Marv Wiseman

The Scope of Adam’s Transgression (Part 2) 

The scope of Adam’s sin reached much farther than just our first parents.  The moral contaminant called “sin”, though not a physical entity but a moral one, somehow affixed itself to the psyche, or the human spirit, or Adam and Eve, and was, then, passed on to every succeeding generation.  How this could be without having physical characteristics such as we see in the genes and chromosomes, we do not know.  Continue reading “The Scope of Adam’s Transgression (Part 2) “ →

Marv Wiseman

The Divine Rationale for Creation 

      The Divine Rationale for Creation - Pr. Marv Wiseman

It might be expected to be found at the beginning of the Bible, but it isn’t.  It’s found at the ending.  In Revelation, chapter 4, in a single verse often overlooked, we find the most succinct expression of why God created anything and everything.  This alone, in the final analysis, provides us with the only true rationale behind the creative acts of God. Continue reading “The Divine Rationale for Creation “ →

Marv Wiseman

The Necessity of Human Volition (Part 4)

      The Necessity of Human Volition (Part 4) - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The first man, Adam, was the father of us all.  He alone, by primogenitor, became the federal head of the entire human race.  It is not an exaggeration to note that the entirety of Adam’s posterity was literally in his loins.  The genetic cessation that began in this one man, Adam, is now realized in every living human being, as well as every human who has ever lived that is now deceased.  Does the Bible actually teach this?  Continue reading “The Necessity of Human Volition (Part 4)” →

Marv Wiseman

What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 2)

      What Comprises the Human Spirit - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The non-physical composition of a human being is surely the most complex and mysterious of one’s personhood.  Even though there yet remains much about our physical self we don’t understand, our non-physical self is simply mind-boggling.  We know so little about us that it ought to evoke a profound humility.  Just what it is that makes us tick truly does defy comprehension, at least in many areas of our being.  Continue reading “What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 1)

      What Comprises the Human Spirit - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The human spirit, possessed by every human being, is that immaterial part of our being that is as real as our physical body.  And, make no mistake about it, every human person possesses a human spirit.  It’s a principle ingredient necessary to humanity.  Even if a person declares himself to be very unspiritual or disinterested in things of the spirit, no matter, he can deny it, but he cannot escape it.  He has a human spirit. Continue reading “What Comprises the Human Spirit (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 5)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 5 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Scripture has revealed repeatedly that humans possess an immaterial part of our being called the “spirit”.  This is the human spirit, not to be confused with the Holy Spirit.  But, from whence cometh this human spirit?  If we all have one, how did we get it?  When did we get it?  What does it do?  And, what does it consist of? Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 5)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 4)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 4 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Compared to a human being’s spirituality, our physicality is almost simple in its being.  Well, no, that’s not really true.  Matter of fact, there is nothing classified as simple regarding any aspect of our being.  Yet, comparatively speaking, we do comprehend a lot more about our physical being than we do our spiritual, and the reason should be intuitively obvious.  Virtually everything about our physical selves can be dissected, weighted, observed, x-rayed, and analyzed while we’re alive, and after we’re dead.  The human spirit, however, does not lend itself to understanding via any of those avenues.  Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 4)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 3)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 3 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The creation account of Adam’s spirit was very much a physical matter; that is, the manner in which his spirit was imparted to him.  The Genesis 2 text says that “God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.”  He was already a body because God had made him one out of the dust of the ground, but he was an inanimate body until God animated him with the breath of life.  It appeared that Adam was all put together, however God did that, and was all ready to go to begin life. Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 3)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 2)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

In examining the creation account of Adam in Genesis 2, one is struck by the distinction made between his creation and that of animals.  Of Adam alone, it is said that “God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became of living soul.”  There is no indication that God breathed into the nostrils of an ox or a dog, but He did so for man.  The text says Adam received special attention from the Creator God not enjoyed by other biological species.  In fact, all throughout Scripture, the fact of man being special, superior, to all other created beings is obvious.  Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 1)

      The Origin of the Human Spirit - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

The Genesis text in chapter 2 is very forthright.  God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.  The “soul” constitutes the totality of our personhood.  It appears the soul is part physical in our body and part non-physical in our spirit.  Spirit plus body comprises the soul.  A distinction between them is made in the Magnificate of Mary in Luke 1.  Upon hearing the angel Gabriel tell her she was to be the mother of Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and Savior of mankind, the virgin Mary exclaimed, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”  Continue reading “The Origin of the Human Spirit (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

Adam Was Created by God 

      Adam was Created by God - BARA - Pr. Marv Wiseman

We have noted that Adam was made by God, and the Hebrew word “yatsar” conveys the idea of something made from pre-existing materials.  Adam was so made, according to Genesis 2, and the pre-existing material was the earth itself.  But something else about Adam needs to be noted: He was created as well as made.  So, what’s the difference?  His being made utilized pre-existing materials, but his being created did not.  An entirely different Hebrew word is used for created…“bara”.  This implies that there were no pre-existing materials, but something about Adam was created, or brought into existence for him, that did not exist previously.  Continue reading “Adam Was Created by God “ →

Marv Wiseman

Adam Was Made by God 

      Adam was Made by God - YATSAR - Pr. Marv Wiseman

Nothing that God has made so defies understanding, at least in the depth we would like, as man himself.  A human being remains the very most complex and mysterious of all the works of God.  It’s humbling to admit it, but it is undeniably true that that which most perplexes us is the very species of our own being.  And, this incredible complexity was all resident in the first of the human species God ever made…the man, Adam.  Was there, in fact, such a being as the historical Adam, the first man as recorded in Genesis 1 and 2?  Continue reading “Adam Was Made by God “ →

Marv Wiseman

Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 2)

      Spirit-God Created Matter - Part 2 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

As strange as it seems and sounds, it is non-the-less true.  Spirit created matter, or it might be said that non-matter created matter.  That is a stretch, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that nothing created something.  When it is said that non-matter created matter it is not to say nothing created something but, rather, Spirit created something.  Spirit is non-material, but Spirit is not “nothing”.  Spirit is simply not physical.  Continue reading “Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 2)” →

Marv Wiseman

Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 1)

      Spirit-God Created Matter - Part 1 - Pr. Marv Wiseman

We know that God is Spirit because Scripture reveals it generally and Christ asserted it specifically in John 4, when He declared God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  But this is still a mind-bending concept, isn’t it?  Consider, spirit does not occupy time and space.  In eternity, there is no matter, no substance, and no time, nor is there any need for such.  All we can say of the eternal spirit is what Isaiah stated in his 57th that God inhabits eternity.  Continue reading “Spirit-God Created Matter (Part 1)” →

Marv Wiseman

The Origin of It All… Creation Week 

      The Origin of It All - Creation Week - Pr. Marv Wiseman

No matter how you describe it, the origin of the first human being sounds to our modern minds very extraordinary, perhaps improbable to many, and, to some, even impossible.  There is, however, nothing impossible or improbable about it if one is willing to embrace divine revelation and the account given in Genesis 1.  But, if not, little recourse is left except the Darwinian hypothesis of biological evolution.  Continue reading “The Origin of It All… Creation Week “ →

Marv Wiseman

The Holy Spirit in the Creation

      The Holy Spirit in Creation - Pr. Marv Wiseman

We need look no further than the very first chapter of Genesis to find critical activity of the Holy Spirit of God.  Genesis 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning,” Elohim-“God created the heavens and the earth,” And “God” is clearly in the Hebrew plural and rendered “Elohim”.  Following in verse 2, the Holy Spirit of God is referenced with the words “and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Hebrew word for “move” is the word translated into English as “brooded”, brooded in the way a mother hen broods over her anticipated chicks in incubation. Continue reading “The Holy Spirit in the Creation” →

Marv Wiseman

God – Self-existent, Self-sufficient 

      God: Self-Existent, Self-Sufficient - Pr. Marv Wiseman

In our ongoing consideration of the attributes of God, we noted that God is the uncaused first Cause.   Either someone or something was prior to everything, and, if we say it was something, we begin everything and everyone from an origin of non-intelligence, and that’s a very big pill to swallow.  Logically, philosophically, scientifically, and biblically, that pill won’t go down at all. Continue reading “God – Self-existent, Self-sufficient “ →

Marv Wiseman

God – The Uncaused First Cause 

      God: The Uncaused First Cause - Pr. Marv Wiseman

You can mark it down and there are no exceptions.  It’s an age-old, philosophical and scientific maxim.   Without fear of contradiction or equivocation, it stands as an irrefutable principle of time and eternity, and it’s both simple and profound.  Here it is:  Everything that had a beginning must have a cause.  There is nothing that exists that did not have an efficient cause which produced it.  Continue reading “God – The Uncaused First Cause “ →