“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).

The first recorded voice in the Scriptures is that of God speaking light into existence. God would go on to create using His voice, and thus words, imparting the blessing of speech to human beings (Gen. 1:23-24). Sadly, there was another voice which had in mind the downfall of man. This voice belonged to the Devil, Satan, that old serpent (cf. Rev. 12:9, 20:2), that tempted Eve in the garden (Gen. 3:1-7). Adam, instead of listening to God, listened to the voice of his wife, and thus sinned (Gen. 3:11-12, 17). Eve, instead of listening to God, listened to the voice of Satan, and thus sinned (Gen. 3:13). Thankfully, God already had a plan and that was to send Christ to destroy the works of the devil (Gen. 3:15; cf. 1 John. 3:8; Heb. 2:14).

In preparation for the Christ, there was a man sent from God to bear witness of Him, and his name was John (John 1:6-8). John declared, as prophesied by Isaiah, that he was, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23; Isa. 40:3). John, being a prophet of God, acted as God’s spokesman and thus the voice of God. John fulfilled his mission and received high marks from Christ Himself (Matt. 11:7-11). His voice and actions stand as witnesses to obeying God. God speaks through His Son today (Heb. 1:1-2), and Satan speaks through the world (Eph. 2:2; John 12:31; 1 John 2:15-16). The question for you and for me is, which voice am I going to listen to? Let us heed the Father’s instruction and listen to His Son (Matt. 17:1-5)!

Trent Thrasher

“In that day there shall be a fountain opened To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem For sin and for uncleanness” (Zec. 13:1).

Over 500 years before the Messiah was born, Zechariah peers into his prophetic telescope and proclaims that there would be a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. If we fast forward in time, we find that Jesus was born of a virgin of the house of David (Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-11). This man, who is also the only begotten Son of God, led a perfect life doing His Father’s will (cf. John 1:14; John 8:29; John 17:4). He went to the cross to give His life a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:5-6).

The Jews, not wanting the bodies of those crucified to remain on the cross on the sabbath day, asked Pilate that their legs be broken (John 19:31). They did not break Jesus’ legs since He was dead already (John 19:33). One soldier pierced Christ’s side with a spear and out flowed blood and water (John 19:34). The precious blood of Christ washes us from our sins (Rev. 1:5). We contact that blood in the waters of baptism (Acts 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:20-22).

William Cowper penned these lyrics with Zechariah 13:1 as a background:
There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.

Praise be to God that a fountain has been opened to all who will respond!

Trent Thrasher

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28–29).

In general, there are two appointments that all accountable people will keep: death and judgment (Heb. 9:27). The more certain of the two is the judgment as some will be alive when Christ returns (cf. 1 Thes. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:50-53). Evolution provides a meaningless existence for mankind and leads to every person doing what is “right in his own eyes” (cf. Judg. 21:25).

The Bible sets forth the clear truth that there is an afterlife which is directly connected with how we live on Earth (cf. John 5:28-29). During the time of Moses the choices were set: life and good or death and evil (Deut. 30:15). Moses, the servant of the LORD, urged the Israelites to choose life (Deut. 30:19) which required love and obedience to God (Deut. 30:20).

In the great judgment scene of Revelation 20, we discover that the dead, small and great, stand before God and are judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works (Rev. 20:11-13; cf. John 12:44-50; James 2:12). Any that are not found written in the book of life will go into the lake of fire which is called the second death (Rev. 20:14-15). Those who are written in the book of life will enter into Heaven, where God dwells (Rev. 21:1-22:5). God wants you to be saved and have eternal life (1 Tim. 2:3-6); Satan wants you to be lost and have eternal death (1 Pet. 5:8; Rev. 12:9; Rom. 6:23). The choice is yours, so choose life!

Trent Thrasher

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc. 12:13).

The Bible is clear that God created mankind (cf. Gen. 1:26-28) but for what purpose? What am I supposed to be doing now that I am here? Great question! The Bible has the answer seeing that it gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

One man of antiquity that had it all and did it all was Solomon. He had wisdom, wealth, and whatever his will desired (cf. 1 Kgs. 3:12-13, 28; 1 Kgs. 4:29-34; Ecc. 2). Time and again he concluded that a life spent in pursuit of these things is vanity or empty and vain (cf. Ecc. 2:11-23). There was one event he observed that happened to everyone and that is death (Ecc. 2:14-16; Ecc. 3:19-21). This led Solomon to one conclusion which answers the question, “what are we doing here?”

The whole of man (mankind) is to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecc. 12:13). Why? We will stand before God in judgment one day (Ecc. 12:14). If we are not careful, Satan will have us so distracted with the world we will forget our purpose for being. Praise be to God we have the book of Ecclesiastes in our Bibles to remind us of our purpose! What am I doing here? I am serving God so that I can be with Him in Heaven for eternity. We encourage all others to do the same.

Trent Thrasher

“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Ex. 20:11).

There are some questions asked that are so universal and so important that they span culture, nationality, and time. "Where did we come from?" is one of those questions. We all want to know the reason for our being which is natural and healthy thinking. This is a question which can be answered. When dealing with origin, which this question is, there are two lines of thinking: natural or supernatural, non-intelligence or intelligence.

The prevailing thought for natural, non-intelligent origin is organic or atheistic evolution which claims everything in the Universe (including the Universe itself) was brought about by random processes over long periods of time without any outside cause. In other words, blind chance, natural processes, and time resulted in everything we see including us. One of the theories proposed on how the Universe got here is, “The Big Bang Theory”. Suffice it to say, the basic premise is that an explosion of some element(s) caused the Universe to be. It does not explain how the elements came to be nor does it address the fact that explosions cause chaos not order. It does, however, concede that the Universe had a beginning (origin).

The Bible sets forth the concept of supernatural (above nature), intelligent origin as it plainly declares God created the Universe and all that is in it in six, twenty-four days (cf. Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11). This includes humankind (Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 2:7, 21-23), and marriage (Gen. 2:24-25). Husband and wife were given the charge to multiply or procreate (Gen. 1:28; cf. Gen. 5). Thus, the Bible declares we came from God via Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, through procreation. When the evidence is examined in light of natural laws, including the law of cause and effect, the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of supernatural, intelligent origin. Do not take my word for it, examine it yourself, and stand in awe of Almighty God (Ps. 8:3-4; Ps. 19:1-6).

Trent Thrasher