A long time  ago, when I was a teenager, a country singer by the name of Barbara Mandrell, sang, “He grew the tree that He knew would be used to make the old rugged cross.” The song brought out, that even at creation Jesus was planning our redemption. This song could not be any truer.

In Genesis 2:16-17 ESV God says, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” We all know Adam and Eve did not die the day they ate of the forbidden fruit. Man has been trying to make excuses for God ever since.

Some say, well they began to die. However that is not what God said. He did not say you will begin to die the day you eat of the fruit. He said you will die in the day you eat of the fruit. Others say, they died spiritually that day. I don’t even know what the means! Sounds profound enough, I guess, but what does it mean? Besides, God did not say you will die spiritually the day you eat of the fruit. He said you will die – drop dead the day you eat of it. So what kept Adam and Eve from dropping dead the day they ate of the fruit?

Instead of trying to make up weak excuses for God, let’s let God’s Word explain itself. He does not need any help from us to get out of this  jam. We find the answer at the other end of the Bible. Revelation 13:8 tells us Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. There is our answer! God did not need us bailing Him out by making up our own theories about beginning to die or dying spiritually that day. Revelation 13:8 lets us know that Jesus’ death on the cross had already taken effect. God calls things that are not yet, as though they already were. Just like I can cut and paste, just as I am writing this post in Microsoft Word, God can cut and paste through time and eternity and put the cross at the foundation of the world.

Jesus is truly the Savior of the whole world, as His sacrifice sustains not only the believer but the unbeliever as well. Adam and Eve were not believers; they were running from God. But they still had their breath that day because of the cross of Christ and the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God told Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “and in thee [Abraham’s Seed which was Christ] shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Notice God said all families will be “blessed,” or benefit from the cross. That includes Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists. They all benefit the same way Adam and Eve did.

The reason Adam and Eve did not drop dead the same day they ate the fruit was because Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and His death had already taken effect. The reason we do not drop dead the same day we sin, is because of the cross of Christ as well.

Believer and unbeliever benefit from the cross. This is what John was talking about in 1 John 2:2 ESV. He writes, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” John was writing to believers when he said “not  for ours only,” the believers, but the whole world! An inspired writer, 1,800 years after John, echoes the same sentiments.

“To the death of Christ we owe even this earthly life. The bread we eat is the purchase of His broken body. The water we drink is bought by His spilled blood. Never one, saint or sinner, eats his daily food, but he is nourished by the body and the blood of Christ. The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf.” – Ellen White, Desire of Ages, page 660.

Every breath we breathe is brought to us courtesy of the cross. People curse God with the very breath that He died to give them!

This idea of Jesus beginning our redemption even at creation runs all through the Bible. 

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” 9Matthew 25:34 ESV)

… even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love. (Ephesians  1:4 ESV)

in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began (Titus 1:2)

Yes! Jesus created the tree He knew would be used to make the old rugged cross. Even at creation He was beginning our redemption. He died to give us probationary time. Not a probationary time to see if God will accept us – He already has accepted us from the foundation of the world – but time to see if we will accept Jesus and His life-changing love.

If we choose to accept His love, Jesus tells us in John 11:26 ESV, “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?.” Sure, we may fall asleep like Lazarus did, but God will not abandon us in the grave. We will not experience the death and God abandonment that Jesus experienced for us on the cross when He cried out, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!”

The cross echoes throughout time and space from every corner of eternity, telling us God is love! The Gospel begins at creation.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/jesus-grew-the-tree/

Daily Lesson for Sunday 13th of October 2024

The Gospel of John begins with this amazing thought: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This one beautiful sentence contains a depth of thought that we can barely grasp.

First, the evangelist alludes to the Creation story in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning.” The Word was already there before the beginning of the universe. Thus, John affirms Jesus’ eternal existence.

Next, “And the Word was with God.” In John 1:18, John indicates that He is “in the bosom of the Father.” No matter how we may try to envision what this exactly means, one thing is sure: Jesus and the Father are intimately close.

And then, he says, “And the Word was God.” But how can the Word be with God and at the same time be God? The answer is found in the Greek. Greek has a definite article, “the,” but no indefinite article, “a/an.” What’s important for us, then, is that the Greek definite article, “the,” points to particularity, some particular object or person.

In the phrase “the Word was with God,” the term “God” has the definite article, thus, pointing to a particular individual, the Father. And the Word was with the Father. In the phrase, “and the Word was God,” the term “God” does not have the article, which, in this setting, points to the characteristics of divinity. Jesus is God—not the Father, but He is still the divine Son of God, the second Person of the Godhead.

The apostle verifies this understanding, for John 1:3-4 says that Jesus is the Creator of all things created. Anything that once didn’t exist but then came into existence did so only through Jesus, the Creator God.

“From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father; He was ‘the image of God,’ the image of His greatness and majesty, ‘the outshining of His glory.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 19.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-03-in-the-beginning-the-divine-logos/

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 12th of October 2024

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: John 1:1-5, Genesis 1:1, John 1:9-13, John 3:16-21, John 9:35-41, Matthew 7:21-23, John 17:1-5.

Memory Text:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Week one dealt with the end of the book of John, which explained why he wrote his Gospel. This week’s lesson returns to the beginning of the Gospel, where John sets forth the direction that he, inspired by the Holy Spirit, intends to take the reader. In the first words and paragraphs of their writing, New Testament writers often present the themes that they intend to cover. So does John, whose themes are presented as part of a grand cosmic sweep that depicts overriding truths about Jesus Christ—truths that reach back to even before Creation.

This presentation, at the opening of the book, gives readers, who already know that Jesus is the Messiah, an advantage that the characters in the book itself did not have. The reader can clearly see the grand themes that the evangelist returns to as he tells the story of Jesus. These great themes are placed within the historical period of Jesus’ earthly life.

This week’s lesson will begin with the Prologue (John 1:1-18) and summarize its major themes. These themes will then be looked at in other places in John’s Gospel, as well.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October 19.

Sunday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-03-the-backstory-the-prologue/

The Mission program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an opportunity for us to understand the needs of others and share in supporting them. Please click on the image below to watch the Mission Spotlight presentation for this week:

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-october-12/

Inside Story for Friday 11th of October 2024

By Andrew McChesney

Pablo had never heard of Seventh-day Adventists. A leader among the Sikuani indigenous people in Colombia, he was far from home when he was invited to a Sabbath worship service.

“This Saturday, we will have a meeting,” someone said. “Come!”

Image © Pacific Press

Pablo went to the morning service and saw that people studied the Bible. He returned for the afternoon service and heard people asking Bible questions. He was amazed that Cristian Camilo, the 25-year-old missionary who had led the morning service, answered every question from the Bible.

When he got a chance, Pablo had his own question. “What do I need to do to become a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?” he asked.

“We can start Bible studies,” Cristian said.

He gave Pablo a set of 20 Bible lessons in Pablo’s own native Sikuani language. Pablo was pleased and asked for lessons for the rest of his family.

Cristian gave Pablo a Bible and promised to travel to his community with lessons for his family.

Cristian was responsible for a large territory, and three months passed before he was able to visit Pablo. He traveled with two Sikuani Adventists because he couldn’t find Pablo’s rural community without their help.

Pablo welcomed Cristian and announced that he had finished studying the 20 Bible lessons. He said he also had given Bible studies to his family and the rest of the community, and 15 people were ready to be baptized.

Cristian, who had arrived on a Friday, spent the rest of the day answering Bible questions and checking whether the people were ready for baptism. When the sun set, he led an evening worship program.

On Sabbath morning, Cristian led the community in a divine worship service. Afterward, one man said, “There’s a lake over there.” Another said , “We want to be baptized right now!” That Sabbath, five people were baptized: Pablo, his mother, his two brothers, and a sister-in-law.

Today, Pablo is giving Bible studies to his people.

“There are many people who are hungry for the Word of God in Pablo’s community,” Cristian said. “Like Pablo, there are many people who are waiting to be reached.”

Thank you for your prayers for missionaries who, like Cristian, face huge challenges reaching unreached people groups in Colombia and elsewhere around the world. Learn about Adventist Mission’s work to reach unreached people groups at: bit.ly/GMPioneers.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24d-02-inside-story-revival-in-rural-colombia/