HAS GOD BEEN OUTDONE BY HIS OWN CREATION?

"He's looking like a weak God right about now! Outdone by his own creation!"

This was said by an atheist commenting on Ray Comfort's blog, "Atheist Central." He was referring to scientists' synthesizing DNA and implanting it into a cell which had it's own DNA removed. Some say that in accomplishing this man has now "created life".

Another atheist who goes by the name, "Garbonzo Beans!!!" is very bold. He says: "This is the dawning of Homo evolutis. We will control our own genetic future, as well as the genetic future of other species. We can now create new species, that did not exist up until they were "intelligently designed"."

Others who commented on the blog post focused on the question of whether this really qualifies as "man creating life." I however was inspired to say something about the statement that God is weak, and has been outdone by his own creation.

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Here is the initial quote from "Blu," followed by my comment. The entire post and all comments can be seen by clicking here.

"Hey Ray, seen the news lately? We've been able to 'create' synthetic life. Seems we're almost as powerful as God ;) give it a few years, Ray, and we'll be creating our own life. God won't be so important then, will he. He's looking like a weak God right about now! Outdone by his own creation!" Blu

"He's looking like a weak God right about now! Outdone by his own creation!" Blu

Those words might well have been said 2,000 years ago when the long awaited "seed of the woman" (Gen.3:15) was killed and buried.

Satan must have been beyond euphoric when, after centuries of attempts to undermine the fulfillment of the Genesis 3 prophecy, God was defeated by His own creatures, the very human race He had planned to redeem from the devil's dominion. "Outdone by His own creation." Or, so it must have appeared.

I wonder though, if the "old serpent" may have been haunted the next couple of days by the thought, "That was easy - maybe too easy." His "victory" over God seemed to have been just handed to him on a silver platter.

The "deceiver" didn't have long to wait. John, in a very brief summary statement, says, "...and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne." (Rev.12:4,5)

Look at the colon in that last sentence. It stands in the place representing the period of time when Jesus, the Son of God, as a man, lived a life of perfect obedience to his Father, and on the cross of shame achieved the ultimate victory over sin and death, and yes, over the devil.

Satan, not God, had been undone by his own scheme. What he didn't know was that God's "...Love is as strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. It's flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD." (Song of Songs 8:6) Never did he anticipate that God's love for his people was so strong that he would pay the ultimate price for their redemption. (John 3:16)

And as for Jesus, the Son of God, never has anyone paid such a great price to redeem and obtain a bride. Redeemed humanity will corporately be the eternal companion of Christ, in union with him for ever.

And they overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Rev. 12:11)

Craig B.

THERE ARE ONLY TWO THINGS: GOD and CREATION

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. __Genesis 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.__John 1:1-3

Two Places Where God Dwells

For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,

"I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite."

(Isaiah 57:15 NASB)

Two Verses that Summarize the Theme of the Bible

Hear O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

(Deut. 6:4 & 1 Timothy 2:5)

Two Great Questions

What is man, that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?

What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

All the Difference in the World

Most people in our culture believe that, if there is a God, we can relate to him and go to heaven by leading a good life. ... Christianity teaches the very opposite. In the Christian understanding, Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation. Rather, he comes to forgive and save us through his life and death in our place. God's grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.
__Timothy Keller in The Reason for God

Kilpatrick: "I Love Detroit"

(news item) Time and again, Kwame Kilpatrick's exceptional oratory skills rallied Detroit voters to his side...But all his swagger and professions of love for family, God and the city failed to sway a judge Tuesday, who sent Kilpatrick to prison...

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I think it was his professed love for the city that first brought Kwame's credibility into question. _Stranger

ENTER TO WIN "THE BIG QUESTION"

The Big Question is a DVD that carefully and non-aggressively walks through a very clear Law and Gospel presentation. Todd Friel hosts it and it features Kirk Cameron, Voddie Bauchum, John Piper, and Ray Comfort. The quality is and content is excellent. I'd encourage you to watch it first then give it away to someone you care about who doesn't know the Lord.

Enter the drawing at FISH WITH TRISH. Four entries will be selected.

Whitsuntide, Pentecost & John the Baptist

*This is a cross-post of a comment I made on Ray Comfort's blog earlier today.

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 "As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:4-6)

[Ray Comfort:]...John’s sole purpose was to be a voice in the wilderness, preparing the way for the One who would come to save human beings from God’s just wrath. He was clearing the path so that wicked sinners would hear the words of life, from the pure lips of the everlasting God manifest in human form....

Hi Ray, Happy Whitsuntide!

How appropriate (and providential) that the text of today's sermon features John Baptist, God's chosen prophet who introduced to the world Jesus Christ as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

I say "appropriate" because much of historic Christianity recognizes this season as that in which world-wide evangelism got underway. Ascension Day commemorates Christ's ascending into heaven and taking the seat of authority at the Father's "right hand." Whitsunday and the two days following are remembered as when the enthroned Christ sent the Holy Spirit to empower the church to "make disciples of all nations," preaching the good news to all peoples of all languages throughout the earth. The good news was (and is) that, on the cross, Jesus Christ has defeated sin, the grave, and the devil, and is gathering a people to be his very own possession.

What a privilege for us as believers to, in whatever locations and circumstances Providence has placed us, point people towards Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Happy Whitsuntide and happy Pentecost to all my brothers and sisters.

Craig B.

The Gospel is...

Image re-posted from Facets of Grace and Calvinistic Cartoons

This is the Gospel

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. ___(I Corinthians 15:1-4)

Announcement of what God has done for us:

We believe that God, Who is consummately and perfectly both merciful and just, has sent His Son so that He would assume that nature in order that He should make satisfaction in that very nature that sinned through disobedience, and in order that concerning sin, He should endure the just penalties by His bitter suffering and death. Therefore, God displayed and stretched forth His justice upon His own Son, laden with our sins. He liberally poured out and stretched forth His goodness and mercy upon us, worthily deserving condemnation, when He handed His Son over to death on account of our offenses, out of his immeasurable love for us, and in turn raised Him from death on account of our justification, so that we would obtain immortality and eternal life through Him.

(Belgic Confession Art. 20)

Thank God for the Covenant of Grace

Praying the scriptures, from Matthew Henry's  Method for Prayer

For the covenant of grace made with me in Jesus Christ and all the exceedingly great and precious privileges of that covenant, and for the seals of it.

I thank You that in Jesus Christ You have made an everlasting covenant with me, according to the faithful mercies shown to David; (Isaiah 55:3) and that though the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, yet this, Your covenant of peace, will not be shaken. (Isaiah 54:10)

That You have granted to me precious and magnificent promises, so that by them I might become a partaker of the divine nature; (2 Peter 1:4) and that Jesus Christ is the Mediator of this better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)

That though You chasten my transgression with the rod and my iniquity with stripes, yet You will not break off Your loving-kindness from me, nor deal falsely in Your faithfulness. Your covenant You will not violate, nor will You alter the utterance of Your lips. (Psalm 89:32-34)

That desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of Your purpose, You have interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, I who have taken refuge might have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before me. (Hebrews 6:17-18)

That baptism is appointed to be a seal of the righteousness which is by faith, as circumcision was; (Romans 4:11) that it assures me of the forgiveness of my sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit; and that this promise is for God’s people and their children. (Acts 2:38-39) And that the cup in the Lord’s Supper is the blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28)

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Charles H. Spurgeon on Ephesians 1:3

"Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings."—Ephesians 1:3.


ALL the goodness of the past, the present, and the future, Christ bestows upon His people. In the mysterious ages of the past the Lord Jesus was His Father's first elect, and in His election He gave us an interest, for we were chosen in Him from before the foundation of the world. He had from all eternity the prerogatives of Sonship, as His Father's only-begotten and well-beloved Son, and He has, in the riches of His grace, by adoption and regeneration, elevated us to sonship also, so that to us He has given "power to become the sons of God."

The eternal covenant, based upon suretiship and confirmed by oath, is ours, for our strong consolation and security. In the everlasting settlements of predestinating wisdom and omnipotent decree, the eye of the Lord Jesus was ever fixed on us; and we may rest assured that in the whole roll of destiny there is not a line which militates against the interests of His redeemed.

The great betrothal of the Prince of Glory is ours, for it is to us that He is affianced, as the sacred nuptials shall ere long declare to an assembled universe. The marvellous incarnation of the God of heaven, with all the amazing condescension and humiliation which attended it, is ours. The bloody sweat, the scourge, the cross, are ours for ever. Whatever blissful consequences flow from perfect obedience, finished atonement, resurrection, ascension, or intercession, all are ours by His own gift.

Upon His breastplate he is now bearing our names; and in His authoritative pleadings at the throne He remembers our persons and pleads our cause. His dominion over principalities and powers, and His absolute majesty in heaven, He employs for the benefit of them who trust in Him. His high estate is as much at our service as was His condition of abasement. He who gave Himself for us in the depths of woe and death, doth not withdraw the grant now that He is enthroned in the highest heavens.

From Spurgeon's Daily Devotional, Morning and Evening. May 9, A.M. reading.

Thank God for the Assurance you have of Christ's Second Coming

Thank God for the Assurance you have of Christ's Second Coming

For the assurance we have of His second coming to judge the world.

I bless You that You have fixed a day in which You will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom You have appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. Acts 17:31(NASB)

That in that day the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8(NASB) And He will come to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed; 2 Thessalonians 1:10(NASB) for God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4:14(NASB)

That He will then send forth His angels to gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, Matthew 13:41(NASB) and to gather together His elect from the four winds; Matthew 24:31(NASB) and then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13:43(NASB)

And I then, according to Your promise, am looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells: Lord, grant that, since I look for these things, I may be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless; 2 Peter 3:13-14(NASB) and then Come Lord Jesus, Come quickly! Revelation 22:20(NASB)

Creating a "god" who is like us?

The topic on Ray Comfort's blog, Atheist Central, today was about man's creating a god out of his own imagination. The following is taken from the comment page. It has been edited for this post.

Ray Comfort:
"...Man has always gravitated towards making a god in his own image. He does this because he doesn’t want moral accountability..."

Lurker:
“Or, because the concept of ‘God’ is one of projected personification onto the Universe. That would explain why bigots believe in bigoted Gods, why feminists believe in feminist Gods, and why X's believe in X Gods. Fill in the blank.”

Stranger:
But Lurker, what amazes me is how God, the One whose very essence is the sum of moral perfection, whose chief attribute is holiness, indicating that He is completely separate from all that is sinful, impure, or morally imperfect, draws men and women to Himself whose characteristics are so unlike His own, and they know it.

The most perfect representation of God is in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus Christ. See what he does and hear what he says.

Look at how the "sinners and publicans" flocked to him (Luke 15:1-2), someone who was totally unlike themselves. And the woman who was a notorious sinner who was drawn to the holy Jesus, and washed his feet with her tears, and dried them with her hair. (Luke 7:37-50 Read the entire passage. It is fantastic.)

Nowadays folks are being drawn to God and worshipping Him because He saved them from their sins, people whose qualities and attributes are anything but God-like. These Christians are certainly not imaging a "god" after their own likes, bigotry or prejudices. In fact, the whole of salvation is God's forming us into His likeness and image.

_________Craig Boyd

Take it for Granted?

Steve Sanchez posted this on his blog site, Stone The Preacher, last Friday. (Click on the link for more.) Thanks to my friend, Mark Morrison, for bringing it to my attention on Facebook.

"I recently received permission from a friend to post these two disturbing images. He said that they are now in the public domain via a recent YouTube video (about refugees). I debated with myself about displaying them here on this blog, but thought that timid Christians could reflect a little on the liberty we have in America, liberty denied our brothers and sisters who live in North Korea. These people do not have the opportunity to share their faith everyday.

A few friends of mine keep these photos in their bibles. They serve as reminders of the freedom we have in America to preach the Gospel. I, too, have taped them in my bible. I’m reminded that the time is short, so I’ll continue to share my faith everyday."
                                                            __Steve Sanchez

Best Buddy & Best Pal

Blacky (top)

Jean-Louis (below)

"Could you put away the camera, and just bring me my coffee?"