By Wendell Tenison
LESSON TWO: DAY ONE
MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD:
(Gen.2:7) "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
(Gen.9:6) "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
(Ps.139:14) ("I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."
By "Day One" we mean the day of conception of any being of God's creation. As with a blueprint, hammer, nails, and building materials, we would construct a work of art, God constructed the greatest work of art known to mankind. God not only made man, but he made him in his image. God made man with all the tools of genius so that man must worship and obey him, for he is God's building.
The next and last of God's great work of art in this dispensation of time is the building of the body of Christ, which is the church of Christ. This church does not represent the body of Christ, but is the body of Christ, Eph.1:22-23; Col.1:18. How dare anyone making reference to his body as representing his church, as is done by saying that the bread which is the communion of the body of Christ represents his body. God did not build an institution which represents another, nor did he institute a memorial which represents another. In both cases the bread and the church are the body of Christ, 1Cor.10:17; 11:24.
God also has formed his Spirit within the body, the church, Christ being the head, and within each and every member of that body. For decades members of the church of Christ in their eagerness to counter the Pentecostal belief of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit doing miraculous works through man, have removed the Holy Spirit of God from the church and her members. God forbid! We know by the scripture that miraculous works have ceased: this by no means nullifies the indwelling of the Spirit in the church and her members. The apostle Paul goes at great length to show the mystery of the oneness of the church as married to Christ, compared to the oneness of husband and wife, Eph.5:23-33.
Without the spirit of man within him, the soul that God created would be rendered useless or dead. So it is with the body of Christ. Again, the apostle Paul writes:
(1Cor.12:27) "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
Neither do we as members of the body of Christ represent the body of Christ, but are the body of Christ!
GOD FORMED THE SPIRIT OF MAN WITHIN HIM:
(Zech.12:1) "The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him."
The most important question we might ask is when did God form the spirit of man within him? There is no doubt that God formed the spirit in Adam and Eve in the day that he created them. What about the spirit of all those who came by birth afterwards? When does life begin; before or after birth?
First we must understand just what is the purpose of the spirit given to man. Why did God form a spirit within us in the first place? The answer is obvious; to animate us. There is life before birth, because the thing formed is animated. The most ungodly act that anyone could perform is the taking of the life of an innocent unborn fetus. The unborn child is living because it receives life support from its mother just as one receives life support in a hospital room. Because one cannot breath on his own, but must rely on life support, does that mean that he is not alive? Absolutely not! In a few moments we will learn when life begins in the womb.
GOD MAKES ALL IN THE WOMB:
(Job 31:15) "Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?"
As the verse says, God makes all in the womb. God is not responsible for babies that are aborted for reasons unknown or severe birth defects. Man has brought most of these heartaches upon himself. It may be that nature aborts abnormalities leaving the door open for other opportunities to have children.
(Job 3:11; 10:18-19) "Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?........................Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!....................I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave."
In answer to the question when does life begin, Job tells us beyond any shadow of doubt that life begins at conception. The weakest argument that I have ever heard in trying to discredit this verse is that the original wording says perish instead of died. Anyone with only a sixth grade education knows that perish, died, expire, all mean the same thing, death. Job was saying that when he was born, he wished that he would have died at that instant and no one had seen him. Many times babies are named before they are born, so the only difference is that after we are born, we are on our own.
LIFE BEGINS AT DAY ONE WHEN WE ARE CONCEIVED!
THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD CREATES ALL BABIES:
(Ps.104:20-30) "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust................Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth."
Our total dependence is upon God and that includes the creation of life within the womb. We just read how that the Holy Spirit of God creates life within the womb. The apostle Paul states in Acts 17:28, that in him, we live, move and have our very being. He states further that even the Greek poets confess that we are the offspring of God. This is exactly what we have been talking about, how God creates us in the womb. It is a little hard to conceive how that the Greeks who had the old testament and the other books of the bible translated into the Greek language, could be so carried away by their idols and inscriptions on Mars' Hill. The apostle goes on in verse 29 by saying, knowing that we are his offspring, why do they think that the Godhead is made of silver, gold, or stone, graven by the art of man's device?
Man has worshipped the creature more than his creator for millenniums and God through his divine revelation through his Son Jesus Christ, has warned us that we had better take notice. Again, the apostle Paul reveals unto us God's attitude on the subject in Rom.1:17-23, where nobody is without excuse. God has revealed his truths to man through the creation showing the invisible things of himself by the visible things that are seen. Man fails to glorify God and through his vain imagination his foolish heart has become darkened.
What it all boils down to is this: man had rather serve and worship himself rather than the God who made him.
WE KNOW NOT THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT NOR HOW THE BONES GROW IN THE WOMB:
(Eccl.11:5) "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all."
Some perversions of the scripture render the word "spirit" as wind. That is true in some cases in the bible, but this is a compound sentence and any good English teacher is not fooled as to the correct construction of the verse. There is no such thing as the wind in the womb.
We can only know what God has told us concerning the spirit that he has placed within us. We don't know exactly how it works and we never will. I never cease to be amazed how that an egg which we eat for breakfast can produce a creature with feathers, bones, flesh and blood. The question used to be asked, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Of course the chicken came first being one of God's creation. Neither do I understand how that an okra pod can grow so fast over night.
A far greater lesson that we might learn concerns the spiritual formation of all spiritual babies into Christ. The conversion of the sinner from death unto life into Christ is totally dependent upon God. In Col.2:11-12, the apostle Paul points out how that we are spiritually circumcised in the heart, or that the heart is cleansed from iniquity and we are buried with Christ in baptism, being risen with him through the faith of the operation of God. Just as the Holy Spirit of God creates all babies, so does he create all spiritual babies in Christ. This is an operation performed by God just as he did when he took a rib from Adam and made Eve. To confirm what Paul has just said, we turn to 1Cor.12:13, where he said, that we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body and all have been made to drink into one Spirit. The Spirit himself combined with the holy word of God, gives us that vital life support.
The word "operation" is rendered "working" in the Greek New Testament.
Thayer page 215; working; efficiency. In the new testament used only of super human power, whether of God or the Devil.
How we are all baptized by one Holy Spirit into one body, 1Cor.12:13, is light years over the heads of my brethren. They just become fighting mad when this verse is quoted. Neither, do they accept what our Lord had to say, we are born of water and the Spirit, Jn.3:5-8. Verse six clearly explains what is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of Spirit is spirit. Verse eight compares that which is born of the Spirit to the wind (spirit,) but cannot tell from whence it came or where it goes. In other words, we cannot see the new creature who is born.
Neither, do I understand how the works of God makes this happen. Christian people have shortened the hand of God by refusing to acknowledge that his Holy Spirit has everything to do with conversion. It is high time that our brethren awaken from their slumber and forget about their past indoctrination and accept the truth that God has shown unto us regarding the formation of spiritual life in the spiritual womb. When we see that water break and the new creature coming forth in baptism as does the child in natural birth, we will not give them a spat as does the doctor to make them breath, but will give them a big hug and a pat on the back.
NOW WE FULLY UNDERSTAND DAY ONE AS IT APPLIES TO THE NEW CREATURE COMING INTO THIS WORLD AND AS IT APPLIES TO THE NEW BABE IN CHRIST COMING INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD'S DEAR SON.