From: Ben Kelley
Subject: Not all the "alls", part 1
I found (and read) 5,621 usages of the word
"all" in the Bible. Some of them, thousands, in fact,
didn't really apply to what my concept for these messages is. Those type
usages were general, such as those in geneologies in Genesis, where I would read
something like, "and all the days of (fill in the blank) were (some number), and
he died." They didn't have the characteristic of affecting all
Christians, or all mankind. I don't know how
many of the hundreds of verses I picked out will be used for this series, but
let's look at a number that do fit that idea in what I have titled "Not
all the 'all's."
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26 (KJV) There are a
number of people who believe the earth and all it's inhabitants, other than
man, is more important than the human race, or, at least that man is no
different and therefore has no right to impose his will on the other inhabitants
and earth itself. They are always on some mission, saving the earth,
saving the whales, etc., but they always blame mankind for whatever
they see the current problem to be. These folks are parting ways with
God's Word, for it says God placed man over
all the inhabitants and the earth itself! Man
is different from all the rest of God's creation, and
by His plan was placed over all these things! The earth
is not "our mother" and all the other creatures are not our equal. That is
by God's command.
Thus the heavens
and the earth were finished, and all the host of them (Genesis 2:1
(KJV) Evolution teaches new species have evolved over vast periods of
time. (they have to have vast ages of time to hide the impossibility of
evolution!) They also add that stars are constantly being born
throughout space. God disagrees with them, by saying that HE finished
creation on earth and throughout space. There are no
new species nor are there new stars, HE
finished creation on the sixth day, all
of it! HE tells us in another place: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and
for him: And he is before all things, and by him
all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17 (KJV)
Those who don't want to believe the Bible try to make believers think they are
stupid to think such a thought. They also make as if we are stupid to
believe God created everything during a six day period. I say, let them
argue with God; HE was the only One there!!! It is not
antiquated to believe God says what HE means and means what HE says!! Who
are you going to believe, God, or
man, His Word, or evolution?
And Adam called his
wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis
3:20 (KJV) We look at the outward appearance of others and make our
intial judgements concerning them based on that. Sadly, we tend to
automatically place them in certain categories based on their sex, skin color,
facial features, etc. Some we may consider as equal, or, better than
ourselves, while others we look upon as inferior in some way. We make
"pre-judgements", displaying our "pre-judices", based merely on outward
appearances that are differing from our own. I would just like us to
remember that God's Word emphasizes that we are all members of
the same family, for we have the same parentage. Eve was the mother of
all people, which of course makes Adam our common physical
father. Whether that thought has good or bad results with you, it's true,
nevertheless. Who's your mama; who's your daddy? why Eve and Adam are, or
course, no matter what your skin color, facial characteristics, body
size, or any thing else may be. We come from the same stock. I only
emphasize this to remind us we are not to look on the outward
appearances as our basis when considering others. It's what's
inside that counts. Is that person a believer in Jesus, or lost and headed
to Hell? We need to remember we came from the same first
parents, and care enough about our "family member" to pray for and tell them
about Jesus.