Grace Entropy

Seeking Order: Grace vs Entropy [Personal Study, September, '16]

Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up to heaven so that he did not see death^a; he was seen no longer, for God took him away: for before he was taken, witness had been given that he was well-pleasing to God^b: 6 And without faith it is not possible to be well-pleasing to Him, for it is necessary for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that he is a rewarder of all those who make a serious search [diligently seek] for Him^c

a) death - Enoch was the first man after Adam who did not fall under the curse of death.

- “Enoch enjoyed God's favor by faith, in spite of Adam's fall” [Mirror Translation]
- faith activates the fullness of our creation; predestinated at the foundation of the earth. But it is not our faith in God, it is God's faith in us.
- Enoch is a type of Christ, he transcended death. “his absent body prophesied the resurrection of Christ; faith does not die”.

b) well-pleasing – G2100 εὐαρεστέω euaresteō

From G2101; to gratify entirely: - please (well).>> We are pleasing to God not because of our behavior but He recognizes the faith that He put in us. God in Christ is the Author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2)

c) rewarder – μισθαποδότης misth[wage] apodotēs [give away] From G3409¹ and G591; a remunerator: - rewarder; “paymaster” (ie the one who gives away the wage). “righteousness is revealed by aith as a gift and NOT as a reward for keeping the law; FAITH pleases God, not good or bad behavior.”² duToit, Mirror; commentary Heb 11:6

Death disordered the created order; this included the free gift of a righteous life.

1. Darkness is a parallel of death. Death is a permanent state of absence of God who is light acc. to 1Jn 1:5 Jesus told us that God is light and doesn't have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you.
2. Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
3. Light is about increasing order, where you can understand the dynamic of each day, darkness is when you rest to let the order of the previous day continue. Darkness is about increasing disorder. We cannot work, because we cannot see what God is doing! Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. [see also vs 15] “Every day is an extension of God's Today³.
4. Jesus, who walked in the light, also worked in the light. Joh 9:4 I must do the work of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is approaching, when no one can work.
5. Evening, is not only the time of increased darkness but is also the time of close fellowship at the end of our working day. In Hebrew עֶרֶב ‛ereb

From H6150; dusk: - + day, even (-ing, tide), night.

6. Dusk is a time of fellowship that promises security through the night and brings the promise of dawn. A time of rest, before another day begins. בֹּקֶר bôqer From H1239; properly dawn (as the break of day); generally morning: - (+) day, early, morning, morrow.
7. cool^H7307 of the day:^{H3117 – רוּחַ} rûach יוֹם yôm – the evening breeze. The breeze IS the Holy Spirit! It was at this moment of the day that God and Adam chatted about the order that had been released that day. “Yeah God, I called forth an armadillo and an aardvark today.” “No worries we're gonna put those in Oz”

1Strong's Concordance number.

2Francois duToit; Mirror Bible commentary on Heb 11:6

3Ibid, Heb 3:15