Matty Lawrence

July 5, 2020July 5, 2022

The Purpose of Creation

In all his wisdom and insight God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ. This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.
All things are done according to God’s plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning. Let us, then, who were the first to hope in Christ, praise God’s glory!
(Ephesians 1:8-12) Good News Translation

One of the things which allows Matty’s Paradigm to be a consistent with the broad narrative of scripture is understanding that creation has a specific purpose. This purpose harmonizes physics with spirituality.

July 5, 2020July 5, 2022

The Broad Narrative of Scripture

declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
(Isaiah 46:10) ESV

The Bible is consistent throughout because it combines spiritual concepts, like good and evil, with their physical expression in space and time as light and darkness. It describes their permanent physical separation.

July 4, 2020January 18, 2021

The Beginning of the End

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Romans 6:23) KJV

The corrupted state of creation isn’t the consequence of sin, it’s how sin can be possible. This then is our predicament: we live in a corrupted world and we have free will to be as evil as we want. What’s to stop us from being as evil as we can?

July 4, 2020July 4, 2022

Entropy and Thermodynamics

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
(Genesis 3:17) KJV

If entropy is why the world decays into rubble then how are DNA replication and the process of evolution exempt? They aren’t, but that’s the premise of the popular science narrative of godless existence (SciPop).

July 4, 2020July 16, 2020

Sin and Corruption

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
(Genesis 2:17) KJV

Why was there a tree of knowledge of good and evil if God had created a perfect world? God didn’t create a perfect world, he created a corrupted one. Now we can understand the difference between corruption and sin.

July 4, 2020July 4, 2022

He Became Sin for Us

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
(2 Corinthians 5:21) NKJV

Christ had to become sin for us. This has a meaning which goes beyond the symbolism of Christ on the cross. It goes back to the nature of the matter of which the universe is made.

July 4, 2020January 5, 2021

Corruption and Free Will

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
(2 Peter 1:3-4) KJV

There’s a relationship between corruption and free will which goes, of necessity, all the way back to the formation of the cosmos. Light and darkness had to be mingled together in order to manifest free will.

July 4, 2020July 4, 2022

God Created Evil

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
(Isaiah 45:7) KJV

Something that you may hear if you discuss religion with other people are questions like, Why does God allow evil to exist? It’s a really good question, but fortunately we have a really good answer.

July 4, 2020July 4, 2022

Purpose and Reason

Two dolphins with what look like big smiles.

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
(2 Timothy 1:9) KJV

Our devotional is called WHY? Why did God create the universe? In the process of answering this question we have deduced that creation has a purpose:

The purpose of creation is to bring about the permanent physical separation of light from darkness, day from night, good from evil.
– The Purpose of Creation

July 3, 2020July 3, 2020

Ultimate Responsibility

Comparison of Earth's size and internal structure through history

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
(Romans 5:18) NKJV

Man, Adam, bore the ultimate responsibility for what happened in the garden of Eden because he was the one who had been told not to eat the forbidden fruit. We’ve used deductive reasoning and the curses that were placed on the woman to conclude that she had been given to him to inspire and motivate him to carry out the Lord’s will.