The Bible answers that question for us when it says: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. 1:26-27).

It further explains how the first man was created in Genesis 2:7: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Of the creation of woman, God’s Word says: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:18-25).

The first man and woman were created in the image of God, with His likeness. This does not mean they looked like God, for God is a spirit. It means they were like God in that they knew God and His will and gladly and willingly lived for God in accord with His will and purpose in creating them (cf. Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24; Ephesians 2:10). They knew God, loved Him, trusted Him and were of one heart and mind with Him in their thoughts, desires, words and deeds.

We learn from the Scriptures that God formed the body of Adam (man) from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him, making Adam a living soul. He was given life, both physical and spiritual. He was made alive to God.

We learn that the first woman was created from the first man and for the man to be a helper and companion to him who was like him and fitting for him. She was indeed flesh of his flesh.

Though many in our time would deny it, this is also the reason for marriage between a man and a woman. God created the woman for the man, brought her to the man and the two became one flesh. Any sexual union outside of marriage between a man and a woman is contrary to God’s purpose and design in creation.

Though we may think we exist only as the natural result of the sexual union between a man and a woman, the Scriptures teach us that we are no accident. God created each of us in the womb of our mother and gave us life. Not only did He bless man and woman with the ability to have children (Genesis 1:28), He creates and forms each of us in our mother’s womb.

The Bible says: “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Psalm 130

Are you in the depths of woe and despair? Well, we all have good cause to be! Think about it; we are sinful human beings living in a sinful world and about to stand before the LORD God, a holy and righteous God who created all things good and who hates sin, wickedness and rebellion against Him and His Word. And, whether we live or die, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.

The Bible tells us that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27), and later adds the warning that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

So, whether we have died or are alive and remain on the day of Christ’s return, we will all stand before our holy and just God. How many of you are ready? Hence, Psalm 130, the Word of God for our consideration today.

“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (v. 1-3)

If the LORD were to mark our every iniquity in His books and keep a record of our every failure, who could stand in His judgment? Who is innocent of all sin? Who can stand before God and proclaim his own righteousness under the law?

And yet, that is what many are planning to do – to seek acceptance with God on the basis of their own lives and works. But God demands more – He demands perfect obedience in our thoughts, desires, words and deeds. God’s law demands that we be holy as the LORD our God is holy (cf. Lev. 19:2; Matt. 5:48).

Even Christians cannot stand on their own merit. Our hearts are divided. We may have the desire to love the LORD with all our heart, mind and soul, but we don’t. We may desire to obey all God’s commandments, but we fail.

Knowing that God demands that we be holy as He is holy, we can easily be discouraged and even become angry with God for demanding of us what we are not able to do.

The Bible tells us in Romans 3:19-20: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Therefore, we are in the depths of woe – sinners and guilty before God, deserving of nothing but His eternal wrath and punishment! All of us “have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

Psalm 130, however, gives us comfort and lifts us up from the depths of woe when it says in verse 4: “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”

The LORD God is merciful and forgives sins! How? As the psalm promises, God sent His own Son to die for our sins and provide for us “plenteous redemption,” to “redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (v. 7, 8). And Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died not only for the sins of Israel; He made atonement for the sins of the whole world and rose again (cf. Matt. 1:21; John 1:29; 1 John 2:1-2).

We, therefore, wait for the Lord’s coming in confidence and readiness, placing our hope in His word of forgiveness and acceptance through faith in Jesus’ holy life and innocent sufferings and death in our stead (cf. Heb. 9:28).

In fact, we look for His coming in judgment, knowing that all our sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Our God “hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:6-7; cf. Rom. 3:21-26; 5:1-2).

And so, are you ready to stand before Your Maker? The answer for all who look to Christ in faith is: Yes, indeed, for in Christ Jesus, we have “plenteous redemption.” He has redeemed us from all our sins and blotted them out forever!

God tells us in His Word (Isaiah 44:22): “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins; return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.”

May God graciously move us to return unto Him with faith in Christ Jesus, our Savior!

Dear LORD God, we give You thanks that You have redeemed us in the Son and that You graciously forgive us all our sins when we look to Christ Jesus in faith. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7 (Read Genesis 6-9)

When the number of people grew upon the earth, so also did the wickedness and rebellion against the LORD God. The believers (sons of God) intermarried with unbelievers (daughters of men) and the result was more and more people who did not walk in the ways of the LORD but followed after the imaginations of their own hearts – after their own evil thoughts and desires.

Genesis 6 says, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me than I have made them” (v. 5ff.).

The account continues, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD … Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (v. 8ff.).

God told Noah, in days when the earth was yet watered by a mist (Gen. 2:6), that He would send rains and a flood upon the earth to destroy both man and beast. And God commanded Noah to build an ark to save himself, his family, and two of every kind of animal from the coming flood (Gen. 6:14ff.).

Even though a flood like that of which God warned was unheard of in Noah’s day, Noah believed the LORD and prepared an ark, warning others around him to repent of their wickedness and turn back to the LORD. By so doing, Noah forsook the present world and became an heir of the righteousness of God which is by faith.

Similarly, God calls upon all mankind today to repent and return to Him, warning that “the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7).

God will once again judge this world and all mankind. As He was, at the time of the flood, forced to destroy those who would not repent and turn to Him for mercy, so He will soon condemn all who reject Him and the salvation He offers in the cross of Jesus. This present world and all of man’s evil works will be burned up on that day when Jesus Christ returns. And, when Jesus returns, “shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Only eight people were saved at the time of the flood.

Those who heed God’s warning and repent, trusting in Christ Jesus and His shed blood for forgiveness and life, forsake this present world and look forward to another in which there will be everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. They are forgiven and accounted righteous by faith in Jesus and walk in fellowship with the Almighty God by that faith and confidence in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world.

God’s judgment is coming. He is being patient with us, not desiring that any perish, “but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). He calls us to turn from our evil ways, trusting that in Jesus we have forgiveness and in Jesus we have life everlasting.

O dearest Jesus, Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us, forgive us and grant us a place in your everlasting kingdom. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5 (Read Genesis 5:21-24)

The Bible tells us of Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, that he “walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Gen. 5:24).

At the relatively young age of 365, Enoch was taken directly, without seeing death, to be with the LORD God in heaven. Enoch was translated; that is, changed from a temporal, earthly existence to an eternal, heavenly one. His body and soul were taken from this earth into his eternal and heavenly home.

Such a translation is hard for us to understand. In all of human history, Elijah the prophet is the only other human being to escape death and be taken directly to his heavenly home (cf. 2 Kings 2:11). Even the Lord Jesus Christ first died for the sins of the world before He rose again on the third day and then, 40 days later, ascended into heaven.

Enoch walked with God by faith, trusting that God’s ways are right and that God would send the promised Seed of the woman to redeem him from sin and eternal death (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4-5). In the book of Jude, we learn that Enoch also testified in his time of God’s coming judgment upon all who continued in their ungodly and rebellious ways (v. 14f.).

To walk with God by faith is no different today. Believers know and believe that God’s ways are true and right and trust in God’s mercy and forgiveness for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for the sins of all people and rose again on the third day. Believers walk in fellowship with God the Father, agreeing with Him about their sinfulness but trusting in Him to graciously forgive their sins and accept them as His own dear children for the sake of Jesus Christ, who lived a righteous and holy life in mankind’s stead and made full atonement for the sins of the whole world when He suffered and died on the cross (cf. 1 John 1:7 – 2:2).

Like Enoch, believers are pleasing to God and righteous in his eyes because all their sins have been washed away in Jesus’ blood. Their works, too, are pleasing in His eyes because they flow from faith in Him and are made pure through the blood of Christ Jesus.

In another way, believers have already been translated. The Bible says of believers in Jesus that the Father “hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:12-14). God has graciously translated His children from the kingdom and rule of darkness and sin into the kingdom of grace and forgiveness – the kingdom of His own dear Son.

Believers will be translated into God’s eternal and heavenly kingdom when Jesus returns. The Bible says to all who believe: “Our conversation [our way of life] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).

And so, Enoch walked with God by faith and was translated directly into heaven. All who today walk by faith in the Son of God, trusting in Him for mercy and forgiveness, have been translated from the kingdom of darkness and spiritual death into God’s kingdom of grace and life. On the last day, they too will be translated – their earthly body will be changed into a glorious and heavenly body like that of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord Jesus, let me ever walk with You by faith so that, as Enoch was translated from this world into your heavenly kingdom, I may rise and live with You forever in Your eternal and glorious kingdom. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of the Lenten season for Christians around the world, especially for those who hold to more traditional and liturgical forms of worship.

Lent is 40 days long, corresponding to the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, but extends over a period of 46 days because Sundays are not counted as part of the traditional Lenten season.

Since the date for Easter is set based on the lunar calendar — the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox — the season of Lent begins on different calendar dates each year. This year, Lent begins on Wednesday, March 2, and continues through Saturday, April 16. Easter Sunday is April 17 this year. The first full moon after the vernal equinox is on Saturday, April 16, making Sunday, April 17, the date of Easter in most Western Churches.

In most years, the date for Easter or Pascha falls later in the Eastern Churches. Easter dates were the same for Eastern and Western Churches in 2017, but this year the date is April 24 in the East (Eastern Churches use the same formula to determine the date for Easter but use the Julian Calendar, while Western Churches and most of the world use the Gregorian Calendar).

Some churches do not observe the season of Lent at all. It is not specifically commanded or forbidden in the Bible, so churches that do not observe the special season cannot be faulted and anyone who insists it must be strictly observed goes beyond the teaching of the Bible. Nevertheless, the observance of Lent is a good thing if it is observed with the purpose and intent of considering Christ’s sufferings and death for the sins of the world (often called His passion) and as a special time of self-examination and repentance.

While many would simply go through the outward forms of repentance — including ashes on the forehead and fasting during the season — the Bible calls for true contrition and sorrow over our own sinfulness and faith in the shed blood of Christ Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Psalm 34:18 says: “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

Psalm 51:16-17 says: “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

The prophet Joel writes: “Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil” (Joel 2:12-13).

John, in his first epistle (1 John 1:8-9; 2:1-2), writes: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. … And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

God desires that we live in continual repentance — acknowledging our sinfulness and the judgment we justly deserve but then looking in faith to Christ Jesus and His death on the cross for our sins and trusting that in Jesus we are forgiven and accepted of God. Therefore, as we contemplate the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ bitter sufferings and death for the sins of all, it is certainly also a fitting time to examine ourselves and see that it was for our sin that He suffered and died such an agonizing death.

As Isaiah 53:5-6 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Many, of course, speak of giving things up for Lent, and giving up things that we might focus on Christ and what He has done for us can be a good thing. But, we need to always remember that our giving up something, whether it be through fasting or some other form of self-denial, can never merit God’s favor or blessing. Our observance of Lenten self-sacrifice will not somehow atone for our sins and make us acceptable to God. It is only through faith in the shed blood of Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), that we receive God’s pardon and forgiveness and are acceptable in His sight.

As the Apostle Paul writes, “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

It’s really too bad that more people do not observe Lent in a Biblical and Scriptural way — not just giving up some item for 40 days but, rather, repenting of sin and evil and looking to Christ and His cross for pardon, forgiveness and life eternal. In fact, it’s sad that true Lenten contrition and repentance are not observed by more people year-round!

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]