Hang this question up in your homes – “What would Jesus do?” and then think of another – “How would Jesus do it?” For what Jesus would do, and how He would do it, may always stand as the best guide to us.
C.H. Spurgeon

How Does God Keep His Promises

How Does God Keep His Promises

PRIME RIB

Prime Rib snuggled down happily inside her rib cage. It was warm, cozy

and very dark inside Adam. All the other ribs were fast asleep. Even

though the light of day couldn ‘t tell Prime Rib the lateness of the

hour, she some how knew that Adam should have been up and about his

work long ago. She moved rhythmically up and down as he breathed

slowly. He seemed to be very asleep, she thought. She liked being

so near his heart. Somehow that felt just right. She was where she

was made to be. Suddenly the world seemed to spin! There was a

deafening noise as the flesh above her was severed. Prime Rib

screamed and all the other little ribs woke up. For the first time in

her life she saw the blue sky, although she did not know that was

what it was of course. It certainly looked different than the blackness

that she was accustomed to. And then, she saw HIM…OMNIPOTENCE!

He was smiling at her in the strangest sort of way. “Prime Rib,” He

said, “I’ve chosen you for a very special task. I want you to help

Adam.” “How?” she whispered. “Well, you’ve been a help already,”

He said, “but you will be even more of a blessing outside of his body.

Have you noticed that you are in a cage down there?…Wouldn’t you like

to be free?” “Free? Outside? What is that?” she gasped. “Well,” He

said patiently, “You are there, and there is inside. I am here and here

is outside.” “Well, if outside is there with OMNIPOTENCE, it must be far

better,” thought Prime Rib. “I’m going to take you gently between my

thumb and forefinger little rib. I’m going to break you away from your

man’s heart and change your structure by giving you a body like his.

Lastly I’m going to breathe on you and your going to become a living soul.”

“But what will be my purpose for existance divorced from Adam?” Prime Rib

cried, “I’ll die! Separated from him I’ll feel like a useless spare rib.

I don’t know if I want to get out of my cage.” “But don’t you see,

you will be free to get right bace where you belong,” explained

OMNIPOTENCE. “Who said anything about being independent? You’ll have

more of a prime function than before. You will certainly bring more

joy to him as you yield and respond of your own free will than ever you

could as a mere piece of bone without the power of choice. Adam will be

conscience of something missing and well he might be! It will be you,

his Prime Rib. When I bring you together again, you will both be complete,

filling up in the other that which is lacking. Will you come?”

Prime Rib thought long and hard. To be more to Adam than she was now?

Why, now she was part of his very being. She decided to intrust herself

to His will and purpose. “Take me, OMMIPOTENCT.” she began, but her words

were lost as He laughed out loud. Prime Rib thought that she had

never in her life heard anything so fabulous as that sound. It filled

the universe. As OMNIPOTENCE cupped His little rib in His hands and

breathed upon her, heaven came down and glory filled her soul. It was

done! It was finished! She was a “maness”. And the Lord God closed

up Adam’s flesh, brought her to the man. The man said, “At last, this

is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called “woman”

because she was taken out of man.” Now Prime Rib was some what confused.

She had become so many things in such a short time. She still remembered

her humble origin. She knew in the words of Scripture “from whence she

was digged”. And at the same time balancing unsteadily as she was now on

her new feet, she contemplated that she was now like him whom she loved. She

was like Adam. She was a “maness”. Then a greater fact presented itself

to her new mind. The fact that she was now like HIM…like OMNIPOTENCE.

After His image. Eternal was her soul. Responsible must be her actions.

Free willing her spirit towards His commands. She had become a personal,

rational, moral being. Free forever to choose to fit back into Adam’s life.

OMNIPOTENCE smiled as He saw that it was all very, very good. A handfull

of dust in the hand of OMNIPOTENCE. The warm breath of God giving

life to the soul. A piece of dry bone to help meet his onliness. Yes,

God made a “maness” and Adam was whole.

You know that God could have used anything to make us. But I’m

glad that He used a bone and some dust because it reminds us not to get

to uppity. But the staggering fact is that man and “maness” did get

uppity. Can you imagine? They pulled the plug. They had been plugged

into the direct current that comes straight from the Transformer of

Heaven. And one day that little piece of bone with all the undeserved

blessings of a free will intrusted to her by the mighty God-head blew

a fuse. She recond quite wrongly in her “maness” brain that she had

simply stepped from one cage to another. This is the cage of expected

obedience. Now sure it was bigger, but does that mean that it was any

better? A terrible thought was then presented to Prime Rib. But

because she had never had a terrible thought before she didn’t realize how

terrible it was. It certainly was a different thought from the ones she

was used to having, but just because it use different didn’t mean that

it was wrong did it? The Snake assured her that it didn’t. Seeing how

he was the source of the terrible thought he was busy dressing it up

like a flower and making it smell sweet. “Why shouldn’t you escaped

and be your own person,” he inquired. “After all that was what OMNIPOTENCE

had in mind in the first place wasn’t it? Didn’t He say that He would

make you like Him? Well H e was His own God and did His own thing.

Surely to do the same thing would please Him. Why should you plug up

the hole in Adam’s heart? What about the hole in your heart? Why

waste time worrying about his needs? What about your needs?”

Prime Rib lay very still. Creation quietened, listening for her

answer. The Snake peered suspicously over his shoulder (which really

hurt since a snake’s shoulder goes all the way down to the tip of his

tail). He was trying to see what Jesus was doing. He knew that the

second person of the trinity was listening to Prime Rib’s response as

he had seen Him watching closely from the portals of heaven. “What

ever was He up to? It looked incredibly like He was packing a suit

case. Just where did He think that He was headed? He abruptly

returned to the scene of his crime and nestling close to Prime Rib’s

ear he suggested that she liberate Adam as well as herself. “Didn’t

OMNIPOTENCE say to help your man? Well help him to a new relationship,”

he said. Help him to grow up and to depend on Adam instead of you.

Sure he needs to be his own man. You can do it. Have an apple,” he

abruptly ended and subsided in a pile of leaves. If he could have

prayed for the success of his plot he would have done it. But of course

he couldn’t. He was now totally dependant upon himself to answer prayer

so it was no use asking for help. All he desired was the soul of Adam

and the soul of Eve. Prime Rib took the hand that OMNIPOTENCE had fashioned

and she plucked the piece of forbidden fruit. She placed it in between

her lips that OMNIPOTENCE had framed to praise HIM and absorbed into

her system the poison of independence, selfishness and death.

There was an explosion in heaven and Jesus booked his ticket to

Bethleham. “Power of the Rib!” shrieked the Snake. Oh, the power of the

Rib! A lion sprang upon a lamb and tore it to shreds. Two beautiful

elk locked horns in mortal combat. A cat began to play with a mouse.

And Eve went to find Adam. The angels were appauled. Surely Adam will

refuse the fruit. After all Adam was so strong. Look at all he had going

for him. Surely Prime Rib will be rebuked and rejected. “AHH” OMNIPOTENCE

sighed. He knew what Adam was about to do. He had known all along.

And yet he still to that little piece of bone and a hand full of dust

and HE gave them the dignity of personhood and freedom, knowing their

rejection. He planned for their redemption. OMNIPOTENCE could do it.

OMNIPOTENCE would do it. Because HE is OMNIPOTENCE…and OMNIPOTENCE

is love.

The Personhood of the Rib -Gen 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; (KJV) Gen 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (KJV)

The word means man and maness. Eve did’nt get called “Eve” until after

the fall.

The Place of the Rib.

We were taken from Adam’s side – not his feet, to be trampled on, not his

head to rule over him, but his side – to be a help to him.

We were made in the image of God. That means that we are like Him in

personality. We have the ability to think, create, will. In this way,

we are like Him.

The Power of the Rib.

She had a problem with her power. In one way, she had too little.

She did not have enough power to resist the Snake.

She had too much power over Adam.

Every one of us little ribs has the same problem. We do not have

the power on our own to overcome the Snake. It takes Christ on the

throne of our life.

We all have an “Adam” in our life which we have power over. Whether

it be a husband, son, employer, etc. you have

The Snake

I. His Lineage Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (KJV) Isaiah 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: (KJV) Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (KJV)

  1. He was a cherub
  2. He rebelled against God and one third of the angels went with him.

Ezekiel 28 starts out talking about the king of Tyre who was a

proud rebellious king. Then in verse 12 they start talking

about the one who is behind the king of Tyre. Ezek 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. (KJV) Ezek 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. (KJV) Ezek 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. (KJV) Ezek 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. (KJV)

So you see, this is why the little rib had trouble standing

up against all this power.

C. Where is he now?

See John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, and Eph. 2:2

  1. He is the prince of the air.
  2. He is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour

1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (KJV)

II. The Snake’s Line

  1. He is doing the same thing today as he did in the garden

so if we study that, then we will find out what he is up

to today.

He was after Adam. It is conceivable to think that he had

tried to tempt Adam before. You have heard the saying, “the

way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. No! the way

to a man’s heart is through his rib!

B. He realized the potential weaknesses of the rib.

  1. She talked too much. The Snake knew that she was used

to talking to the serpent. She didn’t think that it was

unusual at all. Of course it is not wrong to talk, but

it is a potential weakness and the Snake knows it. 1 Pet 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. (KJV) 1 Thes 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; (KJV) When we are talking all the time, we can not hear OMNIPOTENCE. Our voice was made to praise the LORD, not to talk to the Snake. We need to recognize the Snake’s voice. He is always putting those terrible thoughts into our mind. We need to immediatly ask the Lord to rebuke him, then sing priases to the Lord. The Snake can’t stand for us to praise the LORD so he will flee. Don’t talk to the Snake! Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. (KJV)

2. She had too much.

There she was in Paradise, she had everything she needed.

The Snake saw that Paradise was not enough. Can you say

that about America? When we have the best it is not

enough.

He obsesses our mind with the one fruit that is forbidden. Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (KJV) Paradise doesn’t really satisfy, it is OMNIPOTENCE in Paradise that makes the difference. 3. She wanted to much. The Snake noticed that she was will to listen to talk that made her reject her role. To want something other that God’s place, plan and His will is to want too much. He made her a maness not a godess.

III. The Snake’s Lie

  1. To Obey is to die.

OMNIPOTENCE said that to obey is to live.

Who was right? Gen 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. (KJV) His lie tells us that we will not be happy until we get out from under authority and do our own thing. In reality when we get out from under authority then we have no “umbrella of protection” from Satan’s attacks. B. He said that “ye shall not die”. C. He says that ye shall live if you are free from God and free from restrictions. IT’S A LIE!

IV. The Snake’s Lure.

  1. He made it as pleasant and tasty as possible.

He is not going to tempt you with a rotten apple. B. Heb 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (KJV)

V. The Snake’s Laugh

  1. He didn’t have to bother with Adam.

Eve took care of him all by herself.

He didn’t even go alone with her.

B. Beware of the power that we possess to poison our “Adam”.

Concl. –

The poverty of the rib is unimaginable.

She was the mother of the first murderer and the first martyr.

Driven from Paradise for stepping out of obedience to God.

How about it little ribs? Are we going to allow Satan to use

us to poison our “Adam”.. or to be disobedient to God?

I pray that we will desire to obey rather that to sacrifice.

I. The Lineage of the Snake