THE FUTURE

[onewithhim]

Haven't we all, at one time or another, wondered what the future will be like? Experts of men have had a spotty reputation as most of their predictions have proved untrue.

What does the Bible tell us? "The God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed....It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever." (Daniel 2:44, Revised Standard Version)

Is this good news? Of course, when we realize what God's Kingdom is. It is a real government that will replace all of the existing governments on the earth and stand forever. Stability and order will be brought to people on the earth. What will life be like under this government?

NO MORE WAR (Psalm 46:9)
NO MORE SICKNESS (Isaiah 33:24)
NO MORE FOOD SHORTAGE (Psalm 72:16)
NO MORE PAIN, SORROW AND DEATH (Revelation 21:4)

These are just some of the promises made in the Bible about God's Kingdom, and there are more. God has promised all these wonderful things for the future. All righteously inclined people can avail themselves of these promises. Does this sound good to you?

[myth-one.com]

It is your opinion, not proven by the Scriptures, that the earth didn't exist as cold and dark when God started His creation of it.

It is some things God stated which leads me to that opinion:

And God saw the light, that it was good. (Genesis 1:4)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:10)
(referring to dry ground)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)
(referring to vegetation)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:18)
(referring to night and day)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:21)
(referring to sea and air creatures)

...and God saw that it was good... (Genesis 1:25)
(referring to land creatures)

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

Do you think "cold and dark" is good, or do you simply think God got it wrong?

[onewithhim]

It is your opinion, not proven by the Scriptures, that the earth didn't exist as cold and dark when God started His creation of it.

It is some things God stated which leads me to that opinion:

And God saw the light, that it was good. (Genesis 1:4)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:10)
(referring to dry ground)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)
(referring to vegetation)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:18)
(referring to night and day)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:21)
(referring to sea and air creatures)

...and God saw that it was good... (Genesis 1:25)
(referring to land creatures)

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

Do you think "cold and dark" is good, or do you simply think God got it wrong?

He said things were good after he created light and plants and animals and finally man. The void-ball of the earth was just the beginning.

[myth-one.com]

It is your opinion, not proven by the Scriptures, that the earth didn't exist as cold and dark when God started His creation of it.

It is some things God stated which leads me to that opinion:

And God saw the light, that it was good. (Genesis 1:4)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:10)
(referring to dry ground)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)
(referring to vegetation)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:18)
(referring to night and day)

...and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:21)
(referring to sea and air creatures)

...and God saw that it was good... (Genesis 1:25)
(referring to land creatures)

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

Do you think "cold and dark" is good, or do you simply think God got it wrong?

He said things were good after he created light and plants and animals and finally man. The void-ball of the earth was just the beginning.

Where does the Bible state that God created a "void-ball" of the earth?

If He did so, why would He consider it good?

We do not live on a void-ball.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. [Genesis 1:1]

God created the earth as very good in the beginning, because everything He created was created as very good -- according to scripture.

Do you believe the scriptures?

He said things were good after he created light and plants and animals and finally man.

He said things were very good after he created heaven, the earth, light, plants, animals, man, and everything.

[JehovahsWitness]

IS COLD GOOD OR BAD ?



Temperature does not carry any moral value, as heat and cold are not satient and cannot be of themselves "good" or "bad". That said, anything that comes from God is good, as in : fautless, without error or defect. The bible attributes ice, snow, and all the seasons (including winter which is generally colder as one approaches the poles ) to God. Notice the following bible passages:

JOB 37:10

The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen

PSALM 147

He [YHWH] sends the snow like wool; He scatters the frost just like ashes. He hurls down his hailstones like morsels of bread. Who can withstand his cold?

Cold is merely the absence if heat (just as darkness is the absence if light). By creating light or heat anywhere in the physical universe, God simultaneously "created" darkness and cold elsewhere. So for example, the only way to see and appreciate the beauty of a star* filled sky, is for there to be darkness around the light (otherwise its not a star filled sky , just a light filled sky sky) Compare Psalm 8 verse 3.

*stars are just distant suns , which are sources of heat.

CONCLUSION The existence of darkness and cold where part of God's design for the physical universe and cannot be considered "bad" or "defective"

[JehovahsWitness]

WHY DID GOD NOT DECLARE THE COLD DARK EARTH .."GOOD"?

The answer to the question above lies is what is meant by "good" in the Genesis creation account.

As has been established above ( post #44), cold and dark where deliberate features of God's physical universe and therefore cannot be considered either morally bad or defective. A variety of temperature and light are necessary not only for life to exist but for life to be enjoyable (for example blinding light is harmful for the human eye which is why it is not recommended we look directly at the sun).

So if everything God does is good why is there no such declaration at Genesis 1 veres 1?

Because the declarations at Genesis 1 verses 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25 and 31 are not declarations of quality (which would be redundant, since everything God created is without fault or error and therefore by défaut ..."good") but of appropriateness. God was preparing the earth for human habitation, so each stage or "day" needed to be right for human life and enjoyment.

To illustrate: A couple are preparing their home for a new baby. They may convert what was formerly a study into a nursery, lovingly painting the room with bright colours, buying a crib. They may also babyproof drawers and elecrtical sockets secure the windows and buy or make special clothing for the new arrival. After each purchase or adjustments they may agree that it is "good". They don't mean the formerly brown walls and sharp edged furniture was "bad" "evil" or defective but it was not "good for the baby".

In a similar way, there was nothing "bad" or "defective" about a cold dark earth (there are probably billions of cold lifeless planet in the universe God (YHWH) himself created), but none of those were "good for the babies" (the human family). Humans would need a warm, light environment with plenty of food and life around them. So each declaration of "good" was a declaration of the appropriate adaptation of the environment for the eventual arrival of humans For why this adaptation was done in stages rather than instantaneously, see post #35. NOTE the statement at Genesis chapter 2:9a "Thus Jehovah God made to grow out of the ground every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food..." Jehovah doesn't need food, the "good" here was good not for Him, but good for humans.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1 verse 1 is a stand alone statement of fact outside of the creative days. There is no way to pinpoint exactly what moment in time these verses refer to but it would be wrong to use this fact to build a "theology of gaps" by inferring the absence of a declaration of "goodness" in the first verse of the bible indicates, the heavens and the earth that God created must have initially been "bad" or was corrupted. Just as a woman may say "I had three children, two boys and a girl", the opening verse of the bible simply presents us with a "fait accompli", the story of the 3 children, just as the story of the planet, lies in what comes next.

CONCLUSION: . The first creative "day" presents us with a planet not fit for human habitation. The cold the dark, the water deep were all GOOD ( since nothing God does can be anything but good); early earth was a good and perfect start, but at the beginning of day one, the planet earth could not be declared "good" as in, good for the humans for whom it was being prepared. In short the cold , dark, sterile earth was good, but the BEST was yet to come!

[myth-one.com]

WHY DID GOD NOT DECLARE THE COLD DARK EARTH .."GOOD"?

Probably because a cold dark earth is not good.

God declared every thing that He made as "very good":

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

So if the cold dark earth was not good, then God did not make it that way.

The only thing that makes sense is that God made the earth very good, and it became "without form, and void; and dark."

[onewithhim]

WHY DID GOD NOT DECLARE THE COLD DARK EARTH .."GOOD"?

Probably because a cold dark earth is not good.

God declared every thing that He made as "very good":

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

So if the cold dark earth was not good, then God did not make it that way.

The only thing that makes sense is that God made the earth very good, and it became "without form, and void; and dark."

You are adding your own opinion to these verses. JehovahsWitness made some excellent points that I hope folks here will read, as well as posts #42,31 and 34.

[myth-one.com]

WHY DID GOD NOT DECLARE THE COLD DARK EARTH .."GOOD"?

Probably because a cold dark earth is not good.

God declared every thing that He made as "very good":

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

So if the cold dark earth was not good, then God did not make it that way.

The only thing that makes sense is that God made the earth very good, and it became "without form, and void; and dark."

You are adding your own opinion to these verses.

Where?

[myth-one.com]

CONCLUSION: . The first creative "day" presents us with a planet not fit for human habitation.

OK, so being "outside the first creative day" your "planet not fit for human habitation" was not created.

How do you explain its existence?

[onewithhim]

[Replying to myth-one.com in post #48]

You say "where" did you add your own opinions? Throughout your posts. You know exactly where.