IN announcing the first subject for Study, with the first list of those who have hitherto sent in their names, we are very thankful to find how many have had the desire to study the Word of God in a more regular way. We believe that there is a manifest work of God among His people today, seen in an increased desire for His Word, for prayer, and above all for the blessing of others. God is working for the glory of Christ. May the study of His precious Word together fill our hearts more with God’s thoughts of Christ, and with the love of Christ as the motive power of our lives. Nothing else can preserve us from a selfish Christian life. “Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be My disciples.”
The following list contains the initials of those who are taking up the study of the Word in connection with the Christian’s Library. The number opposite to each will be used in future for convenience in allotting the portion to be studied by each. We earnestly hope that those who take up this study will not do so in a casual way, but will send in the results of their study every month, even if they have not time to do it fully. The value of a coined study will depend upon the help contributed by each. Any suggestions will be gladly welcomed. The Editor of the Christian’s Library will also be glad to hear from any who have personal difficulties. Questions to which the answers would be helpful to others will be inserted and answered (briefly) in the C. L.
Subject of Study for January.
The Six Days of Creation—Gen. 1:3-313And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:3‑31)
This chapter has been a “rock of offence” to many who have tried to measure it by their own thoughts. But it is a wonderful chapter to those who are willing to read God’s thoughts in it, preparing a place and a people for the glory of His own beloved Son. It is the ABC of the Bible; everything in this chapter runs right through the Word of God, and ends in Christ. For instance, the first day has SEVEN THINGS which may be traced right through the Word of God, and all lead up us and find their explanations in connection with CHRIST. These seven things are—light and darkness, day and night, evening and morning, first day. We have only to think of John 1 or 1 Thessalonians 5 to be reminded how these lines of division run right through the Word of God. So we purpose, with the Lord’s help, to try and trace out the lines of each day through the Word of God. The study should take the form of striking passages showing how the types, brought in by God on each of the six days, run right through the Word of God. The seventh day is not like rest, it is not made up of “evening and morning,” and may be taken up in a future study. The subject is divided as follows:
1St day by 3,4, 5, 6, 38, 39, 41, 54, 55, 56, 64, 65, 66, 67, 76, 89
2nd day by 9, 10, 11, 12, 42, 43, 52, 57, 58, 68, 69, 70, 71, 87, 90
3rd day by 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 44, 45, 51,72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 83, 88, 91
4th day by 21, 22, 23, 25, 46, 47, 59, 60, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85,
5th day by 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 48, 61, 62, 63, 77, 96, 1, 2,
6th day by 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 49, 50, 92, 93, 94, 95, 19, 20, 7, 8