Praise the Lord! The Lord has been good to each and every one of us during the past week as He has been good to us all the days of our life. It is good to know that the Lord God is the source of all things (1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16): (i) He is the source of our lives, as He created us in His likeness and image (Genesis 1:26-27; Psalm 139:14; Isaiah 43:7); and (ii) He is the source of all the blessings we enjoy in our life on earth (Psalm 34:10; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 3:20; Philippians 4:19; 2 Peter 1:3). It is the Lord God who gives us everything that we need for our survival on earth, as John the Baptist acknowledged: A person can receive only what is given them from heaven (John 3:17), and Out of his [God’s] fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given (John 1:16). James, the brother of Jesus, exhorted his readers (that is, the early Christian believers as well as you and me or anyone who reads his Epistle) that Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).

God’s goodness and His providential care is reflected in the creation of the universe and everything in it, including mankind who were created in His likeness and image (refer: Genesis 1:26-27). God loved everything He created – living and non-living – and He blessed them (Genesis 1:22, 28; 9:1; Psalm 107:38), as it is mentioned in the Scripture: The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made (Psalm 145:9; also refer to Psalm 100:5; 103:8; James 1:17). In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve experienced God’s goodness and mercy as they were created in the image and likeness of God, giving them the best place on earth to live in and to work (Genesis 2:15), providing the best food/fruits to eat from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:29), providing them dominion over all the living things on earth (Genesis 1:26,28), and so on. Even when they fell short of the glory of God as they sinned against the Holy God who created them in His likeness and image, He did not destroy them completely (Genesis 1:26-3:24). During the Old Testament times, the people of Israel experienced God’s goodness as God made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) and his descendants and delivered from slavery and provided freedom (Judges 6:8-10), a fruitful land to live – a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8; Numbers 14:8), righteous laws and decrees and commands for a blessed life (Deuteronomy 4:40; 6:1-25); and so on. The goodness of God is revealed to the people of New Testament through Jesus Christ in whom the fullness of God dwelt, as Apostle Paul stated: For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority (Colossians 2:9-10; also refer to Titus 3:4-5). God’s love and goodness to us revealed through the embodiment of Christ Jesus and displayed through His life, ministry, death, and resurrection (John 3:16; 11:25-26). It is because of His great love and compassion we are not destroyed, as prophet Jeremiah stated: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail (Lamentations 3:22). God’s never-ending love and unfailing faithfulness give us hope, strength, and comfort in times of trouble, as king David acclaimed: The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid (Psalm 27:1). Let us continue to trust in the Lord God to gain spiritual, physical, and emotional strength for our daily walk with Jesus.

The Lord has blessed us with a consequential Scripture passage for our meditation this week, which states: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27). Dr. Pappy, the Chief Architect of Scripturesource Ministries (CASM), believes that the biblical concept of religion originated in the Garden of Eden where the Lord God Almighty (who is known to be the Supernatural Being), who created the universe and everything in it established a personal relationship with His entire creation both the living and the non-living (Genesis 1:1-2:3). When God created the universe and everything in it,

1. 1. 1. He created them for a purpose (Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 16:4a; Isaiah 45:7; 46:10; Colossians 1:16; 2 Timothy 2:20);
      2. He created them all in order (Exodus 20:11; Job 38:33; Psalm 8:3-4; Jeremiah 32:17); and
      3. each of His creation is assigned with a responsibility to be carried out until the time He set for it.

He also set law and order for its functions. He established a relationship between Himself and each of His creations and between one creation to another (Genesis 1:9-10, 14, 15-18, 22, 28; 2:15; 8:22; 1 Chronicles 16:30-33; Job 38:11, 31-33; Psalm 33:7; 89:9; 104:9, 19-20; Proverbs 8:29; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Isaiah 40:12; Jeremiah 5:22; 31:35; Nahum 1:4;  John 12:24; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 15:38-39). In fact, God made a covenant with His creation (Jeremiah 33:19-26) and He gives them food at its proper times (Genesis 1:29-30; Psalm 104:14-15, 21, 27; 107:9; 132:15; 136:25; 145:15; 147:9; Job 38:41; Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:24). All the creation of God (the universe and everything in it), except mankind, follows God’s law and order ever since they were created and follows the covenant He made with them unaltered, which will continue until the time He set for them (Genesis 8:22; Psalm 74:16-17; 89:34-37; 104:19-20; Isaiah 54:9-10; 55:10-11; Jeremiah 33:20; Matthew 24:35; Luke 21:33).

When mankind was created by God, we were created in the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; 5:1; Ephesians 4:24) and He crowned us with glory and honor and made us rulers over the works of His hands (Psalm 8:5b-6). He gave us His righteous laws and decrees to follow (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:11, 17; Exodus 20:1-21; Leviticus 18:5; 26:3-4; Deuteronomy 5:32-33; 6:24-25; 30:15-16; Ezekiel 20:11, 25) and made covenant with us that would last forever and ever (Genesis 9:9-10, 13; 17:7; Exodus 6:4-5; Psalm 89:3-4; 111:5; Jeremiah 33:19-26; Acts 2:39); However,

1. 1. 1. mankind rebelled against the Lord God (Psalm 107:11; Ezekiel 20:8);
      2. mankind disobeyed His commands to them (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:11, 17);
      3. mankind rebelled and sinned against God (Romans 3:23a); and
      4. As mankind rebelled against God, we fell short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23b)

Due to the disobedience and sin of Adam and Eve against their Creator God, He pronounced His punishment upon them and banished them from the Garden of Eden and placed the cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the entrance of the Garden denying them access to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:16-19, 22-24). Ever since, mankind has forsaken the righteous laws and decrees the Lord God gave us and we are living in rebellion to Him (Nehemiah 9:26; Psalm 14:2-3; 53:2-3; Isaiah 1:4b; 30:9; 63:10; Romans 3:23; 5:12).  We were separated from God, as prophet Isaiah commented: Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear (Isaiah 59:2). Although the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Despite our many sins and rebellion against Him, God has not forsaken the people whom He created in His likeness and image (regardless of their disobedience and rebelliousness toward His righteous laws and decrees and commands) to their treacherous condition but cared for us (Genesis 3:21) and promised us His continuous support to help us to recover from our fallen nature. For instance, He promised that His continuous presence will go with Moses, as the Lord assured Moses that My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest (Exodus 33:14); and to the Israelites whom He redeemed from their bondage in Egypt by the hands of Moses: Be strong and courageous … for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). As part of His promise to redeem sinful humanity from our fallen situation, God sent His One and only Son to this world (John 3:16) to reconcile sinful humanity with God the Father who is holy (Leviticus 11:44; 19:2; 20:7, 26; 1 Peter 1:16) and redeem us from our fallen situation. Believe it or not, He is the only means for anyone who is under the wrath of God [due to sin and rebellion against Him] to save their lives, as Apostle Peter and John unanimously declared: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12; also refer to Isaiah 43:11; 45:22; John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5).

According to the teachings of the Holy Bible, (i) all have sinned; (ii) fall short of the glory of God and (iii) they all have together become corrupt (Nehemiah 9:26; Psalm 14:2-3; 53:2-3; Isaiah 1:4b; 30:9; 63:10; Romans 3:23; 5:12). This is what exactly Apostle Paul meant when he inscribed the following Scripture passage: The Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe (Galatians 3:22). From the beginning of human history, many have had turned away from the holy God and are still turning away from Him and becoming more and more wild in their sinful nature, as Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy and the church he ministered:

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Knowing the reality of increasing spiritual complacency among the believers in the early church (as well as in these days), Apostle Paul tirelessly and persistently exhorted believers and prayed to God for them to keep them from falling away from their relationship with Jesus. For instance, Apostle Paul prayed for the believers in the church at Colossae:

Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:9-14; also refer to: Romans 1:8-10; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9; Corinthians 1:3-7; Ephesians 1:15-23 [3-23]; Philippians 1:3-6; Philemon 1:5-7)

Many people in our generation do not comprehend fully how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God/Christ for us (Ephesians 3:18). His love for us is beyond any measures:

1. 1. 1. God is love (1 John 4:16);
      2. He loved us first (1 John 4:19);
      3. He loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8);
      4. He loved us and gave His One and only Son, so that we can be saved through Him (John 3:16);
      5. His love for us covers a multitude of our sins against Him (1 Peter 4:8);
      6. We are not consumed because of His love for us (Lamentations 3:22);
      7. His love remains with those who fear him from everlasting to everlasting, and his righteousness with their children’s children (Psalm 103:17); and so on.

Out of His great love for us, the Lord God offers salvation for anyone who is in need. He becomes the ultimate refuge for those who need protection from spiritual and physical peril (Psalm 46:1) and a sanctuary for those who are in trouble and danger (Psalm 27:1). King David testified about the salvation of God in his life, saying: The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (Psalm 18:2; also refer to 2 Samuel 22:2-3; Psalm 144:2; Isaiah 12:2). The Lord God who is calling forth the generations from the beginning is the same Lord God who was with the first of the human beings and He is going to be the same Lord God with the last of the human beings, whoever it might be (Genesis 2:7; Isaiah 41:4). In the light of this, we can understand that the Lord God will restore and renew all those who are willingly accept His offer of salvation in their lives back to their original condition, which is in the image and likeness of God and in the image and likeness of His Son Jesus Christ (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7; Ezekiel 36:26; John 17:22; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:23-24; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 3:10; Revelation 21:5).

The non-biblical concept of religion originated among mankind when people in the ancient world began to think or identify with the existence of some kind of supernatural power that is beyond people’s ability and power and which controls the situations in the universe. As years passed, by noticing or experiencing some kind of extra-powerful incidents that were happening in the world around them, the once-upon-a-time vague idea regarding the existence of the supernatural powers prompted people to believe in the existence of the supernatural powers that organizes and animates the material universe apart from the powers that can be seen or heard or comprehended with one’s natural abilities. Thus, the vogue idea about the existence of the supernatural powers beyond the human powers led people to believe in the existence of some kind of supernatural powers and such belief in the supernatural powers led people to place their trust in the supernatural powers, and such trust in the supernatural powers have led people to depend on the supernatural powers and their potentiality to do the impossible things that are beyond the human abilities to do. As time went on, people began to personalize supernatural entities and started to believe in personal or communal gods and goddesses or spirit beings. Also, people began to believe that the water and rain, fire and lightning, wind and storm, sun and moon and stars, land animals and sea creatures and birds of the air, some human beings with extra-ordinary abilities, and so on, had some kind of extra-natural powers and added them with their religious beliefs and worship practices. While there are people who believes in the existence of god/s or beings with extra-natural abilities or powers (Theism), there are people who do not believe in the existence of any god or any supernatural powers (Atheism). Among the people who believes in the existence of god/s or beings with supernatural powers (theistic groups), some people consider that every object [living or non-living] we see and experience in the universe like humans, animals (land, sea, sky), plants, soil, rocks, seas, rivers, and even weather systems, has a spirit or soul that connects with every other and controls the natural phenomenon, including human beings’ relationship with other objects or creatures (Animism). Some others believe that God is present in everything we see or experience in the universe; everything means, all the things we see or experience in the universe is god, which means, god is all and all is god – it doesn’t matter whether it is living creatures like human beings, animals, etc., or non-living things like rocks, mountains, cement pillars, wooden or metal furnitures, etc (Pantheism). Even some others believe in the existence of many gods, including, gods, goddesses, deities, spirit beings, and so on (Polytheism). Still untold number of people believes in the existence of just one God, especially the Jews, Christians, and Muslims (Monotheism).

In the midst of all these religious concepts and various belief systems, the Bible introduces to us to the One and only true God who is Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and all-Loving God:

1. 1. 1. The God who exists or came into being by Himself (Job 36:26; Psalm 145:3; Isaiah 40:28; 1 Timothy 6:16)
      2. The God who said, there is no God apart from Me (Isaiah 44:6; 46:9)
      3. The God who is sovereign (Job 42:1-2; Jeremiah 32:17)
      4. The God who said, I am the first and I am the last (Isaiah 44:6; 48:12)
      5. The God who said, I am the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 1:8; 21:26; 22:13)
      6. The God who has no beginning or end (Revelation 21:6)
      7. (vii)The God who exists from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2)
      8. (viii)The God who said, I am the same yesterday and today and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8)
      9. The God who created you and me in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27; Isaiah 43:7)
      10. The God who created the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1:1-2:3)
      11. The God who is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17)

This is the God who incarnated in the form of a human being (Isaiah 9:6-7; John 1:1-4; Philippians 2:6-8; Hebrews 1:3) and lived among us just like one of us (John 1:14) and gave His very life on our behalf, died on the cross, was buried, resurrected from the dead, and ascended to heaven (Matthew 27:50a; 28:6; Mark 15:37; 16:6; Luke 23:46; 24:34; John 19:30; 20:17; Acts 1:9-11; 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 20-23) and is now interceding for us at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Peter 3:22; 1 John 2:1). From the Holy Scriptures, we can understand that the Lord always cared for every person equally and without any favoritism (2 Chronicles 19:7; Job 34:19; Matthew 5:45; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Galatians 2:6; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25). The Lord gave His righteous laws and decrees and commands to everyone equally and commanded everyone to follow them without adding anything to it or taking anything out of it (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Joshua 1:7; Proverbs 30:5-6; Jeremiah 26:2; Matthew 5:17-18; Revelation 22:18-19). The Lord loved everyone equally and came down to this earth in human form for all humanity, as Apostle John stated: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). There are God-given laws and orders (as we discussed earlier) as well as natural laws that are displayed across the universe, which will help anyone at anytime to differentiate right from the wrong or truth from the false, so that no one can escape from God’s sight who does wrong (Romans 2:14-16).

We, the faithful followers of Christ, are commanded to live our lives according to the righteous laws and decrees and commands He has given us. God cares for the entirety of humanity equally and without any favoritism, and, at the same time, He cares for the poor, the orphan, the widow, the alien, the oppressed, the underprivileged, and people who are helpless with a special care. In connection with the SftW meditation this week based off of James 1:27 (mentioned above) and as part of His commands as we discussed earlier, the Lord is asking us to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27). It is our call to live a life that is worthy of His calling on us and know that we are called to care for one another, as John the Baptist taught to the people who came to him: John answered, Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same (Luke 3:11; also refer to: Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Job 31:16-20; Proverbs 19:17; Isaiah 58:7; Matthew 25:35-40; Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; Galatians 6:9-10; James 2:15-16; 1 John 3:17-18). The author of Hebrews also states that Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Hebrews 13:16). As the children of God, let us rededicate our lives once again to faithfully serve God and help others who are in need. Let us ask the Lord to empower us to do good to all! May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!