Choose You This Day

[dave c]

HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #132j, Re-Written 09SEP09

The Disciples’ Prayer—Part Ten: Choose You This Day

by rev dave c

Mt 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "`Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one' (NIV).

Throughout this discussion of The Disciples’ Prayer we have been referencing verses from the first four chapters of Genesis. Understanding the recounting of Adam and Eve’s creation, their failure to fulfill the commands and commissions from God, and the consequential consignment to a life of pain, toil, and death is at the very core of our ability to grasp the significance of the Kingdom of the World versus the Kingdom of God. In the last paragraph of Part Seven of this series we read Genesis 4:6&7 concerning their eldest son, Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." It is apparent that Cain was given a choice between doing what is right (righteousness) in order to be accepted (by God), or not doing what is right (sin/disobedience) and so face rejection. Like his parents, Cain was given the choice between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the World. We are each, to this very moment of this very day, presented the same opportunity to decide between what is right, and what is not right.

In the Second Chapter of Genesis we find the beginnings of this necessity to choose. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. … 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (NIV).

Of immediate significance in Chapter Two, is the appearance of the phrase “the Lord God” (Yhovah 'elohiym). God is not just the Supreme Creator of the universe, He is also immanent, and eminent, in all of His creation—He is the Master. As ‘elohiym, God made all manner of trees in Eden. As Yhovah (Jehovah/Lord), God commanded Adam to refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In these verses we also see a suggestion that mankind is created three-part (trichotomous) in the image and likeness of our Triune God. The trees were pleasing to the eye (they possessed an aesthetic quality for the mind as visually perceived), and good for food (capable of satisfying the body’s hunger). By placing the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the Garden of Eden, God was also presenting to Adam a choice as to whether the man would live in full spiritual communion with his Creator via the tree of life, or to sample the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and so die—first of all spiritually, then mentally, and finally physically.

Why would a good God place His beloved creature, Adam, into a situation where he would be required to resist temptation upon pain of death? The answer is found by backing up one more chapter. In Genesis 1:26 ...God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…. In His image (Strong’s #675; tselem, which is from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, i.e. (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol) we are created trichotomous beings (spirit, mind, and body) as a kind of “snapshot”. In His likeness (#1823; dmuwth, meaning resemblance; concretely, model, shape; adverbially, like) we are created with the need to establish and maintain relationships (love), with the ability to communicate (logos), and with the capability of discernment (light). A part of God’s divine nature and eternal power is centered upon His volition—His choosing to do, or to not do, a thing. In His likeness, God gave to humanity (you and me) the choice to love Him, or to hate Him...to talk with Him, or to ignore Him...to recognize and choose Him, or to reject Him. We must decide for the Kingdom of God, or for the Kingdom of the World.

Without choice, real love is impossible. God chose/chooses to love us, and asks for our love in return. It is our decision as to whether, or no, we affirmatively respond to that request. I pray we join our voices with that of Joshua in Chapter 24:15, ...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living [the Kingdom of the World]. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD [the Kingdom of God]" (NIV). Amen.