The Miracle of Creation

D.Brandt Berg

Mountain-Streams

People can’t help but believe in God if they just look at creation. All they have to do is look at the creation to know Somebody had to design it, pattern it, put it together, and make it work like it does. God’s beautiful creation works so beautifully, so systematically, so perfectly, it’s obvious that all that didn’t just happen by accident. Creation, so-called Nature, is not just natural. It’s God-created. It’s supernatural. It’s miraculous!

If you don’t know whether God exists, just look at the sea, the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the valleys, the trees, the flowers—everything. They’re all virtually shouting, “There is a God! Look what He made! Look what a beautiful world He made for you to live in!”

The greatest proof of God’s existence is His creation. The Bible says that God’s “invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20). The existence of our invisible God is proven by His visible creation. It’s “clearly seen” through the beautiful world He made.

Evolutionists try to explain away creation by saying that it just happened by accident and God had nothing to do with it, that it somehow just threw itself together. Dr. Robert A. Millikan, winner of the 1923 Nobel Prize for physics, had a good answer to that: Just as there had to be a watchmaker behind the synchronized perfection and order of every watch, so there had to be a Creator behind the synchronized perfection of the universe.

Yet evolutionary doctrine has become the general theme of modern science and is now referred to as the “great principle” of biology. But a principle, according to the dictionary, is a foundation truth or fact; the basis of other truths—and evolution has never been proven to be either a truth or a fact, much less the foundation or basis of other truths.

There is no proof for evolution. It has to be believed; therefore it’s a religion. Even the founding father of this false faith, Charles Darwin himself, confessed, “The belief in natural selection [evolution] must at present be grounded entirely on general considerations. When we descend to details, we can prove that no one species has changed, nor can we prove that the supposed changes are beneficial, which is the groundwork of the theory.”

The existence of our invisible God is proven by His visible creation.

So evolution is really a religion of unbelief in God. That’s its whole purpose: to eliminate faith in God and to foster the false belief that the creation created itself; God had nothing to do with it, so there doesn’t need to be a God.

The first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible says, ªIn the beginning, God—not chaos, not some nebulous cloud of gases—created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). And a few verses later, “God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female” (Genesis 1:27). God formed man out of what? Previous life forms? Apes? Beasts? “And God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). This is the truth of God’s Word!

Even if you don’t believe the Bible, reasonable scientists concede that if the world’s two or three million species of animal and plant life came about by evolution, we would be ten miles deep in fossils of evolutionary “missing links.” Instead, the evolutionists search the world over trying to find one! Nearly every one of those fossils that evolutionists claim to be missing links have now been debunked, and some are confessed fakes, like Piltdown Man.

Evolution has no foundation in fact whatsoever. There’s no evidence for it. No discovery has been made to prove it. As one of its foremost proponents, Margaret Mead, wrote in her introduction to her textbook on anthropology: “We as honest scientists must confess that science has yet to discover one single iota of concrete evidence to prove the evolutionary theory!”

Do you believe in God?—Look at the world; look at the beautiful trees; look at the flowers; look at the sea; look at the sky. Does God love you? You can see it and feel it in the beautiful world He made for you.

God created this wonderful world for you to live in and enjoy, and He is the only One who can give meaning to the universe and purpose to the planets and love to our hearts and peace to our minds and health to our bodies and rest to our spirits and happiness to our lives and joy to our souls.

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Life After Death—What will it be like?

by D. Brandt Berg

Mountain-Streams
What will it be like?

In recent years a number of prominent doctors have observed and documented hundreds of cases of what they call “clinical deaths.” Their patients actually died, and all vital functions ceased for from several minutes up to a half an hour, but then the patients revived. Hundreds of these survivors of death told amazingly similar accounts of their life-after-death experiences.

Almost all of them said it was a marvelous feeling, like floating on air, no longer weighed down by their physical bodies. Their anxieties and worries suddenly vanished as they realized that although their bodies were dead, their spirits were still very much alive and God was lovingly caring for them. In almost every account, those who returned from such experiences had a great change in their outlook on life. They were more loving, more full of faith, found greater purpose in living, and were convinced that they had been spared from death so that they could return and fulfill their mission in this life. (For documented accounts of more than two hundred life-after-death experiences, read Life After Life by Dr. R.A. Moody.)

According to God’s Word, the next life is not so terribly different from this present existence that we can’t comprehend it. We are going to be much the same as we are now, except that our eternal bodies going to be supernatural, like the one Jesus had after He was resurrected (Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2). Jesus was able to materialize or dematerialize, appear or disappear. Think of that! He could pass from one dimension to the other, and walk through locked doors and solid walls (John 20:19, 26).

But just because we’ll have spiritual bodies doesn’t mean we won’t still be ourselves. We’re going to have a lot of the same characteristics that we have now, just as Jesus did after His resurrection. He could eat and drink and others could still touch Him as well as see Him, yet He was in a miraculous supernatural body, His new resurrected body (Luke 24:36-43).

You are still going to be you! You’re even going to look a lot the same, only better—much better! You’ll be much better off in every way, and you’ll be in more direct communication with the Lord, experiencing the fullness of God’s love and the realities of the world to come!

Those experiences of life after death that some have had are exceptional cases of course, and it’s obvious that most people do not come back after passing on. However, when your time comes, death is not something you should fear.

Contrary to the idea some people seem to have, God is not a cruel tyrant or some sort of monster who is trying to frighten everyone into Hell, but rather a loving and merciful Father who is trying to love everyone into Heaven. “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and He wants to help and save you and make you happy with His love. In fact, this is why He created you: to love and enjoy Him forever, now and in the life to come.

But sad to say, at some time or other we’ve all been selfish, mean, unloving, or unkind to others—even to God! “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). None of us deserve to go to Heaven. But the Bible says that although “the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Receiving God’s free gift of eternal life is like receiving a pardon from the guilt of sin. God loves you so much, He gave Jesus to die in your place, to ta ke your punishment for you (John 3:16). This is why Jesus could promise those who believe in Him that they “shall not taste of death” (Matthew 16:28). If we receive Jesus and His free gift of eternal life, our spirits—the real us—will never die or experience the agony of separation from God, even when our physical bodies die. “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment [condemnation], but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24).

If you haven’t yet received Jesus into your heart, you can right now by praying this prayer:

Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God and that You died for me. Please forgive me for all my sins. I ask You now to come into my heart and give me Your gift of eternal life. Help me to love You, and to love others by telling them about You and Your love and truth. Amen.

Once you have Jesus in your heart, you have made the most important preparation for your life, as well as death. And when your time comes to die, well, hallelujah! You will have finished your earthly task. It will be your graduation day—graduation to the heavenly world of the hereafter where you will receive a glorious crown of eternal life and be with God and Jesus and your loved ones forever! We who know Jesus will awaken in the heavenly kingdom of God with peace and plenty and love for all forever! Are you ready?

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God’s Chesspiece: You can’t, but He can!

by D. Brandt Berg:

You can’t, but He can!

God doesn’t want you to try or pretend to be something you’re not and couldn’t possibly be. However, He teaches in His Word that almost anybody can be almost anything if they have faith and it’s according to His will. Anybody can be somebody or somebody can be anybody, because with God nothing is impossible and all things are possible to those who believe (Luke 1:37; Mark 9:23).

A lot of Christians make idols of the great men and women of God of the past. They idolize the heroes of the Bible, the patriarchs and the prophets, the Christian saints and martyrs, and they exalt them to such heights that they make it almost impossible for others to believe they could ever do the same things. And sad to say, it seems that all too often people do that to excuse themselves.

They say, “It’s impossible to be like that today. That sort of thing is reserved for Bible times, or saints or patriarchs or prophets. Ordinary Christians aren’t supposed to try to be like that. It’s impossible. Don’t even try! People today can’t expect to do miracles or have other gifts of the Spirit like the apostles and great Christians of the past had. The day of miracles is past!”

And one of the biggest lies the Devil tells people is, “You can’t be that way because you’re sinful and make mistakes, and you cannot be both good and bad.” Well, God’s Word says, “There is none righteous, no, not one… For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). And that includes whom?—Not only you and me, but the saints and the prophets and the apostles and the patriarchs, and everyone else except the Lord Himself.

Now that changes the picture! That brings the apostles, prophets, and heroes of the Bible down to our level, and that means it’s possible for us to become more like them. Regardless of our sins and mistakes and faults or whatever, we too can be used of the Lord. So if the Devil tells you that you’ll never amount to anything for the Lord because you’re so bad, don’t listen to him. That isn’t so!

God created man and put him on earth in part to demonstrate His power in giving him salvation—to show that in spite of all our faults and shortcomings He can save us and make us useful. He can even use you. The fact that God can use you, bad as you are, gives the glory to Jesus when you do anything good or right. As the old hymn says,

I’ll give all the glory to Jesus,

And tell of His love, His wonderful love.

I’ll give all the glory to Jesus,

And tell of His wonderful love!

Even the great apostle Paul lamented, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” He as good as said, “I stink! I’m a horrible mess!” But then the Lord encouraged him with the answer to his dilemma: “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 7:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:57).

Now, doesn’t that give you some hope? When the Devil reminds you of your mistakes and faults and shortcomings, it helps to remind yourself that, yes, you’re no good; yes, you’re a sinner; yes, except for the love and mercy and grace and goodness of God, you’d never make it!

It takes a miracle of the grace of God! It all has to be a miracle! Your thoughts, your love for the Lord and others, your work for the Lord—all of it is a miracle of God’s grace, “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). It’s God’s work. You just have to have the faith that God is going to do it through you.

For many years I was convinced that I was nothing and nobody and could never do anything! I was too sinful, too carnal, I didn’t read the Bible enough and didn’t pray enough. How could I ever hope to do anything for God?

Of course you can’t do it! Of course you can’t save yourself! Of course you can’t live a perfect Christian life! Jesus Himself said, “Without Me you can do nothing.”

Be honest. Isn’t that the way you feel sometimes? I’m sure the Devil lies to you like that too. When he does, slap him in the face with Scriptures, like Jesus did when the Devil tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Where sin and human faults and failings abound, God’s grace does more abound (Romans 5:20). That’s what it’s all about!

Why do you think the Lord lets you make mistakes? Why do you think God let Adam and Eve fall prey to temptation in the Garden of Eden?—To prove that they needed God, and to prove that you need God! You can’t do it on your own! And what does that do?—It glorifies the Lord!

Of course you can’t do it! Of course you can’t save yourself! Of course you can’t live a perfect Christian life! Of course you can’t be good or do anything good of yourself! Jesus Himself said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). A lot of people have been taught the false doctrine that they’re supposed to do most of it with just a little help from God, but I want to tell you right now, God does it all! Isn’t that a comforting thought?

You don’t have to have faith to do things that the Lord isn’t asking or expecting of you. You just have to have faith to be what He’s made you to be and to do the job He has for you, whatever that may be. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not, but don’t let the Devil lie to you that you can’t be who God can make you, or do what God wants to do through you. God won’t ask you to do anything more than He knows you can do, with His help.

Too many Christians have been taught two conflicting doctrines: first, that they can’t be saintly and perfect, and second that they can’t be saved unless they are. Both are the Devil’s own doctrines! It’s no wonder that a lot of Christians give up trying to be or do anything for the Lord!

But the wonderful truth of the matter is that you can do anything with Jesus’ help. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). With His help you can do anything, go anywhere, and be anybody God wants you to be.

God has given us a free will, but to be successful for the Lord or even as happy as He would like to make us, we have to continually yield that will to Him. We have to find out from Him what His will for us is—what He knows is best for others and us—and then choose that.

Everybody has their place and job for the Lord, like the pieces on a chessboard. Chess pieces have no will of their own. When a player picks up a chess piece and moves it to another square, the chess piece doesn’t protest; it yields and goes where it’s sent, right? Well, you’re in God’s hands! Think of that whenever the Devil tempts you to worry about this or that. You’re in the hands of the Master Player and He’s going to put you wherever He wants you, so just trust the Lord.

You don’t have to make all the decisions; you only have to be yielded. But you’re a free moral agent and you can choose not to be yielded. When it comes right down to it, the only decision you have to make is to choose to do God’s will, whatever it might be. Simply yield to His moves and let Him do the thinking and the choosing. He can see the whole game, the whole chessboard, and all the pieces. You’ve got very limited vision and very limited power, but He sees and has it all.

Simply be what God wants you to be. Don’t worry about what you can be or can’t be or will be or won’t be, like I did for nearly fifty years! I spent over half my life worrying about what I would be, when all the time I was being exactly what God wanted me to be and learning all the things God wanted me to learn.

There have also been times when I’ve chosen to do this and do that, and God’s had to change my mind or do something else in spite of me—and I always found out in the end that He knew best.

It’s wonderful to let God decide, because He always has our best interests at heart and He knows what’s best. He never fails. Even if He should let us get His instructions wrong or do something wrong, He’s able to use even that to teach us some lesson and bring about some good if our hearts are right with Him (Romans 8:28).

God has given us a free will, but to be successful for the Lord or even as happy as He would like to make us, we have to continually yield that will to Him.

So quit worrying about what God’s going to do. You’re in God’s hands. “Rest in the Lord, and do good” (Psalm 37:3 KJV). “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left’” (Isaiah 30:21).

When a guide leads you down a path that’s new to you, he doesn’t tell you what you’re going to need to do before you get to the turn or the fork in the way. He waits till you get to the point where you need to know before he tells you what to do or where to go next—and that’s the way it is with the Lord. In most cases, you don’t need to know all the details of what you’re going to do tomorrow. Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow. You often have to plan ahead, but you’re not to worry about tomorrow. Just do what God knows you can do and what God asks you to do today, and be prepared to do the same tomorrow.

God made you a particular kind of chess piece, and He’s given you powers accordingly. God is the player; you’re just the chess piece. You’re His piece, and all you have to do is what God tells you to do. He doesn’t even expect you to do it yourself. He’ll reach down and take a hold of you and move you where He wants you to go. You can’t do it, anyway—but you can with His help! You can’t, but He can!

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