The Creator the God of AA
My friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems. Belief in the power of God, plus enough willingness, honesty and humility to establish and maintain the new order of things, were the essential requirements. Pg 13-14 This is what Bill Wilson said that Ebby had told him at the now well known kitchen table at Bill's house. Ebby told Bill that he would enter into a relationship with his Creator if he was willing enough to be honest with himself and the people around him.
Later on Bill wrote: The great fact is just this, and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God's universe. The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. Pg 25 A great fact and nothing less than a great fact! And the central fact of their lives was the absolute, (know doubt), certainty that our Creator has entered in to our hearts and lives in a way that is indeed miraculous. So who is this Creator that is spoken of as the God of alcoholics anonymous? Well we are not going to give out our opinion or anyone else's theory or some other conjecture on what we think the Creator is. We are going to prove who the Creator is and we are going to do it with the Word of God. The very book that the pioneers used to recover from a hopeless state of mind and body. When we are done there will be the absolute certainty that we know who the Creator is.
To do this we have to start in the beginning.: Genesis 1:1 1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. So in the beginning God created the Heaven and earth. As we continue to read the first chapter of Genesis we see that God created everything that we have in the world today from the sun and moon to all the animals fish and birds. When we skip down to verse 26 God creates man..: Genesis 1:26
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. And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness: So we see that God, or one God was talking to another God. He certainly was not talking to Himself. Right here in the first chapter of His word God shows us that there are at least two that are God and one is talking to the other.
Let's not beat around the bush here, let's get straight to the point and then we can build on this as we move on. Let's find out who this Creator is.: John 1:1-3
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. We just read in Genesis that there were at least two known as God talking to each other and that one made everything. Here we see that John is calling One of them the Word and this Word created everything.
John 1:10
10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. This One that created everything was in the world and the world did not know Him.
John 1:14
14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. And now we know that the Word was made flesh and lived with us and He was full of grace and truth. And we beheld His glory. This Word is Jesus! Let's go further so we can really make this clear.
Jesus Himself says that no man has seen the Father.: John 6:46
46Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Only Jesus has seen the father because he was with the Father before He was manifested in the flesh.
So who was talking to Moses?Exodus 3:13-15
13And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. God told Moses that I am, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has sent him.
Let's look at what Jesus told the Jews.: John 8:53-58
53Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Jesus tells the Jews that Abraham saw His day and was glad and that before Abraham was even alive that He was. The same God that spoke to moses.
John 5:37
37And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. Jesus says that He was sent by the Father to bring the message that the father gave Him to bring to man. there are many verses that Jesus talks about this and even says that you can not come to the Father but through Him. But this is for another lesson. The point here is that no man has ever dealt with the Father, it was always Jesus.
Colossians 1:12-17
12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: His dear Son Jesus 14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Through His Death our sins are forgiven 15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: Who is the image of the Father the first one resurected from the dead! 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. For by Him all things were created and He has been here before all things were created, and by Him all things are here.
The Basic text says that there is one that has all Power.: But there is One who has all power-that One is God. May you find Him now! Pg 59
Jesus said that all Power has been given to Him.: Matthew 28:18
18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth All Power was given to Jesus to give to man from heaven and all Power was given to Him to create and govern the earth as He sees fit, in accordance with the will of the Father. We will see later how Jesus is the on who will come back to judge us on what is referred to as the Lords day or day of wrath, quite simply judgement day.
First let's take a closer look at who was dealing with man in the old testament.: Exodus 19:5
5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: God is getting ready to give Moses the commandments and is telling Him what to tell the nation of Israel. He says, among other things, that all the earth is His, just like Jesus said. In other verses Jesus says that what He gives to man was given to Him from the Father which is in heaven, all Power in heaven. One who has all Power!
The same God that dealt with the nation of Israel in the old testament is the same one that dealt with everyone in the old testament. Let's see some examples of God dealing with man in the old testament.: Genesis 3:3
3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. God talked to man in the garden. As we read the first three chapters of Genesis we see that the God dealing with them in the garden is the Creator.
Genesis 6:7-9
7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. God talked to Noah and we know that it is the Creator that He is dealing with.
Genesis 17:9
9And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. God talked to Abraham. When we read about Abraham we see that it is the Creator who is dealing wtih Abraham.
Exodus 13:21-22
21And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. God goes before them by day and by night in a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. This same God talks to Moses and deals continuously with him and the people throughout the wilderness.: Exodus 24:12
12And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. Now God tells Moses to come up to the mount to get commandments so he may teach them to the people. As we continue to read the old testament we see that this same God, the Creator is the one that deals with mankind throughout the entire old testament and that He is the only One that does. Let's see what the new testament says about this God. Jesus already has said that before abraham was I am.
1 Corinthians 10:1-11
1Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; The God that brought the people out of bondage in Egypt. 3And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. The God that brought them out of Egypt and that gave them their spiritual food, or His word or commandments, was Jesus! 5But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. We can read this in Numbers the 14th chapter. 6Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. We can read this in Exodus the 32nd chapter. 8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. We can read about this in Numbers 21. 10Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Israel was murmuring all through the wilderness and they were constantly being chastised or destroyed. 11Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. All of this is examples for us today and for our warning of what could happen if we continue to live a life based on self, but that is another lesson. The point here is that it was Jesus that led the nation of Israel in the wilderness and is the God that dealt with all of mankind in the old testament.
Now those who don't know about God or are agnostic will say that the God of the old testament is a mean God and the God of the new testament is a nice all loving God. We are now starting to see that the Creator is the same in the old and new testaments. We are now seeing principles by which we should live and we now have a standard that we can shape our lives around. Gods word or His will for us. We don't have a choice in whether or not we are going to drink today but we do have a free will and a choice in how to direct that will power.: Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will. Pg 85
Deuteronomy 30:10-19
10If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. 11For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 14But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. 15See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 16In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. 19I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: This set of scripture can be a whole lesson in itself. But the point here is that we have been given a choice to serve God,"Thy will not my will be done". Or we can do what we have always done, which has led to...: the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. Pg 25
Nothing has changed between the old testament and the new testament. It is the same Creator and the same choice for us.: Hebrews 13:8
8Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
The pioneers knew who the Creator was!: After consulting with his wife and partner he came to the conclusion that it was better to take those risks than to stand before his Creator guilty of such ruinous slander. Pg 80 Let's see who this Creator is that they are talking about standing in front of. This is as clear-cut as the directions that we follow when taking the program of action.
Matthew 24:29-30
29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. This whole chapter of Matthew is about the return of Jesus to take His kingdom and to pass out judgement.
2 Timothy 4:1
1I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; This needs no further explanation
Revelation 20:4-6
4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. The ones who are striving to do Gods will are be resurrected and live and reign with Jesus for a thousand years! This is what we are all striving for the first resurrection.: Revelation 20:12-15
12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So it is Jesus that we will stand in front of if we don't make the first resurrection. The very one that created us and gave us principles by which to live. Living by these principles is how we make it into the book of life, but as with so many precepts, that is another lesson.
Hebrews 10:30-31
30For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Now we clearly see that this is talking about Jesus. The one the pioneers of AA called the Creator.
Revelation 22:6-16
6And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. 8And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. 10And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. Clearly all talking about Jesus. The Lord God of the holy prophets in the old testament. The One who gave us the commandments given to Him by the Father. The same One who sent His holy spirit or angel to show His servants the things that must shortly be done. The beggining and the end, the first and last.
Isaiah 41:4
4Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he. Jesus the One in the beginning and the One that will be there in the end at His judgement. The Creator. Isaiah 44:6
6Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. Jesus the only One that man has ever dealt with.
Let's go further. The big book not only talks about Jesus by using Creator or Maker but also by cornerstone.: We needed to ask ourselves but one short question. "Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe, that there is a Power greater than myself?" As soon as a man can say that he does believe, or is willing to believe, we emphatically assure him that he is on his way. It has been repeatedly proven among us that upon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effective spiritual structure can be built. Pg 47 The pioneers called Him a simple cornerstone. Let's look at this.: Ephesians 2:19-20
19Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone! Our Creator, the same one in the old and new testaments. Psalm 118:22
22The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
This man recounts that he tumbled out of bed to his knees. In a few seconds he was overwhelmed by a conviction of the Presence of God. It poured over and through him with the certainty and majesty of a great tide at flood. The barriers he had built through the years were swept away. He stood in the Presence of Infinite Power and Love. He had stepped from bridge to shore. For the first time, he lived in conscious companionship with his Creator.
Thus was our friend's cornerstone fixed in place. No later vicissitude has shaken it. Pg 56
Isaiah 28:16
16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste The same cornerstone that is precious and sure is Jesus our Creator.
1 Peter 2:6-8
6Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 7Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. Again talking about Jesus. Unto them that believe and are obedient He is precious and a foundation for a way of living that brings about peace, serenity, contentment, usefullness, etc. But unto them that are disobedient they stumble and continue in a way of living that brings about resentment and fear, misery and depression, etc. See what the pioneers are talking about?
Acts 4:10-12
10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.The only way to recover and the only way to eternal life.
Isaiah 45:18-23
18For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. 19I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. 20Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 21Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.The Creator, the God of the old testament!
Philippians 2:10-11
10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus Christ, the same Creator and God of the old testament.
We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. . Pg 68
They had seen miracles, and one was to come to them. They had visioned the Great Reality - their loving and All Powerful Creator. Pg 161
The God of AA is the Creator and God of the bible. It is only through the Son, Jesus, that we can come unto the father! This is the great news that the pioneers said this book, (basic text), carries to those that suffer. The solution was never anything except total abandonment to the care and direction of Jesus so that we could come unto the Father through Him. Comming to understand and keep the commandments given to Jesus from the Father to the very best of our ability.
We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. Pg 84
1 Thessalonians 5:21-23
21Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.