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11-13-07
Understanding
G
od’s Word characterizes man’s walk through this life as a journey on one of two possible paths or ways.
Matthew 7:13-14,
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate,and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there bethat find it.” It is eternally critical that a man come to the correct understanding as to whatspecifically places him on either the broad way or the narrow way.
M
an is counseled:
Proverbs 4:5,
“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.” AND
Proverbs 4:7,
“Wisdom is the principal thing;therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding (
also Pv 16:16
).” Man isfurther told: “Through thy precepts I get understanding (
Ps 119:104
).”
Ephesians 5:17,
“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Thismessage is going to consider true understanding from God’s perspective. The Lord says:
Psalms 111:10,
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understandinghave all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” AND
Proverbs 9:10,
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy isunderstanding.”
T
he Lord reveals: “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me (
Is45:5-6
).” AND “there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me (
Is 45:21
).”
Isaiah 45:22,
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:for I am God, and there is none else.”
Isaiah 43:11,
“I, even I, am the LORD; and beside methere is no saviour.” – “a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me and there isnone like me (
Is 45:21, 46:9
).” God created man, gave man life and sustains man’s life.
Romans11:36,
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.Amen.” Man must look to God alone and none else. Man must walk with God in theLord’s truth.
G
od defined Himself to Moses as “I AM” and as “JEHOVAH (
meaning strength,
 
Ex 6:3, alsoEx 13:3, 14, 16, 14:27, 15:2, 13, 32:11, Num 23:22, 24:8, Deut 3:24, 4:34, etc.
).” God is absolutely Supreme andSovereign over all of His creation. The Lord says: “I the LORD speak righteousness, Ideclare things that are right (
Is 45:19
).” Therefore, righteousness is conformity of heart andlife to what God declares to be right. JEHOVAH has the strength and ability to enforceHis declared truth.
H
owever, there is a rebellious creation that competes for God’s glory. These are given to pleasures (
 self seeking, which is pride
), that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me (
Is 47:8
).
Isaiah 47:10,
“For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, Noneseeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said inthine heart, I am, and none else beside me.”
S
o, those on the “narrow way” understand God as “I AM” and live their livesaccordingly. Those on the “broad way” see “self” as “I am” and live their livesaccordingly. The “narrow way” leads to God and the life that is only found in the Lordand is walked in truth, which are those things that God declares to be right (
Is 45:19
). The1
 
11-13-07
“broad way” leads “away from” or opposite of God to death, which is the opposite of life,and is walked in disobedience to the Lord’s truth or declared way.
A
ll of this hearkens us back to the beginning – as all “created” things have a beginningand an end. God says:
Isaiah 46:10,
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancienttimes the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”
I
n the beginning, God created (
made
) man in His image and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (
Gen 1:26-27, 2:7
).
Genesis 2:9, 15,
“And out of theground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of goodand evil. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dressit and to keep it.” God then declared things that are right (
 good 
) and things that are wrong(
evil 
).
Genesis 2:16-17,
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of thegarden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thoushalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
L
et us fully understand God’s purposes. Man was created in the image of God. Man wascreated with a free-will. The Lord declared the “tree of life” to be good. Man’s obedienceto God would certainly result in life. The Lord declared the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” to be bad (
wrong 
) or forbidden fruit for man. Partaking of this fruit would be disobedience to God and it would result in the condemnation or death – “thou shaltsurely die.” Man retained the ability to choose - to “obey” or to “disobey” God.
T
he Bible is God’s written Word to man. So, whenever the term “in the beginning” isused it is applied from the perspective of the creation of man. Obviously, there are many beginnings that pre-date the creation of man. For instance, a host of angelic beings werecreated prior to man. These angels have a hierarchy and they perform the will of God (
Ps103:20-21 104:4, Dan 10:13, 12:1, Mt 4:6, 13:41, 24:31, Mk 13:27, Lk 1:26, 2:10, 22:43, Acts 10:22, 12:11, Heb 12:22, Jude 1:9, Rev1:1, 12:7, 14:6, 22:16
). Thus, angels are created beings that submit to and obey God the Creator (
Heb 1:6, 1 Pt 3:22
).
T
here was an angel, who was an anointed cherub that covereth, who was responsible for watching over God’s creation of man in Eden, the garden of God (
Ez 28:13-14, 31:9
). His namewas Lucifer and he was beautiful so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him (
Ez 28:13, 31:9
).
Ezekiel 31:8,
“The cedars in the garden of God could not hidehim: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.” God said of him: “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty (
Ez 28:12
).”
H
owever, there was a problem.
Ezekiel 28:15,
“Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the daythat thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Thine heart was lifted up becauseof thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast theeto the ground (
Ez 28:17
). Thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty (
Ez 27:3
).
Isaiah 14:12,
“How artthou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to theground, which didst weaken the nations!”2
 
11-13-07
A
t the beginning, or creation of man, Lucifer did an evil thing (
due to jealousy of man – loss of place and position
). Lucifer turned his eyes off of God and placed them upon “self (
his own beauty
).”
Isaiah 14:13-15,
“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of thecongregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; Iwill be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Notice the inclination toward “self” in the “I” statements.
T
he fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Lucifer no longer feared God. Lucifer fell and is now known as the devil. By the fear of the LORD one departs from evil or thatwhich opposes God (
Pv 16:6
). Lucifer became that which opposes God in exalting “self.” Agood understanding have all they that do His commandments (
Ps 111:10
). Lucifer rejectedGod’s truth and became the author of a great lie. Jesus said of him: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When hespeaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (
Jn 8:44
).”
T
he devil’s lie is that the creation can seek its own will in its own authority apart fromthe Creator. In order to establish his lie, the devil must undermine or destroy the truth,which is God. This presents a problem because the Lord keepeth the truth forever (
Ps 146:6,also Ps 100:5, Ps 111:8
) and God’s Word stands (
Is 39:8, Joel 2:11
). The devil and all those who followhim in his lie are the enemies of God and His truth. The devil is a murderer because heleads God’s creation in rebellion away from God (
and thus life
) into death. The creationhas no life apart from God. The Lord gives and sustains all life. Thus the devil’s lie shallnot stand and he shall be greatly cast down and all those who follow him (
Is 14:15, Jer 8:12
).God says: “I AM against thee (
i.e. Jer 50:31, 51:25, Ez 5:8, 26:3, etc.
).”
Proverbs 21:30,
“There is nowisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.” Jesus, the Word of God madeflesh says: “He that is not with Me is against Me (
Lk 11:23
).” Conversely,
Mark 9:40,
“For hethat is not against us is on our part.”
T
he devil (
 serpent,
Rev 12:9, 20:2
) came to man in the garden and told him with regards tothe forbidden fruit: “Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eatthereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil(
Gen 3:4-5
).” The devil told man the opposite of what God had told man. In other words,God declared the truth and the devil declared the opposite of the truth which is a lie. Thedevil led man opposite of God (
Who is light,
1 Jn 1:5
) into darkness and death. The devil ledman into disobedience and transgression of God’s truth. The devil is not constrained bythe truth.
 N
otice, that the fruit from the forbidden tree would open man’s eyes to decide right andwrong for himself such that he could be as a god. In other words, man would sayest inthine heart, I am, and none else beside me (
Is 47:8
). What does it mean to be a god? Theone true God says: “I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right (
Is45:19
).” This is truth! The lie opposes the truth. A corrupt creation says: “I declare thingsthat are right in my own eyes” and “I shall seek the imaginations of my own heart.” Thisis what opposes the truth! In other words, to work things by the counsel of your own willlike the true God does (
i.e. Eph 1:11
). Who shall reign supreme – the Creator or the creation?God declares what is right, not the creation (
Is 45:19
). For man to be a god, there would no3
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