Monday, August 26, 2013

On eternal life....

"In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while the mighty wind swept over the waters. (Gen. 1:1)

On the 6th day God created man as He saw the goodness of His creation. "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Gen. 1:26) "God created man in His image, in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them.(Gen. 1:27)

The Lord God formed man out of clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and He placed there the man whom He had formed . Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad." (Gen 2 :2-7 )


The Lord God gave man this order: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die." (Gen 2:16-17)
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The Lord God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him. (Gen 2:18 )
So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When He brought her to the man, the man said: "this one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame. (Gen 2:21-25)

Exhortation to Justice, the key to Life.

Love justice, you who judge the earth; think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in the integrity of heart;(2) Because he is found by those who test him not, and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.(3) For perverse counsels separate a man from God, and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy (4) Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin...(Wisdom 1:1-4)

Court not death by your erring way of life, nor draw to yourself destruction by the works of your hands (13) Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living,    (14) For he fashioned all things that they might have being; and the creatures of the world are wholesome, And there is not a destructive drug among them nor any domain of the nether world on earth (1:15)
For justice is undying. (Wisdom 1:12-15)

The Wicked Reject Immortality and Justice Alike

(Wisdom 1:16) It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death, considered it a friend, and pined for it, and make a covenant with it, Because they deserve to be in its possession.
(Wisdom 2:23) For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him. (Wis 2:24) But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it.

The Hidden Counsels of God.

(Wis 3:1) But the souls of the just are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them (Wis 3:2) They seemed in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction, but they are in peace. (Wis 3:4) For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality...

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