June 23, 2022

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3

The inspired word of God identifies Jesus in the role of Creator. After six days of creating, He made another day for rest (see Genesis 2:1-3). He set the seventh day in place as His mark of grace upon that which He had made. Adam and Eve were only one day old when they spent that first Sabbath with their Maker. What a special time with Him that first Sabbath must have been! The weekly pattern for our first parents was a pattern of joy and delight in their fellowship with God. We are not told how long the pattern continued before temptation to go against God’s instruction arrived in the Paradise of the Garden of Eden.

A close look at the first two chapters of Genesis shows us that God’s plan for marriage was laid out before the Sabbath day. The intimate relationship between the man and his wife came to be symbolic for the close relationship He desires to have with His people. Jesus is the Groom and He intends to make us His Bride.

These three doctrines, Creation, marriage, and the Sabbath, have been under attack by the archenemy of Christ since the beginning. The attack continues today like never before. The cunning and subtle serpent through which Satan worked to introduce temptation was, at the time, a beautiful creature. Many believe he had wings and it is certain that he had legs; his jewel-like coloring and graceful movements had a hypnotic effect. His question, innuendos, and lie regarding death were enough to convince Eve to reach out and partake of the one forbidden fruit tree.

These last days are marked very distinctly with Satan’s intensifying attack against the precepts of God. God is allowing it, even as He is telling us about it in His word. Being confronted with specific tests has a way of bringing our decision-making into sharp focus. Daniel’s three friends in chapter 3 of his book were confronted with breaking the second commandment about idolatry. But they chose to remain faithful, and as they were being punished for their “crime” Jesus was with them in the fiery furnace (see Daniel 3:25). Later, Daniel was punished for faithfulness in prayer, but he was protected when the angel of God shut the lions’ mouths (see 6:22). Long before the commandments of the LORD were codified by His finger on stone tablets (see Exodus 31:18), Joseph refrained from committing adultery, calling it a great wickedness and sin against God (Genesis 39:9).

The truth is that God has continually raised up faithful people who will dwell eternally with Him. You and I have an opportunity to become a child of God no matter how far we have fallen. The same Jesus who is the Creator and Giver of every good gift and every perfect gift (James 1:17) will have the last word! He identifies Himself thus:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” Revelation 1:8,11a