Today's Passage - 1 Timothy 2 13-15

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english 1 Timothy 2:13-15   For Adam was formed first, then Eve.   And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.  But women will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety...     In this passage, Paul stressed that God made Adam first, not Eve; therefore, according to the order of creation, Adam came before Eve.  Also, Eve was the first one deceived by Satan, not Adam, so there's not much that Eve could brag about.  Paul didn't mean to degrade women, but rather he was rebuffing the misconception towards Eve by the Gnostics.  From the perspective of salvation, it doesn't matter who sinned first, for we are all sinners and fell short of God's glory.  We are equally sinful before God, so there's no point arguing who's more just and who's more evil, for we all need the salvation of the Lord.  Anyone who is in Christ will receive new life, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here!"    When you become a new creation, all things will be gone; whether it's old sins, old wounds or even bad habits, you can proclaim that all of these will be gone.  You, however, must let them pass away, not hanging on to them.  Many people constantly life in the failures and hurts of the past; they regret the past and blame on God and people, because they do not understand that in Christ one can become a new creation.  This new creation is not only new in the spirit, but also new deep down in the soul and feelings.  God proclaims in the book of Isaiah that "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities.  As long as we entrust our lives to Him, He can heal us and renew us and make us whole again.   There is a saying in English: "Let go and Let God."  Let us lay down ourselves and let God work inside us.  We hang on to our past because we don't believe that God has a better answer, but in fact God's way is higher than our way and God's ways are higher than our ways and God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  Let us bring ourselves to Him, and His salvation will come upon us!                  Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, please release us if we are still living in the shadow of our past, and help us to become new creation in Christ, because your way is truly higher than our way and your mind is higher than our mind.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!