work together? The Father is the begetter, the Son is the begotten. The Father is the sender, the Son is the sent one. And then the Father and Son together send the Spirit of God to abide with us forever. It's also a beautiful thought to see how each glorifies the other. The Father glorified the Son came to fulfill the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit comes not to do his own will or to speak of himself, but rather to glorify the Lord Jesus so that the Father will be pleased. It's just, it's wonderful to see this perfect unity and part of the reason we can't comprehend it is we don't see that kind of unity in our world today. Our finite and fallen minds cannot wrap our imaginations around something so perfect and yet that's our God, our perfect God. Biblical References to the Trinity From the very beginning of the scriptures we see this triune God at work. For example, Genesis chapter 1 verse number 26 says "Let us make a man in our image." Oh, who is that having a conversation? Oh, that's the Father, Son, and Spirit. Who've been in perfect communion from eternity past. In fact, in Genesis chapter number one, we see the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters and we learn in Colossians 1 that the Lord Jesus Christ was the one who created all things. So someone's going to say who created the world? The Father, the Son, or the Spirit? And the answer to that question is yes. Isn't that beautiful? So even in the plurality of the pronoun that's used in Genesis 1, even in the plurality of The name that is used for our God, the Lord God. There is a reference to the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, all working together. Our perfect God. One God at work in this world. Let me read something to you from the book of Isaiah that may help you to understand this a little better. I love this passage. Isaiah chapter number 48, verse number 16, says, "Come ye near me, hear ye this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was, there I am, and now the Lord God and His Spirit hath sent me. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord by God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." Did you see all three members of the Godhead? The Lord God. Now this is Jehovah, Yahweh. A reference to our Father. And there is the Redeemer, that's a reference to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then there is His Spirit, a reference to the Holy Ghost of God. The first time we see them in the New Testament is in Matthew chapter 3 at the baptism of the Lord Jesus. The Bible says in Matthew 3 verse 16, "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straight way out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and laying upon Him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Do you see the Lord Jesus, the Son, standing in the water? And do you hear the voice of the Father speaking from His throne in heaven? And do you see the Holy Spirit being sent from heaven down to earth? To light upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, Son, and Spirit working in unbroken unity together.  The Great Commission and the Trinity When you come to the end of that same book, to Matthew chapter number 28, you come to the Great Commission, the command that's been given us, and the baptismal formula for how new believers are to be baptized. And what does it say? We're to baptize them, Matthew 28:19, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Why the Father, the Son, and the Spirit? Because they are co-equal. They are co-existent. They are co-eternal. Although they are distinct persons, you cannot separate them from one another. And this is the truth. This is what I'm praying that the Lord will help us to understand today about what the Bible says about the Godhead. The Bible says about the Trinity, the great three in one, and it is this. That I have the Father, I have the Son, and I have the Spirit. That the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all related to us as believers. We have access to all that God is.  Apostolic Benediction and Divine Blessing And so I bring you to what is commonly referred to as the apostolic benediction. That's just a big, formal term for a prayer that the Apostle Paul prays concerning the church at Corinth. In 2 Corinthians chapter 13, the closing verse 14, says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen." It's beautiful to see how Paul's closing prayer opens all of heaven to us. This is really not the the apostles' blessing. This is divine blessing. This is the key that unlocks heaven's storehouse. Everything that we need is wrapped up in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And notice the divine order. He begins with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He begins with everybody's greatest need. Do you know what everyone's greatest need is? It's grace. Friend, without grace, we can't enjoy any other good thing. And how does that grace come from heaven to earth? It comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost without exception, when the Godhead are mentioned, the Father is always mentioned first. But Christ is first here. And why is that? Because Christ is the one who opens the way to the Father. You can't enjoy the love of God or the communion of the Holy Ghost without the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And once you come to know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, you begin to enter in and grow in your understanding of the love of God. Deeper and deeper into the love of God. And how does that happen? It happens through the indwelling God. The communion of the Holy Ghost, God who lives inside of you. I'm taking the time today to point this out to you all through scripture because I'm hoping you'll come to love more the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. To speak more to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and to tell others of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. My prayer for you today is that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.  Outro and Resources Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.