The Creation

Now, many of you have been joining us in the past, have been enjoying the study of the book of Hebrews, but we have wrapped that up. We are moving to another book, in this case, it's a book in the Old Testament. And this one is the very first one that you can find in the Bible, so it's an easy book to be able to find as far as where is it located. And the title of our new quarterly that we're starting here today is entitled "The Book of Genesis," or just simply "Genesis." And so, we're looking at lesson one, and it is entitled "Creation." As many of you know, those first two chapters are instrumental historically in revealing to us the actual origins of mankind, life, all life forms on this planet, as well as many other important information there as well. So, please stick with us as we open that up. We have a special teacher today, his name is Pastor Alden Ho, and is with us from Amazing Facts. And so, we're glad to have him teach here today.

And we also have a free gift offer that we want to invite you to take advantage of. And it's one of my favorites. Of course, it's related to the subject that we're looking at, Genesis. And this is a great read. Really if you don't have this, make sure you take advantage of this free gift offer. Call into the number 866-788-3966, and you could ask for free offer Number 169. And we'll send this book out to you if you're in North America or any of the US territories. It's entitled, "How Evolution Flunked The Science Test" by Pastor Joe Crews. And friends, this really is a good read if you've never read it. So, I'm also we have a digital version of this as well and so, if you would like to download this to your tablet, your phone, computer, and so on. In this case with your phone, you want to text SH037, and you want to dial that to 40544. And that will get you to the link in which you can get a free digital download if you are in the United States.

Now, if you are not in the United States and you'd still like to get a digital copy of that, there is a website address that's on the screen. Just go ahead and find that website, and there'll be a free digital copy you can download from the internet anywhere in the world. So again, friends, it's nice to have you. We have some musicians that are going to lead us in worship through song, and then we'll have our opening prayer and our study.

Pastor Alden Ho: Our lesson this quarter is on Genesis, and this is a very exciting topic. And I was so excited to be able to bring in this new topic, but the problem with bringing in a new lesson is, for me, if you've seen me up here, I always use my iPad, but it's not available in the digital copy yet. So, I had asked Clifford Jones, I said, "Cliff, could you--" Clifford Goldstein. I said, "Could you send me the digital?" Well, they don't work on Fridays, so the person who was supposed to send it did not send it. So, I'm in the analog version today, which I'm sure you are with as well. So, let's go through this as I whet your appetite for this coming quarter.

This quarter is all about creation--I mean, sorry. It's all in Genesis. Today it's about, on creation, and it's covering three main areas, as the lesson points out here. It's our beginnings as a human race. It also is talking about the Sabbath, but it's all enveloped in this word called grace. So, as we begin, let me just pull up here and share a couple things with you that hit me in the lesson for Sabbath afternoon. It's saying here in the Sabbath afternoon, that there are two creation texts that stand out as we study this week. We are to understand better the profound meaning of the Sabbath, and we will be covering that in one of the days coming up here in the lesson. But one of the texts that I wanted to bring to your attention is in Psalms 100, Psalms 100, verses 1, 2, and 3. The Bible says here as David writes, "Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."

Everything that God is, is because God is. When Moses met Him, He described Himself as I Am, "I am the I Am." And they said, "Well, who sent You?" "I Am sent Me." So, God here is--some things that we have to understand about God is that God created, not only the heavens and the earth, but you find that in this whole section for this one-week period, all this happens before there was even human existence. Humans don't come along the scenes Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then all of a sudden on Friday, then humans pop up and only two of them come up here. We also find that in this particular lesson, it is the concepts that we are being introduced to is the concept of creation and redemption.

Now, as we move to Sunday's lesson, we have to be careful that we don't reduce God to a common level. We find that a lot today that some of the teachings that we find take God and brings God down to the same level that we are. Now, that's something that we have to always keep in mind. God is not on the same level as we are. We are the sheep of His pasture. Therefore, we are little lambs. We are sheep over there. But God, God is portrayed here in two different ways. One is that He's very close to us. He comes near to us. The other part of it is, is God is far away, not far away as in distance, He's so far that He's out of reality with us. He's so far away in the fact that He is the God of the universe. In this particular chapter--or particular day that we find the first creation account, it represents God as infinite, far from humans, transcendent. He came down. He is above normal, but He came down to us. And we find this word "Elohim," which speaks of His supremacy as God. The name Elohim denounced preeminence and strength. God was, He is, and He will be.

So, where did He come from? We don't know. You know, I tried even looking up with Adam and Eve, what language did they speak? You know, we don't--nobody knows. There's no clue in the spirit of prophecy. There's no clue in the Bible. We don't know what they spoke at all, whether it was English, whether it was Hebrew, whether it was something totally different. But I'll tell you, the way things are going around this world right now, it's not going to be far--not very long before we'll be able to ask God directly or be able to talk with Adam directly ourselves too.

In this second part of the Sunday lesson, the second creation account presents God as close up and personal to us, a very eminent God. It denotes the closeness. It denotes the relationship with God. And we find that that was the relationship that Adam and Eve had in the Garden with God. They walked and talked with God. And can you imagine being in that situation to be able to just talk openly with God? God didn't even have to hide His face as He did in Moses's situation. Adam was able to just talk face to face with God.

You know, a lot of the hymns come to my recollection, face to face with my Redeemer, to be able to talk and converse with God. Could we do that today? Not a chance. Sin cannot stand in the presence of God. We would be totally wiped out in that regards. In the other verse that I'd like to bring to your attention Psalms 139, verse 13, the Bible tells us here, "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You," why? "Because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, that my soul knows very well."

So, here we have this God, God who is very far, but yet transcendent so that He is very near and very close to us. There's this image of God that appears, and we also have one more verse that I'd like to bring to your attention. It's found in Revelation chapter 14, verse 7. It says, "Fear God, give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, and the sea and springs of water." I was doing a Bible study this week and talking with a gentleman. He was not sure about this word "fear." To him, fear was as if he dreaded, he was scared of, that that's how we should view God. But I want to bring you a different perspective of that. To fear God is not to be scared of God, far from it, totally the opposite. To fear God is actually to respect Him, to revere Him, to be in awe of Him. All those words also are synonymous with the word "fear God." We think about the vast power of God because He holds the world in His hand, and that's for each and every one of us today.

As we look into Monday's lesson, Monday's lesson the creation, what do we find out about creation? Well, creation is--this is an interesting point because we find that God made, day one, He made. And then it says, "And it was good." It was good. Did you ever have a meal sometimes where you sit down, your wife made it and you sit down? And you're done with it, and you're like, "That was good"? Wasn't it? Now, you don't want to eat too much of it because you know overeating is a sin, so you just don't want to have-- it was very good. That would be Thanksgiving time period. But it was good. God said it was good. He didn't have those terms today. Like if He had terms today, He would probably say, "Wow, dude, that was awesome," right? But that's not how God talks in that sense. It was good. It was just perfect in that sense.

This adjective that God's the work of creation was successful and that God's observation, it was good. The Hebrew word "tov" is also the same meaning as this. The phrase, "it was good" in God's eyes means it was perfect. It was perfect. I mean, I don't know about you, but if you could only see creation in review, I don't ever imagine God said, "Well, not that way." You ever move furniture for people? "Oh, could you just move it a little further? No, no, no, bring it back." No, no, God's not like that. He just spoke and there it was. I mean, you think of the trees. You think of the leaves. You think about the infrastructure of the trees and how it brings moisture up and how you get photosynthesis through the leaves. And you wonder, how did He do that? I mean, how did He speak? He didn't just sit there at the drafting table and figure out, "Okay, let's do this with photosynthesis. And then you have all these chemical reactions." No, it was He just spoke and it was. Isn't that cool? The description of creation radically contradicts the theory of evolution.

I remember several years ago I was in South Dakota, and I came upon these archaeologists that were digging up some dinosaur bones. And, or maybe they weren't archaeologists, but they were digging up stuff. And I asked all for them. I said, "Are you Christians?" "Yeah, yeah, we're all Christians." I said, "Really? So, how old do you think some of these bones are?" One said, "Maybe 50 million years." The other said, "Oh, maybe 150 million years." And I'm thinking really, and you're a Christian?

Well, obviously, there are different concepts of Christian just like there are different concepts of the age of the world. But when we look at this, many scholars have taken the impression that the world is in what we refer to as long time periods. We call this day age theory, that the day could have been a thousand years. I struggle with that because if God just spoke and it is, why did He have to take a thousand years to be able to do just that? He could have easily spoke and it was written.

I want to read you something from the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. And it says here, "Many scholars have taken this expression to mean long or indefinite period of time believing that some of the divine activities of the following days, as for instance, the creation of plants and animals could not have been accomplished within literal, a literal day." They think that they find a justification in this for the interpretation of 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 8, which says, "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years." You've heard that before? But what they forget is the other part of that text. You see, it says here that the text cannot be used to ascertain the length of creation is obvious when one reads the rest of the verse which says, "And a thousand years as one day." See, these are the guys that say, "Oh, you know, it's done away with. You know, the Sabbath day, it was done away with. It was nailed to the cross." You can't pick and choose. You can't slice and dice. It is God's Word, and it's the whole, not just parts thereof.

So, we find that the context in Peter's words makes it clear that he wishes to stress the timelessness of God the Creator can do in a day, the work of a thousand years. And in a period of a thousand years, a long time for those waiting for God's judgment to be fulfilled, may be considered by Him as only one day. In Genesis chapter 1, verse 31, the last verse of chapter 1, it says, "Then God saw everything He had made, and indeed it was very good."

Now, we get that extra word in there. It wasn't just good. No, day one, two, three, four, five, it was good. But day six, it was very good. When I read and I study this, "very good," the creation of man and his installation as ruler of the earth brought the creation of all earthly things to a close. According to the record, God had frequently reviewed His work and pronounced it good. The survey undertaken at the end of the six day embraced all works completed during the previous days, and behold, it was very good. Everything was perfect in its kind. Every creature met the goal appointed by the Creator and was equipped to accomplish the purpose for which it was created.

So, the application of the term "good" to everything God had made and the repetition of the word with the emphasis "very" at the close of it, with man as its crown and glory indicate that nothing imperfect had come forth from God's hand. That's why it was very good.

On the other hand, though, let me just say because some would say, "Well, if everything was very good, then how did sin come out of that, that it was very good and it was perfect?" Listen to what the commentary says. It says, "This expression of admiration entirely excludes the possibility that any imperfection in creation was responsible for the weakness demonstrated by Adam and Eve during their hour of temptation." So, that brings to a close Monday.

We get to Tuesday's lesson, Tuesday's lesson is on the Sabbath. Now, you're very familiar with this, so I want you to say it with me if you know it by heart. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," that's if you know it, right? "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work. You, nor your sons, nor your daughters, nor your manservant, nor your male servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gate. For in seven days--no, six days, God created the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. And He rested on the," first day of the week, right? No. "He rested on the seventh day of the week. Therefore, God blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

You know, when I talk to people about the Sabbath day, I'll say to them, "Do you remember when you were growing up as a kid? Did you ever have your parents say to you, 'Now, clean your room. Remember, when you come back from school, remember, clean your room.'" How many of you remember saying that? Hearing that? How many of you said that to your own kids? I did it. I had it said to me many times because my room was not the cleanest room in the house. And so, that word "remember" applies to us specifically today because this is a time period where God knew we would forget about the Sabbath day. So, the Sabbath here is a very special day.

What I find very interesting is--and I have a good chuckle when people say, "But the Sabbath is a Jewish institution. It was created for the Jews." Really? How is that possible when Adam and Eve were the first two on the earth? We don't even know if they were Hebrew, and yet the Sabbath was instituted there. It wasn't given for the Jews, it was given as a memorial of creation's week. To keep the Sabbath is to join with God in the recognition of the value and the beauty of His creation. This is why we rest. This is why we cease from our labors. We can rest from our work--works, just as God had rested from His work. And you've heard it say some people said, "But, um, you know, I worship God on Friday, on Thursday. I worship God every day of the week."

Yes, that's fine, so do I. But there's a difference between stopping your labor--you don't stop your labor on Monday, nor Tuesday, nor Wednesday, nor Thursday or Friday. Sabbath is the day that you cease from your labor as a memorial for God's creation. That is why the word "remember" comes up. But yet this pagan concept keeps coming up over and over and over.

The Sabbath is a sign at the end of our human week, that the suffering and trials of this world will have ended also as well. This is why, the lesson says, Jesus chose the Sabbath as the most appropriate day to heal the sick. I find this was interesting as I studied this some more because by the Sabbath healing, Jesus pointed people and us to a time period when there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more death, because it will all be over because this is the ultimate conclusion to the Salvation process. Hence, each Sabbath points us to the hope of redemption. We find that by resting on the Sabbath, how are we experiencing the rest and the salvation that we have in Jesus now?

That brings us to Wednesday, the creation of humanity. In Genesis 1:26 to 29, the Bible says, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image.'" Probably one of the most profound sentences you can find in the Bible, "God made us in His image." In His image, in His Son's image, we were made according to our likeness, is what God said. "Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him."

Notice it says it right there at the beginning, and then it reiterates it again. "He created him; male and female He created them." I could bring up a lot of stuff right now in regards to today's society in relationship to this. But that's a whole other lesson, a whole other sermon. But know this, there were only two types that God created, amen, male and female. And how were they created? They were created in a template of God under--just like His image.

John writes about Jesus. Jesus answered and says, "If you've seen Me, you've seen my Father." So, the more we become more Christ-like, the more people will see in us our Father. Verse 29--or, sorry, verse 28. "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so. And when God saw everything that He had made, indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

In the video review when we get to heaven, I would love to be able to see God bending down and just digging down into the dirt and forming man. I mean, I don't know how we--He would have structured the veins, the capillaries, and all that stuff just out of dirt. That would be fascinating to watch. And, you know, I came across this. It said, "A group of scientists were fed up with the literal interpretation of Genesis in the creation story, so the scientists sent an emissary to talk with God about the whole thing. And they planned to entrap God. And they figured, 'We'll make this into a human-making contest.' So, the scientists think that they have figured it all out and that they can create humans faster and better than God."

So, they came together. God said to the scientists, "Okay, you guys go first." So, the scientists gathered together. And one of them bends over, and he scoops up some dirt. And God says, "No, you go get your own dirt." We like to make ourselves and form ourselves into other things, but we were made in the image of God. And that is the same image that God is trying to bring us to in these last days, into his image.

But the problem for us in these last days is that we have been so demented by this world. According to what we find, the tree of life was given to us. There was a stipulation there, "You should not eat of it. You can't touch it." What was the purpose of that? Did God purposely put that there just to ensnare us? No, it was there for the healing of the nations. We couldn't eat that. That was the one thing that God had set up.

We find here in a Review and Herald article, it says here that Christ is the source of light, the fountain of life. He brings us to His Word and from the tree of life presents to us the leaves for the healing of the nation. It is His purpose that human beings, purified and sanctified, shall be His helping hand. He leads us to the throne of God and gives us a prayer to offer Him. When we live this prayer, we are brought into close contact with Christ. At every step, we touch His living power. In our behalf, He sets in operation the all-powerful agencies of heaven.

In this lesson on Thursday, The Duty of Humanity, we find here that the duty of man, the first is for the natural environment. We are to tend it and to keep it. That means we got to be careful with the garbage. Now, I'm not saying everybody has to go green, make sure you recycle everything. But we should do our part. I remember a number of years ago when I was in Haiti, I was helping out with the earthquake efforts that happened over there. We came to a canal area, and you couldn't see the water. It was probably 2, 3 feet deep with trash, garbage, plastic, all sorts of junk was thrown in there. And I'm asking them, well, why is that there? They said, "Oh, don't worry. When it rains, it cleans it out." Well, how does it clean it out? Because it just wipes it and pushes it right into the ocean. I'm thinking, you know, that's for us to take care of.

The second duty that was given to man was concerning food. God didn't create the trees or the food for them. Sorry, humans didn't create that, God created that for us. And that was a gift of grace. It was God's gracious gift that He said every tree had fruit. Now, I don't know about some of you, but if you've ever tried the king of fruit before, do you know what the king of fruit is? It's durian. It doesn't grow over here. It's probably the most dangerous fruit in the world too because you literally almost have to wear gloves to touch it. How many of you have ever smelled durian before? There's a few of you. The rest of you, I'll just warn you, you probably don't. Just give it to me instead, okay? It is a wonderful fruit.

The third duty that God gave to man concerns a woman. He took out of Him his rib, the bonds of marriage. That first day, Friday, can you imagine that time period? That must have been so amazing for Adam to be able to look around, and you can imagine his loneliness. He sees all these animals in pairs. He sees the giraffes. We don't even know for sure what animals, but we do know this for sure, only the animals that God made were in the ark, right?

You ever been to the Ark Encounter over there? If you've ever been in there, they've got some interesting-- I mean, it's very cool. But when you walk into that ark and you see some of those animals, it's like, I don't think so. That's not the animal that God created. Only the animals God created were there. And Adam's looking around. He's thinking, "Wow, this is wonderful. There's two of them, there's two of them, there's two of them. But God, why is there only one of me?" I wonder if that was an afterthought. Did God really plan to have just one, or was he just building up to the suspense to be able to say, ♪ "Dant dant da da, ♪ there it is. For you, just for you, made from you." That would have been really amazing.

So, we find the bond of marriage was a gift of God. And the pinnacle of that gift was the intimacy that they have. You see, when you look at that, it's kind of like--I wish I had brought something with me in this regards. But it's like a pyramid. You build this foundational relationship and then as you're dating, you're going through your engagement, you're building up to the very top of that pyramid, which is the ultimate intimacy. But you see what happens is, in that triangle part, the world flips it upside down. Everything is about this one-night-stand relationship. And so, you invert it upside down and all of a sudden, what's supposed to be up on top is all the way on the bottom, which is why marriages don't last. There's no foundation to stand on.

And what I do for when I'm dealing with young people is I have this glass pyramid. And I'll say, "Okay, I want you to make it stand on its tip." And you'll see them up there trying. It's like, there's no hope of it. Then you explain to them God's plan was it to be this way, never this way... God's ways are always the right ways, are they not? So, the bond of marriage entails human responsibility, once the gift had been received, the responsibility that rests with both man and woman to be fulfilled in faithfulness. You also find that it says a man shall leave his mother and father. This is why it's important for young people not to go from the home right into marriage. They got to live for a little while on their own.

I know all of you that are here, mostly--most of you are adults. The young people are in their classes, which are your children. So, encourage them that they when they go out there, live on your own so that, you know, mom's not doing all the cooking for you. Mom's not doing all the laundry. You got to figure out those things. You got to figure out why your whites are turning like colored because you're not supposed to throw everything in the wash on hot, same colors and all that. They need to figure that out. This is why they need to be on their own for a while.

We get to the last lesson, April 1. There's really nothing, no topic that's mentioned for that, but it just says this. It says about Mrs. White writing and it says, "Since the book of nature and the book of Revelation bear the impress of the same mastermind, they cannot but speak in harmony. Science is ever discovering new wonders because she brings from her research nothing that rightly understood conflicts with divine revelation."

I remember when I was in the seminary, one of the things that I really enjoyed studying was about archeology, about creation. And you find the different things that pop up in the geologic column. How many of you know what the geologic column is? Anybody out there? Yeah, some of you've studied this. The geologic column is kind of interesting because, you see, at the very bottom--hang with me because it may be boring for some of you, but there's a reason for that.

At the very, very bottom of time, you have what is referred to as the Precambrian level. Then you get to the Cambrian, then from the Cambrian, you get to the Paleozoic. And then from the Paleozoic, you get to the Cenozoic. And then from Cenozoic, you get to the Mesozoic. So, what do you have at the very bottom? You have these little trilobites, these little, tiny organisms. And then when you get into the Paleozoic time period, you get these crustaceans, shellfish and different things like that. And into the Mesozoic, you get the next level and then you get to the Cenozoic. And then all of a sudden, you are at the bigger mammals, mammals. And then on top of all that, then you get to man.

Do you understand what I'm talking about? It sounds good. But you see, this is--this whole geologic column is messed up. It is really, really messed up because, here's the reason it's messed up. You have all these different levels and at the very top of the level above the Cenozoic, you have man, and then man dies. Are you getting it? Man cannot be at the top. You cannot have death and dying before the fall of man. Are you with me? If man is at the top, how did death and dying occur all the way very down for millions and millions of so-called years? Not possible. Because God did not orchestrate it that way. Things get messed up. Everything got rumbled up when you had the flood. All the different levels did not come out the way it is, and this is why Satan's been having a wonderful time messing with people's minds because this is not how it was. This was never God's plan for all this.

We read the article that is in Friday's lesson and it says, "Interferences erroneously draw from facts observed in nature have, however, led to supposed conflict between science and revelation. And in the effort to restore harmony, interpretations of Scriptures have been adopted that undermine and destroy the force of the Word of God. Geology has been thought to contradict the literal interpretation of the mosaic record of the creation. Millions of years, it is claimed, were required for evolution of the earth from chaos and into that, you have order."

Do you understand the complexities of evolution? That would be like taking a very fine Swiss watch, taking it all apart, all the different pieces that you have, and then you throw it into your washing machine. And you set your washing machine on 570 million years, and you come back at the end of 570 million years. You open the washer, and behold, you get a $50,000 Swiss watch perfectly put together. That's the chances of evolution working.

But there's another reason that you have to understand that Satan is so involved with this and that evolution--you realize that people didn't understand evolution prior to 1844? Because it was in 1844 in September that Charles Darwin released to longhand of his original writings called "The Origin of Species." Longhand wasn't--that was just the original form, September of 1844. How did that happen all of a sudden like that? Well, it's pretty easy to understand because Daniel 8:14 tells us that unto 2300 days, the sanctuary shall be cleansed. And the devil knew that his timeframe was almost up. He had just till October 22 till Christ moved from the holy to the Most Holy Place. He had to get something going. So, he inspires Charles Darwin, "Write this, that you came from a monkey."

Now, I don't know about you but for me, when I go to the zoo, it's not a family reunion. For Charles Darwin, perhaps it was. But you see, Satan knew his time period was nearly coming to an end, and he had to come up with an alter--alternative because that alternative had to be able to take people's eyes off of the fact that God is the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the Creator who created the earth in six literal days. He had to take their eyes off the fact that God is not only the Creator of heaven and earth in six literal days, but He is also their Redeemer. Satan had only so much time and in that time period, he has to deceive as many people as possible that "there is no Creator. You came out of a monkey. You came out of these forms." And this is exactly what the Bible is trying to say to us.

Mrs. White concludes this in Education page 128. It says, "Such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. The Bible record is in harmony with itself and with the teaching of nature."

Throughout the Bible, you will find it says this, it says this. You will find science saying these other things, but I refer you back to Isaiah chapter 8, verse 20, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to this Word, how much light is in them? Zero. There is no light in them because what we are called for, the Genesis account is not just about creation. It is also about grace. It is about the beginning of the human race. It is about God coming up away to redeem man from the bowels of sin.

All throughout this week's lesson, we find many things that point us to a loving Creator who is trying to bring us back to His original image, the image of Christ. As you meet with people and as you talk with them, bring up these points to them to jar their thinking, to make them think for a moment, especially with evolutionists.

Now, I will just say this, don't argue. It's never worth arguing. Arguing never wins anything. And if you want to know for sure if it's, perhaps, a family member, pray about it and ask the Lord to make them ask you the questions about God. Because in so doing, you know that God has already primed their heart, God has softened their heart, and God is making them question because they're ready. And in asking those questions, he's saying to you, "Go easy. They're just starting off." So, don't hit them with a whole bunch of stuff, but bring them slowly by listening to what the Holy Spirit prompts you to say on this topic. Because all in all today, 2022, the challenges of today is that Satan is trying to deface the image of God. He's trying to deface creation. He's trying to deface the fact that Jesus is coming again.

Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank You for this particular lesson You gave us this week. We thank You for creating us in Your image. We ask that we would act like we were created in Your image. Help us to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. We thank You. In Jesus's name, amen. God bless you all.

male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing free resource. Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device. To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address shown on your screen. And be sure to select the digital download option on the request page. It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, and most important, to share it with others.

announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives. male: I actually grew up in a loving home, had no religious background. My parents were completely secular. I had questions in my life like most young people do. What does my future hold for me? And what is my purpose of even being here? They were questions that my parents couldn't answer. Because of moving around a lot, I found it kind of hard to adjust at times.

By the time I made it into high school, my grades were really terrible, and I had a problem with authority. I started smoking at the age of 14 and drinking by the age of 15. I really started getting involved with crime, break and enter, selling drugs, stealing cars. At one point, I had overdosed on ecstasy, and I was doing anything I could just to find some sort of excitement or something that reflected some version of happiness in my life.

I didn't want to be alone, and I was looking for some sort of relationship. I had found myself in Australia, and I met a girl down there who was a Christian girl. And we really started to hit it off. We ended up in a long, fairly long, relationship. We were together for about seven years.

Neither one of us were having a relationship with God. We kind of excluded Him out of what we were doing, and we were just trying to do everything on our own. When we came out of that relationship, I ended up in a really deep depression. I was so depressed that I was coming home. And as soon as the door closed behind me, I would drop down to my knees and just start crying. I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I tried to take my life at one point with pills, and it wasn't because I wanted to die. I just I didn't want to feel this way anymore. It hurt so bad and I'd never felt so lonely. I would end up in my bedroom, and I was praying for hours each day, and that was kind of my life. I was alone and unhappy. And I really needed answers.

I'd started studying the Bible and found Amazing Facts online and was watching hours of sermons each day, spending more time with Pastor Doug Batchelor and really getting a lot of the answers to the questions that I was seeking out. I felt that there was hope that was coming through that and that was kind of pulling me out of, gradually pulling me out of the darkness that I was in. So eventually, I decided I was going to go to church. I would drive to the church, and I would sit in the parking lot for about half an hour, and then I would drive home.

Eventually I found myself inside the church. They were all quite amazed that I kind of found my own way there. I started building relationships with people there, and my life really started changing. Eventually, I was baptized. I still, I couldn't get enough. I wanted to read more, I wanted to study more, and all these new things that I was learning were, it all made sense to me. I prayed to God specifically for two things at this point. I prayed for a new job, and I prayed for an opportunity in my life, some direction. And within one week, He had answered the prayer.

I got a new job, and I was going to be starting right away. But He also answered the other prayer. Two ladies in my church came up to me and offered to send me to go to AFCOE. My life has changed so much since I started following God's path for me. I'm just so much happier in my life, and I realize that there's so much more in this world that I can do to help others. And I look forward to a life of service to God.

Announcer: Amazing Facts, Change Lives.

Gary: Early 1980, all the baby boomers were turning 21, and the nightclub scenes were exploding, and I started a entertainment lighting company.

female: I was the president, and there were six divisions, doing the raves in the '80s and '90s, you know, in some warehouse where you're setting up lighting and fog and, you know, who knows what's going on in there, and nightclub installations. I loved it, and it was who I was.

Gary: Bought a new house out of town, and we moved about two or three times, but we were always going into different churches. We were in a Lutheran Church, and then we were in a Methodist Church. I think we were in three different Baptist churches. My wife was raised Catholic. I was raised Methodist. Currently, I've been up, reading all the Hal Lindsey books and watching all the, "Left Behind" movies, and so I really wanted to understand what the book of Revelation was all about, but nothing really ever made sense to me.

Female: One day, Pastor Lloyd Logan came knocking, and he had that Net '99 flyer.

Lloyd Logan: We were preparing for an evangelistic series, and different people were going different directions with handbills to invite people to the meetings.

Female: I saw that coming at me, you know, all the colors, and I thought, "Oh, no, this is some kind of cult thing." Lloyd: And she said, "Thank you very much, but I'm not much interested myself, but my husband likes that kind of thing." Female: And Lloyd said, "Would you give it to him, please?" And I said, "Okay, I will." So I took the pamphlet, and I put it on the calendar. Gary came home, and he walked by it.

Gary: Ran to the kitchen to quickly eat and take a shower and go back out and work a show.

Female: Two, three days went by like this, and I had moved that brochure from the calendar, put it on the dining room table, put it back on the counter, and I actually threw it in the garbage. As I threw it in that garbage can, I could hear him and see his face saying, "Would you give it to him, please?" And I actually took the garbage out. And that night, lying in bed, I kept seeing his face and hearing his voice, and thinking, "Oh, boy, I got to get that brochure out of the garbage." And I took that, and I put it right underneath the remote control. Bright colors. He'll see it.

Gary: I finally sat down in my living room, and I picked up the remote, and I saw that angel holding out that scroll.

Female: "Whoa, cool. What is this?" And I was in the kitchen cooking, and I thought, "Oh, no."

Gary: And I looked at it, and I turned it over, and then I saw a little building, a little church building, and it wasn't too far away. It was about six houses down, and it said, "Friday night."

Female: And I certainly wasn't going. I mean, it wasn't my intention to go.

Gary: I didn't have any shows going on that night, and so I thought it was a one-night deal. I went, and as I heard about the millennium man, I was just blown away. I didn't want it to end. I knew what I was hearing was all from the Scripture, and it wasn't based on Hollywood movies or other books that were written. They said, "Come again tomorrow night," and I thought, "Wow, great, two nights." So I tried to tell my wife about it, and she still wasn't interested, and then she decided to come.

Female: I started to hear the truth, you know, and I started to get fed.

Gary: Every night, after the seminar, they would hand us an Amazing Facts study guide. I couldn't do those fast enough.

Female: The business kept us going seven days a week, and it was night and day.

Gary: Crews working all around the clock, and so, when we finally heard the Sabbath message, you know, so far, everything's been true, right from the Bible.

Female: Church on Saturday, no work. Anyway, it all clicked.

Gary: Both our heads turned at each other. Our jaws dropped open.

Female: I said, "We can't do that."

Gary: And the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "We have to."

Female: I knew that it would be a sacrifice, and I was in fear about it.

Gary: We didn't know how we were going to do it, but we talked to the pastor about it, and the pastor said, "Well, just pray about it, and God will open doors."

Female: I didn't want to give up all the connections I had made, all the networking, all the money, all the investment.

Gary: We went to the board and ask them if they would consider closing on Saturday, and they agreed to, so we closed the storefront on Saturday, but we were still doing productions, and that kind of bothered us, so a couple months later, God opened the door for my wife. She exited the company. I prayed about it, and God opened the door for me too.

Female: Gary, shortly after, was offered a job being paid more money than he made as an owner of the company.

Gary: He said, "I'll give you a thousand-dollar raise, and you will never work another weekend.

Female: And we were able to keep the Sabbath and enjoy the wonderful blessings that God had for us on the Sabbath day.

Gary: My kids never again had to say, "Quit talking about work." After the seminar was over, my wife and I, and my children were all baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Even if I gave up everything, I knew that God would have something better.

Female: I have much more understanding, and there's much more depth in my Christian walk with the Lord.

Gary: We started an Amazing Facts Bible School at a church that allows anybody to understand the Scriptures, understand the end times. Church changed my life dramatically, and I'm very happy and excited to be a part of it.