Signs of a believer.

Signs of a believer...believe it!

All bible refs from NKJV...unless otherwise stated

Joh 6:28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Our job is to believe...

Mar 16:17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

These signs...will follow the believer...

Sign 1: In My name they will cast out demons...

Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick everywhere He went...He demonstrated His powers and desired that we have the same and more! How?...

Joh 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

He gave us "open-ended" (say what we want!...full-powered!) scripture verses as a heritage...

Mat 16:19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus's death on the cross had removed all the power of the enemy (the devil by the Law)...

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Jesus came to complete(upgrade..) the original design/plan for Man and gave us the heritage to reign and rule on this earth with heavenly powers...God in heaven...little gods on the earth...

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1Co 15:46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Luk 10:17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

Amen to that!...Casting out demons in His name is our heritage...one amongst many!

Sign 2: they will speak with new tongues;...

Amazing!...I've read but nobody spoke in tongues in the Old Testament...the closest thing they did do was groan in their sufferings...
Tongues came about because Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit!...

Act 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

My understanding of tongues is like this...we only need to cry like a baby (because we do not know how to pray...) and the Lord God regards it as a prayer!...the Holy Spirit intercedes for us...benefits us by edification (building us up both in the physical and spiritual...This is powerful stuff!)...

Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Psa 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

1Co 14:4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

Read the rest of 1st Corinthians 14 and find out!...and lest we forget...

1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

Sign 3: they will take up serpents;...

This one got me thinking for a while...quite pointless I thought to pick up snakes...and I did read that Apostle Paul had an incident on an island in which a viper got coiled round his hand and became a testimony to the locals cause Paul was not hurt...but waste one of five points to take up or pick up serpents? And then I found the answer...Strong's Hebrew and Greek dictionaries for "take up" is the Greek word "airō" also means to raise (the voice).

Hah!...we are called to raise our voice (literally shout) at the serpent (devil). That's right..tell the fella..he ain't got nothing he can use against the redeemed of the Lord, us!...What to shout about? Scripture verses...
Two of my favourite verses:
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,...
and Psalms 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty...

You and I today can be a "loud-mouthed Christian" in the area of dealing with the devil!...he is, after all, under your feet...and be very audacious about it...yours and my bible said so...

Sign 4: and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them;...

Not just drinking!...

Luk 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Yet I yearn for a deeper understanding of this sign...
I present it to you like this: Most, I say most, of everday talk and news surrounding us is negative!...We are submerged in a pool of poison, drinking in everyday deadly reports of bad news, defeat, failure talk, incurable sickness, untimely death, intimidation and whatever is not well...

We have to reject such conversations in our spirit, knowing it is not our heritage!...such talk or news tries to instill fear and condemnation...it will by no means hurt us!
Do not be defiled by such things!...

Jam 3:8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Jam 3:9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.

Mat 15:10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
Mat 15:11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

Sign 5: they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

As believers we can lay hands on the sick...didn't say what kind...incurable sicknesses too!...and the Word of God says, they will recover...Man! healing of the sick especially of the incurables is probably the most common miracle that Jesus performed...and in many instances the Lord did them on the Sabbath and He first forgave their sins. This angered the religious mob while the common people praised God for the miracles taking place.

Today miraculous healings is perhaps winning more souls to the Kingdom of God than any other miracle...

What is the pattern for us to follow?

Just lay hands on the sick...Amen!

Exactly what was delivered unto the devil?..Luke 4:6 Part 3...

Luk 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

All ref from NKJV...unless stated otherwise

Read part 1?: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/exactly-what-was-delivered-unto.html

 and part 2?: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/exactly-what-was-delivered-unto_28.html

Here's part 3...More nuggets of truth I wish to bring to light...

The word "authority" in the Greek is the word "exousia" which speaks of...

pronounced ex-oo-see'-ah
(in the sense of ability); privilege, that is, (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence: - authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.

And I submit to you, my reader, it is talking about the Mosaic Law, which was shown to govern the world from the time Moses gave the Law to the Israelites (Gentiles are judged similarly by their conscience of the Law) till before Jesus was crucified on the cross...and it had glory...

Power of death...

2Co 3:7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,
2Co 3:8 "how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

now replaced by the ministry of the Spirit(New Testament) which gives life...

2Co 3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Power to condemn...

2Co 3:9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
2Co 3:10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.
2Co 3:11 "For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

Now replaced by "no condemnation"...We are set free, called righteous, made joint heirs with Jesus...

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Rom 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Rom 8:17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

The Law (of the Old covenant) ministered death and condemnation...Jesus came and fulfilled the requirements of the Law by His own blood to shield all of us (from the wrath of God...) who would believe...Jesus gave us much more glory!

Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Glory, Glory, Glory...Glory cloud...all the Goodness of God...Prescence of God...God dwells in us today!

1Co 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

Hah!..Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus! Amen!

Exactly what was delivered unto the devil?..Luke 4:6 Part 2...

Luk 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him[d] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Read part 1?: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/exactly-what-was-delivered-unto.html

Here's part 2...

In the fourth generation of the descendants of Abraham, they were slaves in Egypt now ruled by a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph...
The Lord God kept His promise to Abraham and brought them out of Egypt and they were...

Exo 32:9 And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;

Best summarised in Psalms 78...

Psa 78:10 They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk according to His law
Psa 78:11 And forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.
Psa 78:12 Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].

........The Lord did...the Israelites rebelled...

Psa 78:17 Yet they still went on to sin against Him by provoking and rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness (in the land of drought).
Psa 78:18 And they tempted God in their hearts by asking for food according to their [selfish] desire and appetite.
Psa 78:19 Yes, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish [the food for] a table in the wilderness?

.........The Lord did..the Israelites rebelled...

Psa 78:32 In spite of all this, they sinned still more, for they believed not in (relied not on and adhered not to Him for) His wondrous works.
Psa 78:33 Therefore their days He consumed like a breath [in emptiness, falsity, and futility] and their years in terror and sudden haste.
Psa 78:34 When He slew [some of] them, [the remainder] inquired after Him diligently, and they repented and sincerely sought God [for a time].

The pattern of rebellion never stopped...Why? What was fundamentally wrong?

DIGRESSION...

OK..Let's do a digression here and talk a little bit about the devil. By the way, where's the devil?

Isa 54:16 “ Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.

Isa 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the LORD.

This passage in Isaiah is so revealing of who the devil really is..the spoiler (waster, destroyer, devastator) was created by the Lord God to destroy...hmnn...Don't ask why..God knows!...He did warn Adam!...
I am afterall trying to bring light to a "spiritually hard" question...try this for size...if the serpent didn't persuade Eve (who would persuade Adam..Adam was so mesmerised by Eve's beauty he just obeyed!) the serpent(Amplified: devil) would end up unemployed!

The spoiler's job was to form a weapon (the Law) against (in judgement of) you and I. He was created as a sort of guardian of the Law...incredible?..He is even pro-active! searching out for victims..

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

He is even a temptor...did it to Jesus...
The Law..it doesn't help anyone..like a mirror, it just points out to you your failure to comply, kills you for it by condemnation.

If you haven't..do read my note Fall of Man?..Glimpse of Grace...


ANSWER TO THIS NOTE'S QUESTION:
Now I can see it! the devil was given this authority because of the Law! Because by the Law, Man will be condemned! Our ancient Israelite brothers and sisters found that out the hard way! The whole world was under the Law at that time..

Rom 2:14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
Rom 2:15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
Rom 2:16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel

The devil by the Law had power over "all the kingdoms of the world"(Before Jesus came..).

2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The devil had the power of death because of the Law...

Heb 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

Isaiah 54:17 prophesied of Jesus, our Redeemer who would die for us and give those who believe the heritage, by Grace! not by works!....

Gal 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

BACK FROM THE DIGRESSION:
No cliff-hangers here...Hebrews..He..brews...you can have a coffee break...

Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
Heb 8:8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--
Heb 8:9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.

Man!..the Lord God found fault with the Law!(Ten Commandments, Levitical or not, the whole lot...) How can it be? didn't Jesus say this...

Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

See that?..Jesus came to bear the brunt of the wrath of God (the Law..Sin can only be atoned for/covered by blood..temporarily by the blood of bulls and lambs)..knowing how helpless we were..Jesus the last Adam released a permanent solution to our ever increasing debt in sin...by fulfilling it...How? Bear the wrath! God Himself in the flesh and blood would bear the wrath that was intended for us...for by dying on the cross...having His Own Blood shed before Himself...He has forever wiped away the requirements of the Law!..incredible! Amazing Grace!

Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Heb 8:11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds[b] I will remember no more.”[c]
Heb 8:13 In that He says, “A new covenant, ” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

Today..because you and I believe in Jesus..we will not be judged by the law any longer..woe to any that falls under the law..

You all know this...

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

None of us can boast of what we have done, is doing, can do, will do...the Lord God gave us His very best...

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Jesus is the only way...Praise the Lord..Amen!

Here's part 3: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/exactly-what-was-delivered-unto_34.html

Exactly what was delivered unto the devil?..Luke 4:6 Part 1...

Luk 4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him[d] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Remember the teachings? How it was taught that Adam fell and that the authority given to Adam was usurped/snatched away by the devil? How the devil became the god of this world? That was how I've heard it taught...I guess some of you in my generation or earlier may be nodding your heads in agreement...ya, ya something like that...

Having read the Word of God..I wish to share my findings/new understanding of the exact phrase "for that is delivered unto me"...and boy was it an exciting adventure to find out...stay tuned...

Forewarning! This note may be lengthy but surely thought changing..a paradigm shift..by my reckoning..for those who have not heard!..

Story goes...after Adam was put out of the garden of Eden (By the way he was given dominion before he was placed in the garden!)..after Noah (who found grace)..and many generations later the Lord God began looking for someone (He could have chosen anyone..a Chinese, an Indian) and He found in the land of Ur of the Chaldees (stargazers)..a man by the name Abram:

Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

...........Abram had lots of questions....best thing was that he believed...

Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.

Gen 15:8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
Gen 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
Gen 15:10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
............
Gen 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

The Lord God made a blood covenant with Abram! Why? Covenants are made between two parties so as to bind both sides with terms of the agreement..blood..life-binding..the secret societies, the mafias, the yakuzas do some form of initiation as a sign of promise with blood involved! So after the covenant is made..the parties become blood brothers(so to speak) and share their possessions(even underwears: crude chinese proverb). Whatever you have..I have..whatever I have..you have..

Now..unbeknownst to Abraham(ham added)..the salvation plan is go-go...because as Abraham was later asked to sacrifice his son Isaac..biggest mystery as to why the Lord God would want to do that? I always wondered...afterall He gave life in the first place..anyhow...
and as Abraham was ready to plunge the knife...

Gen 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Here..I see that the Lord God now, too, would not withhold His Son and that He has gained legal entry to come (He gave dominion to Man over the earth in the first place and unlike an earthly king/man, the Righteous Lord God has to legally allow Himself entry...short of asking man for permission, the Lord God did the smart thing!) because of the blood covenant!...Amen! Praise the Lord!

The devil? not even involved...more on this later...

Enjoyed it?...Stay tuned..more to follow...

Here's part 2: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/exactly-what-was-delivered-unto_28.html

Here's part 3: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/exactly-what-was-delivered-unto_34.html

Fall of Man?..Glimpse of Grace..Part 2

Here's part 1: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/fall-of-manglimpse-of-grace.html


Part 2 continues here...

All refs from the Amplified Bible...unless otherwise noted.

The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity was death...death by the Law..the serpent(satan...Amplified bible) was empowered to perform his duty to destroy as he was created to do so...and he could only do so through the Law!
Even the name of that tree sounds like law...good get good, evil gets a beating...

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
1Co 15:56 Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [i] [upon the soul] through [j] [the abuse of] the Law.

The serpent or satan or devil was created to do the Lord's bidding in his task as a destroyer..he was just that and not an adversary to the Lord God! Definitely not a rouge runaway from heaven that was leading a mutiny of one third of the heaven's angels in danger of taking over the throne of heaven! Think about it..

Isa 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace [national well-being] and I create [physical] evil (calamity); I am the Lord, Who does all these things.
Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals and who produces a weapon for its purpose; and I have created the devastator to destroy.
Col 1:16 For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him.

Adam who was not deceived agreed with Eve to eat of that tree...it was a desirable tree!...Adam had made up his mind long before! The result was a trangression(to the Lord God) and Man subjecting himself to rulership by law (in the generic sense of the word...later given through Moses), being deceived by the serpent, not realising that he was already enjoying the Grace of God in the garden of Eden.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight or to be desired--good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life also in the center of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of [the difference between] good and evil and blessing and calamity.
1Ti 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but [the] woman who was deceived and deluded and fell into transgression.

The Lord God knows why He warned Adam not to partake of that particular tree!...Because there will be consequences!...
Law is like that...if you keep it, you'll be alright but if you fail just one small part of it, you've failed the whole Law...in other words, before Jesus was crucified, it was impossible to fulfill the Law...remember Jesus illustrated that anger with a brother or thoughts of adultery is enough reason for the Law to condemn and kill!...the scribes and Pharisees who upheld and taught the Law had righteousness like a brood of vipers, what more anyone else?..

And death reigned...

Mat 5:19 "Whoever then breaks or does away with or relaxes one of the least [important] of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven, but he who practices them and teaches others to do so shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 "For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Rom 5:12 Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [[h] no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
Rom 5:13 [To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men's account where there is no law [to transgress].
Rom 5:14 Yet death held sway from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who did not themselves transgress [a positive command] as Adam did. Adam was a type (prefigure) of the One Who was to come [in reverse, [i] the former destructive, the Latter saving].

On the other hand, Adam could have freely eaten the tree of life (and lived forever..). The Holy Spirit particularly pointing out that it too was "also in the center of the garden". The Lord God intervened after Adam made the first blunder and prevented this disaster from happening...till the time was right!(When Jesus would impute to those who believe..righteousness and no condemnation!)

Imagine persistent evil that never goes away! forever!...In fact, before the Law was given in the early world, Man was so evil that the Lord God did destroy the whole world by a flood...save for Noah and family by His Grace!...
Now suddenly Adam was put out of the garden and had to toil in sorrow...

Gen 3:17 And to Adam He said, Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life.

Let me rephrase it..Man opened up for himself a can of worms..a realm or existence in which he would have to perform, work and do to survive...difficult obviously...especially when the fellow created to maintain the law was the adversary, spoiler, devastator, destroyer, devourer, waster or devil himself...The devil by default inherited the powers therein that belonged to the Law (not that he had authority to begin with!)...that's why he was called a "god of this world".
A real predicament! Till Jesus came!

In conclusion,
Jesus came and paid for by death on the cross the ransom due by Man to the Lord God! the power of condemnation and death that reigned throughout the world by the Law was overcomed by Jesus paying the full ransom sum...

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.
Rom 8:3 For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [[a] the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [[b] subdued, overcame, [c] deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],....

and as a result of that...the devil was disarmed...death be removed...righteousness imputed to us

Col 2:14 Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared [j] completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
Col 2:15 [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

Rom 3:20 For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin [[a] not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character].
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the Prophets,
Rom 3:22 Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction,
Rom 3:23 Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory [b] which God bestows and receives.
Rom 3:24 [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

Praise the Lord! Amen.

This ain't the end yet...notice that the last enemy that will be destroyed is death...the day is here today when we can talk immortality as part of eternal life and call it be upon our generation as an inheritance from the Lord! Not just the spiritual aspect but of our physical body and life on earth...Praise the Lord! Amen.

Fall of Man?..Glimpse of Grace...

All refs from the Amplified Bible...

God showed grace right from the beginning...in Genesis

When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, of blessing and calamity (now I know where tsunamis and earthquakes come from!..)..

Condemnation crept in..and Adam feared...

Gen 3:10 He said, I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Another sign of condemnation is blaming of others...

Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me--she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate.
Gen 3:13 And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled (cheated, outwitted, and deceived) me, and I ate.

Then the Lord God had a session with all three guilty parties...

Serpent got it really bad:

Gen 3:14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all [domestic] animals and above every [wild] living thing of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust [and what it contains] all the days of your life.
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.

3 things to note in the above:

1. Cursed above all animals and above every living thing...bad!


2. All animals and every living thing is also cursed albeit less! Why? Under the Old Testament, by the Law of Moses, animals will be used sacrificially, by their blood, to postpone the wrath of God...In fact, the Lord God had some animals sacrificed, blood was involved..and their skin used to cover Adam and Eve even though they were covered with leaves...Grace is what I see taking place here...
   

   Gen 3:21 For Adam also and for his wife the Lord God made long coats (tunics) of skins and clothed them.



3. Salvation plan (Jesus) for mankind already prophesied by the Lord God..Offspring will bruise and tread upon the serpent's head...

Eve got some multiplication of what was already there:

Gen 3:16 To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief and your suffering in pregnancy and the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire and craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

Nothing too serious or unbearable...now..even without the multiplying effect..there will be some grief and suffering...pangs..spasms of distress...The role of Eve as a helper to Adam was re-emphasized...

Adam was not directly cursed, for his sake, the ground was:

Gen 3:17 And to Adam He said, Because you have listened and given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow and toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life.
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return.

A few things to note:

1. Adam was not created to live forever as...
   

   Gen 3:22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us [the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], to know [how to distinguish between] good and evil and blessing and calamity; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.

   
   Tree of life withheld(only for a while)...for the sake of man...Lord God knows why...for in Revelations 2:7, we were given the tree of life(Jesus) to eat from!...Immortality(not just spiritual but physical...really!...I will write a Note on this topic) is our inheritance!...Amen!


2. No where does it say that Man has now lost his dominion or authority...
   

   Gen 11:6 And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.



3. Adam was put out of the Garden of Eden (away from the prescence of God) but in no(NO...N..O...) way:
   - was Adam cursed directly.
   - or that the serpent (Amplified Bible: devil) is now in charge or has taken/usurped the authority placed on Man.
   

   Gen 1:26 God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.

In conclusion, instead of the "fall of man" I see that the Lord God had put in a salvation plan for mankind right from the start! I believe it is the Grace of God! I believe the Lord God so love us, His image, His likeness, that He would plan our salvation by doing the impossible...coming against His Own Righteousness..He has to..to get us out of trouble!
We need to be saved..from what? The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, blessing and calamity! Eaten by Adam...and therefore all the generations after him...
What is this fruit? good and evil, blessing and calamity..sounds like law..do good get good do bad get beat...

more to follow...

Here's part 2: http://fcyap-godisgood.blogspot.com/2014/10/fall-of-manglimpse-of-gracepart-2.html

A thousand years as one day..Modern physics confirms it!

Without maths...a lot of talk...just ask Stephen Hawking! he should know...

Physics:
The special (limited to flat spacetime..or ignoring gravitiational effects..or dark deep outer space with no heavenly bodies nearby) theory of relativity states two postulates(inspired assumptions):

1) The laws of physics are the same for all reference frames (in everyday language, think of ourselves as living inside a 20 foot steel container, the reference frame, which has all the comforts of life put in...the world consists of many containers travelling along various highways at various velocities. Some resting, some moving. Physics experiments performed in any one container is no different from others!).

2) The speed of light is the same to every inertial observer (in everyday language, think of ourselves as that observer, living inside that 20 foot container trying to measure the speed of light, coming from say, the sun, with very sophisticated sensors fitted to the container. Every measurement will give the same one result, speed of light, whether the container is moving at 100 miles per hour away or stationary or towards the sun's rays).

"How canst it be??..that You shouldst die for me??!!"

The 1st postulate may be accepted easily at face value but the 2nd postulate throws our intuition out the window..

Some further thoughts...
There is no luminiferous ether or aether in the universe (a medium thought to permeate all of space in which light propogates so that the movement of all other heavenly bodies can be measured relative to it...).

Newton's laws had its roots based on this ether medium theory (fleshly intuition) which later was to be much regretted by the scientific community for calling Newton's theory of mechanics...law..because Newton's laws are only approximately accurate(99.99% don't ask) when dealing with everyday human type activity in the real world and fail miserably with relative motions approaching the velocity of light. The theory of relativity remains a theory today just in case...although experimentally verified!

The 2nd postulate is telling us this...that to have the speed of light constant as measured by us and all other observers moving in all directions aside from us must mean this (someone has to see us moving so quickly!)..that someone else will find that our time slows down! or the ruler in our hands becomes shorter! and our rocket gets progressively more massive!(however, for us moving..a second on our clock remains and feels like a second, 1 inch still looks 1 inch, 1 kg feels 1 kg...)

For the creative thinker..yes you can lengthen your life relative to another..but you would not have felt anything at all!

Ya..spacetime is like an elastic medium...

Because of those effects of moving so quickly, no heavenly body can reach the velocity of light! It would require infinite energy to do so..a subatomic particle, when accelerated in the Swiss CERN miles long accelerator will only reach 99.9 %(don't ask) of the velocity of light! By the way, these particles that have a very short half-life (before they spontaneously disintegrate into other particles and energy, E=mc²) can now live much much longer!(dependant on how fast they move relative to which observer!)

The above is just a glimpse of the special theory of relativity that anyone can study in detail with a knowledge of high school calculus.
The general theory of relativity on the other hand dealt with the effects of acceleration and gave an explanation for gravity which is equivalent to a curvature of spacetime due to the presence of mass..maths required: differential geometry(high school calculus applied to geometry with Riemannian geometry in detail) and a creature called tensor analysis..not so hard! just so cryptically encoded that to decipher the meaning(physicists remain a motley bunch)...one needs long hours of study...vector analysis several layers of magnitude in difficulty(compared to high school maths) is how I would put it...p.s. A computer really helps

Bible:
Joh 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Joh 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 6:65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

Psa 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

2Pe 3:8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

Joh 5:17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

My understanding albeit brief of the above verses is this:

Because God is light..no man can reach Him! Physics tell us that!..By Grace He had to come!..When time passes for the Lord because one day to Him is but a thousand years to us means that by grace He is working..if He remained at the speed of light..time stands still and we are forever lost! Jesus tells us that He will never forsake us nor leave us (Heb 13:5-6)...

Yes time is relative...