The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-01-03
SCHOOL.
Lesson First Quarter, For
Jan. 5, 1918.
THE INTERNATIONAL SERIES.

Text Of che Lesson, Gen. d TO II, s.
Memory Verses az, 2a--Goldsn Text,
Gen. !, documentary Prepared by
Rev. .. NJ, Stsarns.
In our meditation upon this most
wonderful portion Of the most won
derful book ever written we will prob
ably repeat many things, hoping that
thus the precious truths may enter
many hearts. More than ever do we
desire to be fully under the control OF
Him who wrote it that He may sag
through US only that which is truly
His own. The opening section assign
ed to US for today's lesson contains in
the first verse the record of creation,
in the second the result Of a great
catastrophe and In all the rest ar &C.
count Of a great six days. restoration
or fashioning anew of the work which
had by a Judgment been brought into
chaos.
It is not written that in six days
God created, but In six days the Lord
made Cor fashioned) heaven and earth,
the sea and all that in them is eek.
XXI, liz, or, as it is in Gen. ii, 3, 'taIl
His work, which God created and
made (margfn, created to make). The
0rst verse OF just seven Hebrew words
and twenty-eight letters tells all we
know Of creation and does not tell us
anything as 10 when it was. It Is a
dateless statement and, for aught we
know, may refer to what took place
millions OF years In the past. Other
verses bearing upon this which should
be most prayerfully considered are Ps.
xxxiii, 6, 9, and Heb. ri, 8, which az
firm that the creating word brought
into existence that which did not exist
before.
That the creation was by Him whom
we know 40 the Son of God is most
plainly stated In John |, 1-3; Col. !, IL
II. Thus believing the first verse In
the Bible, one can readily believe every
miracle and wonderful record in the
, whole book, according to Jer. xxi,
II, and find comfort in it as the proph-
cts and apostles did Elsa. II, 1881;
Acts ", 2431l. The words TN the be-
ginning God" have helped some whom
I know, for they have said, / will not
begin that which I cannot begin with
God. We do we'll to pray that all our
works may be begun, continued and
ended In Him.
In the second verse the r. Y. reads,
"And the earth was Tor became) waste
and void" In lisa. xiv, 1S, we read,
'"He created it not a waste" We know,
therefore, that the second verse does
not describe It as He created it. There
are only two other places where the
words translated without form and
void" are used together Qsa. xxxiv,
IL; Jer. iv, 23), and in each there Is a
d~esolation because Of a Judgment, SO
we conclude that in Gen. !, 2, we are
reading Of a desolation caused by a
Judgment because OF a great rebellion.
The suggestion by Pember In "Earth's
Earliest Ages that possibly the devil
before he fell was in control Of this
earth may be well worth considering,
but we must wait. ....t
Over this waste and void condition
the spirit Of God moved, and God said,
LET there be light, and there was
nght'-more literally, Light be, and
light was" Thus early In the book
we are made acquainted with God as
Father, Son aud Holy Spirit and are
shown that all things are accomplished
By the Spirit through the word. In
the first verse we have already noticed
O four times seven Of letters, and II
we count we shall find in u lesson
today the name "God'' just i've times
seven, suggesting an abundant COM
pleteness q, 1928; II, 49,.
In this section God is seen working
unhindered by His Spirit and His
word, and when He Is allowed to work
as unhindered in us we shall be per-
fectly new creatures to His glory. Let
those who desire to know God count
the number OF times that the different
$erbs are associated with His name
and do not accept my figures unless
you prove them correct: Said Q0D, saw
10, divided o., called %. created 6,,
blessed (3), made (6), rested C2l. set,
ended, finished, sanctihed. given a.,
it was so (6). let GA. More important,
I however, is it to notice that God alone
10 seen working, SO 1t was in Christ
when He was here as man, and SO IL
should be In rs (Phil. II, 13).
Inasmuch as there are ages enough
for all the geological periods between
the first two verses, I am willing to &C.
cept the days as ordinary days, but
let each one be fully persuaded for
himself.
Not only have we here the record Of
God working by Els Spirit and His
word in earth, air and sea, but we are
taught by II Cor. iv, 6, to find an anal.
! ogy in the work OF God in man, whose
life because Of sin is all waste and
void and dark.
: BY the spirit and the word light en-.
tiers the dark soul, Christ is received,
and there Is a new birth, Thus becom-
ing a child Of light. there Is a division
between light and darkness, and wa.
tiers from below do not satisfy, so the
water that He gives is desired and en-
3oyed. There is the power OF resur.
rection as on the third day, the refec-
&Ioo of fha ltrhf of fine RI1n in nl1r