"A More Excellent Way"

 "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:" (Ecclesiastes 11:7 KJV)

  ""You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."" (Matthew 5:43-48 NLT)

 As I was listening to a message the other day, I remembered something I had shared, not so long ago. Obviously, I was either wrong, or I failed to see what I had been missing. In the message that I heard, the Pastor was sharing that there was only one thing God had said wasn't good, in everything He created, "That it wasn't good for man to be alone." 

 I find it rather interesting that on the "Second Day," God did not say it was good, what He created on that day; but He didn't say it wasn't good, either! The first day of creation, was good, because God created heaven and earth, and then God said, "Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness"; then, "God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." 

 Then the second day, God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." (Genesis 1:6-8 KJV)

 There are many that believe this division of the waters was the dry land between the water; but that takes place on the third day, not the second. As I shared before, the thing which wasn't good about this second day, was that God created Heaven, which was capitalized because it is His domain, outside of that of man's. In other words, God is Holy, He dwells outside that which was created, because although it was all good, it was not perfect, as He is! 

 If you believe, as I do, that God knew from the very beginning of His creation, all that was going to take place, then you should be able to understand why God had planned for Jesus to be crucified on a cross, to die for our sins, before He even began creation; it was all planned out from the beginning of the earth's existence. 

 The separation between mankind and God had already been established, on that Second Day; although mankind was made with God's Spirit dwelling within them; but we know what happened with that connection, Adam sinned, just as God knew he would! But God still loved him...   

"Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all." (1 Corinthians 12:29-31 NLT)