The true Christian faith does not regard sickness and other troubles as unreal phenomena that can be changed by mind power or soul power, by believing the problem is unreal, or by the power of positive thinking. This approach to dominion over the material creation is not of God. It will lead the participant away from Christ and toward the False Prophet, the spirit of religious seduction.

The results of positive thinking do not bring glory to Christ but to the practitioner. However, it is necessary that the saint maintain a healthy, victorious frame of mind during his pilgrimage in the wilderness of the world. The meditating of the saint on what is lovely and pure, versus attempts to manipulate the physical environment by the "power of positive thinking," are different in approach and purpose and are not to be confused.

When God provided light and separated the light from the darkness He enabled us to view what He had created. Christ is the true Light that God has provided. It is only in and through Christ we are able to distinguish what is true, and what is false or unworthy, in the material creation. Apart from Christ all is darkness—without form and purposeless.

The creating of Adam and Eve revealed what is in God's mind, His eternal purpose. He created man in His image. He created him male and female Therefore no human being can be the image of God by himself or herself.

God gave man the authority and power to reproduce the image of God and to exercise dominion over the universe, over the works of God's hands.

Finally, God began to reveal to man that He intends to fashion from human beings an eternal habitation, a resting place for Himself, and to establish this habitation on a new earth for eternity.

The form and purpose of the things God has created are eternal. God, as He works in redemption, is not making all new things, all different things. He is making all things new. He is taking what is, the works of His hands, and recreating all of it in Christ.

The Lord God of Heaven makes no mistakes. He knew the history of the world before He exercised His power in the creation, as described in the first chapter of Genesis. Nothing that has happened in the history of the world has taken God by surprise. All was finished beforehand. God is God.

If God did not want the form and purpose of things as they are He would not have created them that way in the beginning.

The theme of restoration, of the prodigal son, is the fundamental story of mankind, of the Church, of each individual. Everything must be given us twice or we cannot retain it or use it wisely. The first time we receive something from God it becomes an idol to us. It is our God, our bondage, our chain. We either destroy it or worship it. We do not have dominion over our possessions, including our body. They maintain dominion over us.

To be continued.