And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31.
How beautiful the earth was when it came from the Creator’s hand! God presented before the universe a world in which even His all-seeing eye could find no spot or stain, no defect or crookedness. Each part of His creation occupied the place assigned it and answered the purpose for which it was created. Like the parts of some great machine, part fitted to part, and all was in perfect harmony…. There was no disease … and the vegetable kingdom was without taint of corruption. God looked upon the work of His hands wrought out by Christ and pronounced it “very good.” He looked upon a perfect world, in which there was no trace of sin, no imperfection.
But a change came. Satan tempted Adam, and he fell. He who in heaven had become disloyal and had been cast out made lying reports of God to the beings He had created, and they listened to his reports and believed his lie. And sin entered the world, and death by sin.—Letter 23, 1903 (see also The Review and Herald, July 21, 1904).
When Christ saw that there was no human being able to be humanity’s intercessor, He Himself entered the fierce conflict and battled with Satan. The First Begotten of God was the only one who could liberate those who by Adam’s sin had been brought in subjection to Satan.
The Son of God gave Satan every opportunity to try all his arts upon Him. The enemy had tempted the angels in heaven, and afterward the first Adam. Adam fell, and Satan supposed he could succeed in ensnaring Christ after He assumed humanity. All the fallen host looked upon this engagement as an opportunity to gain the supremacy over Christ. They had longed for a chance to show their enmity against God. When the lips of Christ were sealed in death, Satan and his angels imagined that they had obtained the victory….
In the death struggle the Son of God could rely only upon His heavenly Father. All was by faith. He Himself was a ransom, a gift, given for the freeing of the captives. By His own arm He has brought salvation to humanity; but at what a cost to Himself!—Manuscript 125, 1901 (The Upward Look, 357).
Christ Triumphant p. 8
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Prayer Requests
—-I have some relatives who are struggling and need your prayers. Buck
—-Please pray for my son Josh. May his pain turn into a need for you. My heart is breaking for him! Louisw
—- Asking for prayer for the mother of four of my grandchildren. Her name is Ana. She is deep into the occult. She has threatened to have me killed many times. She has also made plans to kill two of my sons. My son went over there on Xmas day to see his kids. There was an argument and as my son was walking out of her house holding some of his belongings, she hit him in the back of his head with a hammer. I cannot turn her in. She seems to be able to find out the names of anyone who turns her in to any agency and then they are doomed to her revenge. She really needs prayer. Put her on the prayer group and my grandchildren and son also. Thank you very much. She told me that if I had her prosecuted it would be one of the last things I would ever do. So, I didn’t follow through with going to court against her. I believe it was true. CC
—-E and children need prayer and God’s guidance. R
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Dear Friends,
When I talked with Esther on the phone some years ago when she was still in college, I knew something was upsetting her. After a few pointed questions, she told me that the first story in her literature book was making God out to be worse than the heathen deities and made them heroes. It sickened her to read such blasphemy. She prayed for wisdom to know what to do. She decided to drop the class and take another one which would still meet the requirement. One other student did the same.
Whether our problem is a small one or an overwhelmingly large one, God invites us, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee” Jer 33:3 Jesus assures us, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” Luke 17:6 He says, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:14 I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them t hat ask him?” Luke 11:9-13
James gives another dimension to our prayer being answered, “let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” James 1:6, 7 John explains, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 1 John 5:14 Think of it! The Great Creator of the Universe is willing to answer our prayer of faith!
May we come to God, knowing that He loves us with an “everlasting love.” Jer 31:3 May we fulfill the conditions to answered prayer, that God, Who longs to give us that which we ask, may work mightily for us. May we remember to praise God when He answers our petitions is my prayer.
Rose
