The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1913-01-04


Gen. IL.
In our scheme OF Lessons we return
to the Old Testament and conflne our
study for the ensuing year to the fru
six books of the Bible.
The word Genesis means begin.
nings," and in the book OF that mama
We see recorded all the informatio,
OF the beginning of things that on,
heavenly father deemed necessary m
the development of the scheme Of n
demption.
After all the assaults OF its enc
mics, end of the skeptics, the first
verse of the book of Genesis contain,
all the clear. concise, and positive
knowledge man Possesses about the
origin of this Universe. God Gre
ated," rot, God is all and all is Cod
Pantheism has no ground upon which
to stand. in the beginning God Gre
ated," therefore he is above and was
before the heaven and the earth.
Moses left us no record of the how
and that field has ever been one for
interesting speculation. Between the
fourth and the fifth words of this
verse is ample room for all and every
theory though we still remain In IT,
norance of any absolute knowledge.
both OF time and process. Let US not
forget to emphasize the thought. In
the beginning God" in the beginning
OF childhood. the beginning of educa-
ton, Of business. of home life, etc.
The beginning OF all right thinking
and true living. of every proper rela-
ton of life, is God and yet we are
Withholding that knowledge from
young America upon the specious
plea that the bible is sectarian.
Truth of the Trinity.
Following this statement of the Gre
alton come the steps of rehabilitation,
for the words in verse two denote
waste. void, or confusion and one
Hebrew scholar contends for the word
ruin" See also Isa 45: rs r. V. Thus
1t seems that upon this created earth
there must have come a Judgment
presumably upon some pre-Adamite
race and that what follows. verse two,
Is not the original creation but the
steps whereby this earth was made
ready as a habitation for man.
Lord Kelvin said, scientific thought
Is compelled to accept the idea OF ere
alive power" There is a wonderful
agreement between modern science
and the account in Genesis: % The
biblical accounts by their wording
provide for both creation and the evo-
lutionary development Of created
things; (2) Science has failed to pro-
duce matter, life, or the soul of man;
and Of these in each instance the
bible says God created while of all
else 1t says he made.
The great truth of the trinity is re-
vealed In these first three verses ~
God. v. 1; (2) Spirit, v. 2; and W
God said"-the word, see John IL.
Verse five does not call the light .
day meaning twelve hours. but rather
a period of time, Just as we speak Of
an Arctic day" which is six months.
One of the mysteries of today is that
water which Is 700 times heavier than
cir is held in the sky In the form Of
clouds. What holds the storm. the
snow. the lightning, the gorgeous
colors, ETC.? The answer is found In
verse Z. land God made the firmar
ment end divided the waters, and
called the armament heaven" There
Is nothing more firm than the laws
which hold this body of water in the
sky for he God set those laws into
motion. And God said" ". 81. The
Dries of geology and the statement
Of Genesis agree perfectly as to the
preparation of this earth for the ap-
pearance of vegetable life. The vege-
table derives directly from the air and
water and soil those elements neces-
sary to maintain life.
Animal life cannot assimilate these
elements unless they are already fixed
In organic vegetable life. How and
where life originated no science has
Pasteur's dictum that
1T is nothing but life which gener~
ates life" still stands mistaken. And
30 the constant and only satisfactory
answer to the questions. how, where
and why, Of all these things of this
universe is God. God Gre
lted, God made, he created, and then
set into being those forces and laws
the earth, the sky. the sun
and the moon have gone on with I'M
broken regularity. He made possible
those processes whereby man devel
ops, the oak grows, and animal and
vegetable life reproduce each after
It's own kind.
But creation was not yet complete
Man. the last created. was the crown
ing glory of this earthly creation
Verses $3.50 will be studied In con-
nection with next weeks lesson and
are referred to here simply to give
complete account OF creation. It
would be well. however. to refer 10
The fact that the great God and Gre
,tor made provision for the immortal
souls Of mankind by arranging for MS
in the knowledge and charac-
Ter Of himself. the father, by the IN
of the Sabbath. as soon al
he had prepared a place In wbich
nan was to dwell.
The dignity and majesty Of the Ian
yuage of Genesis Is sublime.
Astrologers tell US that our sun ano
solar system is only one Of perhaps