Reading Genesis 4, we see that sin is not something that can be contained. It’s not a disease that stayed only in the heart of Adam and Eve; it was passed on. The lie that slithered into the hearts of Adam and Eve slithered into the hearts of their children. We see the spread of sin in the story of Cain’s jealousy. Both sons offered sacrifices to God from their respective areas of work—Cain gave produce and Abel gave some of his flock—but God only accepted the sacrifice of Abel. Why? We find the answer in Hebrews 11:4: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.”
SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS 1. Read Genesis 4:4 and Hebrews 11:4. Why do you think the Lord had regard for “Abel AND his offering”? What does this tell you about our works if they aren’t produced from faith? 2. Sin is a heart problem. On the outside, Cain’s offering seemed sincere, but God saw through to his heart. What happens when you only focus only on the behavioral aspect of sin and not on what is taking place within the heart? 3. What are some ways you can begin to practice looking at your own heart when it comes to understanding patterns of sin in your life? 4. In Genesis 3:15, God promised a child (a seed) to come through Eve to crush the head of the serpent. I’m sure that Eve felt somewhat disappointed after the tragic death of Abel. Read Genesis 3:25-26. How is God faithful to that promise? What does this tell you about the bloodline of Seth? PERSONAL CHALLENGE - Read Genesis 4. If you look closely at verse 4, you see God had favor on Abel and his offering. God sees to the heart of the person and not his works. Why do you think God didn’t receive Cain’s offering? - Read Genesis 5. In Genesis 3:15. God promised an offspring of Eve to crush the head of the serpent. Cain is cursed and Abel is dead! Seth is born at the end of chapter 4. God uses the line of Seth to bring about the promised offspring. What names do you recognize in this chapter? ESSENTIAL BELIEFS 1. Faith Alone - Only through Faith in the person and work of Jesus can we be reconciled to God or please God. Faith itself is a gift and is given freely by God out of his grace for sinners. Our works do not earn us merit and favor with God. God sees through our works to the wretched state of our sinful heart when our works our offered without faith. 2. Original Sin - Because Adam and Eve willfully sinned in the garden, their sin has spread to all generations. In fact, every person (other than Christ!) has been born with a human nature that has been corrupted due to the sin of Adam and Eve. Memorize: Ephesians 2:8-9 [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)
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God created man as the pinnacle of creation. God formed man in an intimate manner and breathed His life into him. Then, God gave Adam dominion over His creation. He also gave Adam a gorgeous garden to work and allowed Adam to display God’s image in naming the animals. In all of this, God saw that Adam was without a helper and he was incomplete. So, God gave Adam a helper and together they were meant to live in harmony with God and one another and bear the image of their Creator.
SMALL GROUPS 1. In Genesis 1, we read that God spoke creation into existence. But man was not created this way. Read Genesis 2:7. God “formed” man out of the dust. What does this tell you about the personal nature of God? What does this tell you about ourselves as well? 2. Read Genesis 2:!5. Work is not the result of sin. Work is part of the design of God’s good world and humanity. In what ways does our culture demean and diminish the value of work? 3. Read Genesis 2:20-25. Why do you think that after naming the animals, God knew that Adam was without a “helper fit for him”? What does this tell you about marriage and God’s design for it? 4. In what ways has our culture devalued the relationship between man and woman? In what ways has our culture distorted God’s design of marriage? PERSONAL CHALLENGE - Read Genesis 1-2. Look for parallels between Genesis 1 and 2. - Read Ephesians 5:22-33. How does marriage relate to Jesus and the Church? ESSENTIAL BELIEFS 1. God gave humans dominion over His creation - As human beings, we were created above the universe, stars, land, sea, animals, etc. God has given us a special role to rule over his good creation. 2. God has created us all in His Image (Imago Dei) - Some theologians believe “the image of God” refers to our mirroring of God’s attributes: our nature models God’s nature. Others believe we see the “image of God” in what human beings do. Still others believe the “image of God” concerns our relationships with God and with others. In Jesus we see the true image of God. He perfectly mirrors God’s attributes, fulfills God’s will, and enjoys a perfect relationship with the Father. Memorize: Genesis 2:24 [24] Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (ESV) The Bible tells us that we are made in His likeness and image. Unlike any other part of creation, humans have a unique design and are the crown jewel of God’s creation. However, our sin has distorted that image and our culture often suppresses this truth. If we hold fast to what God has told us, we can better understand our purpose and role in creation.
SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: 1. Why do you think God gave humans dominion (rule) over His creation? Why is it important that though we have been given this task, we are still part of creation? 2. Read Genesis 1:26-27. The Bible is clear, human beings are made in the image of God. In what ways has our society denied this? In what ways does our society affirm this? 3. How do we as humans express the image of God? What are some areas in your life where you need to be reminded of this truth? 4. How does the gospel affect the image of God that has been tarnished in humans? PERSONAL CHALLENGE: - Read Genesis 1:26-3 and read Psalm 8. How do both of these passages describe the creation of humans? - Read All of Genesis 1 again. Why do you think that God creates man on the 6th day?What does that tell you about the rest of creation? ESSENTIAL BELIEFS 1. God gave humans dominion over His creation - As human beings, we were created above the universe, stars, land, sea, animals, etc. God has given us a special role to rule over his good creation. 2. God has created us all in His Image (Imago Dei) - Some theologians believe “the image of God” refers to our mirroring of God’s attributes: our nature models God’s nature. Others believe we see the “image of God” in what human beings do. Still others believe the “image of God” concerns our relationships with God and with others. In Jesus we see the true image of God. He perfectly mirrors God’s attributes, fulfills God’s will, and enjoys a perfect relationship with the Father. Despite what culture may tell us, when we open the first pages of Genesis we not only see that everything finds its source of origin in the God of the Bible, but also that our own story begins here as well. The creation account invites us to look back to historical events and recognize that these truths tell us who we are and how we are to live in the present age. We not only learn about God, From nothing, God created everything. We see he took the first three days of creation to form the heavens and the earth, and the final three days to fill the earth. He spoke his creation into existence (except for Man, which he fashioned intimately with his hands) and saw that it was Good!
but we learn something about ourselves as well. SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS: 1. Read Genesis 1:1-2. Why is it important that we know that God created EVERYTHING? In what ways does our culture deny this fact? 2. God created everything good. What do you think this means and why do you think God called every step of His creation good? 3. Read Hebrews 1:2-3 and 1 Corinthians 8:5-6. How was Jesus involved in creation? Why is it important that we know this? 4. Read Genesis 1:26-27. What do you think it means that God created man in His own image? What does this tell you about God? READ THIS WEEK: GENESIS 1 Multiple Times and - Read John 1:1-14 - Read Job 38 and see the greatness of God in creating the world. ESSENTIAL BELIEFS 1. God created the world from nothing - Ex nihilo. God spoke creation into existence. God is the ONLY eternal being. Everything else is creation and its origin is in God. Because God created out of nothing, creation has meaning and purpose and points us to the Creator. 2. God created the world good God created everything for His glory and he created it good. Sin and evil were not a part of the original creation. Nor is God the author of sin. These have intruded our world and have distorted God’s creation Memorize: Genesis 1:1-2 In my last post, I discussed the sin of Adam and Even in the garden and how that has affected us. We call this concept, "Federal Headship". Whether we like it or not, Adam represented all of mankind in the garden and the sin that was committed has now been spread to all mankind. Not only has sin spread to all of us, but so has the consequence of sin before a Holy and Just God. Paul discusses this representation of Adam on behalf of all men in Romans 5. That consequence is death. God is Holy and Just and Righteous and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 3:23, Genesis 2:17). That may sound harsh to our minds and emotions, but keep in mind we are human and creatures of an infinite Creator. His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are far better than ours. He makes the rules and His rules are ALWAYS right....So, if death is the punishment for sin, then it must be a just and fair punishment. When the bible mentions death, it not only mentions a physical death, but also a spiritual death. We see over and over in the Bible that people are blind, spiritually dead, have hardened hearts, wicked thoughts, etc. Just as David says in Psalm 51, we are all born in sin and iniquity because of what took place in the garden. This is called, "Original Sin". In fact, sin is so prevalent in us it infects our thoughts, emotions, words, actions, and ultimately our heart. Think about it for a moment....How long can you go without sinning? If you really think hard about it, you can't go very long! Even when you try not to sin! That struggle is discussed in Romans 7. We are wretched sinners who continually rebel agains the Creator who made us! Sin is so deep in us it has made us fully incapable of doing anything truly good. In theology, this is called "Total Depravity". We are utterly incapable of saving ourselves from our sin. The Bible states that we are "dead in our sins and trespasses" (Ephesians 2) and we need a "new heart", because our old heart is "stone", which is dead (Ezekiel 36)! We are also told that our natural man, which is who we were before salvation, is hostile towards God, and we do not even seek him (Romans 3)! Those are tough words, but they are true words. The reality is we are Sinners, totally incapable of saving ourselves due to are horrible state, which has been ruined by sin and its effects. As Jesus stated, we need a new birth, so we can seek God. Next post we will discuss the idea of being born again, which in theological terms is called, Regeneration! Read up on the passages below
Read: Genesis 3 Romans 3 Romans 5 Ephesians 2 Sorry for the delay! Its been a crazy few weeks. Anyways, lets pick up where we left off from my last post. Today, I am going to write about who we are as humans in comparison to the God who created us. One problem with many people who live today (some are even so called christians), is that we think we are genuinely good people. Most people think that they have "good" hearts with "good" intentions and generally do "good" things. The problem with thinking about ourselves in that way is that when we think about God, we think that somehow we are naturally deserving of a relationship with him. People also don't think they are truly sinful. People know they sin, but they somehow think they aren't sinners because of the "good" heart they feel they have. No matter how good we think we may be, when we look in the Bible, it does not say that about the human race! In fact, it says just the opposite. God did create man and woman with a will that is free (we'll describe that later) and a heart that was stamped with his thumbprint. All of the human race was created in the image of God. However, we rebelled against God. If you read the creation account, you will find that God gave Adam and Eve freedom and dominion. He lived with them in the Garden of Eden and communed with them daily. As good as God was to Adam and Eve, they rebelled! They gave in to the lie of the enemy-
[5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (ESV Genesis 3:5). You may be asking, what does that have to do with me! The answer is everything!!!! If you read Romans 5, you will find the answer to this. The answer is that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, ALL of humanity is cursed. We are cursed from birth. Sin now reigns in our hearts because of that epic event. You may say, "Why do we get blamed for Adam's sins?" The answer to that question is quite simple: If you were Adam or Eve, you would have done the same thing! As Romans 1 states, we exchange the truth for lies! How cursed are we? I gotta run today, so I will answer that in my next post. I will also discuss how this curse has impacted our relationship with our Creator! As stated in my previous post, God is incomprehensible. However, he has given us His word so that we may know him as much as we possibly can. Therefore, God is knowable. Limiting God to a number of attributes can be dangerous. It can cause people to only see God in light of the characteristics that describe him. We still need to remember, God is INCOMPREHENSIBLE. These attributes, which are found in God's Word, give us a glimpse of what God is like. They allow us to understand him and they help us build a correct mindset and worldview based on who he is. I will not list all the attributes of God, because that would take a long time. However, I will list a few that will help guide our studies and give us a solid foundation of who God is as we study his word. So, here we go:
1. God is Sovereign: God is in control and nothing surprises Him! He knows all things and declares and/or wills all things. Nothing can take God off guard. Not even our decisions as humans who have wills and desires. God is in charge of EVERYTHING! Think about that for a moment...If God isn't in charge of everything and there is something that can take God by surprise, then how can he be God? We believe as the bible states, God is sovereign. -Isaiah 46:10 [10] 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,’ (ESV) 2. God is righteous and just: God is right. God doesn't just do right things. OF course thats true. But God is righteous, so from His very nature He is right and all he commands, does, and doesn't do is right. Because he is righteous, he must also be just. Just means that God gives people exactly what they deserve. He doesn't turn his eye towards ANY sin. Because He is just and always demands justice for any wrong (because He is ALWAYS right!), he rightly punishes sin. If God ignored ANY wrong, he wouldn't be just. He would be wrong. He is not wrong, nor unjust! God is always right and always just. Here are a few passages that tell us about God's righteousness and justice. -Psalm 145:17 [17] The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. (ESV) -Psalm 89:14 [14] Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. (ESV) 3. God is Holy: When the bible mentions holiness, it means to be set apart. God is not like humans. God is spirit and his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are more higher than our thoughts. We are made in His image, but we are not like God. That was a lie that was told to Eve in Genesis 3. God is far different than us. His character is perfect, His ways are perfect, His thoughts are perfect, And because He is perfect, we should realize how imperfect we are when we think about His holiness. -1 Peter 1:16 [16] since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (ESV) -Revelation 4:8 [8] And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (ESV) -God is Love: Love is an action word of deep affection. God is Love as the bible clearly teaches. God didn't become love, because God doesn't change. God has always been love. Even before he created you and me, he has always been love. So, if God has always been love then who was he loving before you and me? Well, this helps clarify the trinity. From eternity past God has always been love. The three members of the Godhead (otherwise known as the Trinity) have always been in relationship with one another. This relationship has been out of perfect submission and love. The Father has always loved the Son. The Son has always loved the Father. The Father has always loved the Spirit and the Spirit has always loved the Father. The Son has always loved the Spirit and the Spirit has always loved the Son. We see this loved expressed in creation and in the salvation of sinners. God is three and God is love! -1 John 4:8-10 [8] Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (ESV) Thanks for reading! Next week (hopefully!!!), we will look at who we are in comparison to God. Based on my last post, we know there is a God. So, who is he? What is he like? How do we know Him? Those are tough questions to answer! And really, God is incomprehensible, which means we can never FULLY know God, because he is that amazing! But, there is good news....he has revealed himself to us in a way in which we can know him in part. And by in part, I mean, as sinful humans, we can know him as much as our finite minds can comprehend. To know who God is and what he is like, we have to look to the Bible to get answers. Some may say..."why the bible?". To that, I would say because it is His Word and how He has revealed himself to His creation. For more on why the Bible is His Word, come out to The Point every Wednesday (especially in March). We are going to begin an Apologetics study soon and answer some of these tough questions. Now, back to the point! God has clearly shown us who he is through the word. So, lets look at His word to learn a little about who God is...
1. There is only ONE God....Deuteronomy 6:4 - [4] “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (ESV) We believe that there is only one God. Although He exists as three eternal persons, we do not believe in polytheism (many gods). As Christians we believe that there is one source of ultimate truth, one sustainer, one creator. There cannot be more than one god, because by definition God is the supreme, authority of creation. If there were more than one god, there would not be an ultimate authority. 2. God exists eternally in 3 persons...This is the kicker! Much debate and heresy has been raised over this issue. God is trinity. That doesn't mean that there are 3 gods! This means that from eternity past to eternity future, God has always existed in perfect submission and love in three distinct persons. He has always existed as Father, Son, and Spirit. Each of these three persons is equally God, however, its important to remember, there is only ONE God! That can get confusing, but when you read the bible and understand God's plan for creation, you see the trinity! You see the distinctness of each member of the trinity, yet you also see the unity within the trinity, and the submission that each plays. God is love...We all know that. Love is an action. God has always been love. He didn't become love when he created the world! That would mean that he is dependent upon something else in order to be Love. And we know, God doesn't depend on anything! If that were the case, He wouldn't be God. Back to the point. If God has always been love, and love is an action, then God must have been loving someone from eternity past! Who was he loving? In this question, we see the trinity and the union among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father was loving the Son and the Spirit. The Son was loving the Father and the Son. And, the Spirit was loving the Son and the Father! God is Love. The word "trinity" is nowhere in the bible. This is why there has been so much false teaching about this topic. However, we see the trinity at work throughout the bible. In fact, you don't have to read far before you see the trinity at work! Genesis 1:1-3 -[1] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3] And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (ESV) In those 3 verses, we see the entire Trinity at Work. We see the Father in vs. 1, The Spirit in vs. 2, and the Son in vs. 3. You may ask how we see the Son in vs. 3? Well, the Son is the Word (John 1:1). We see the trinity throughout the bible. Here are a few more passages in which you can see the trinity...Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, 2 Corinthians 13:14. In the next post, we will continue to look at who God is and some specific attributes of God. For more info on the trinity visit these web pages: carm.org/cut-trinity, www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity, s3.amazonaws.com/Challies_VisualTheology/Trinity_LowRes.jpg, As I stated in my last post, as understanding of God is so important to our faith! Its also important to how we view the world and our surroundings! To begin, lets ask the question, "Is there a God"? Thats a legitimate question. As Christians, we will have to address that question at some point with someone. So, to answer that question I'll quickly use the concept of morality (or good and bad). Then I will address what the bible says about this question. If we understand that there is right and wrong (everyone will have to agree on this at some level if they are a reasonable person), then we have to ask how we know there is right and wrong. The answer to that is easy. We were all made in the image of our creator and it was He that stamped that image onto our hearts. To even understand the the difference between right vs. wrong, and justice vs. injustice proves that "someone" outside of ourselves must be present. This "someone" is the source of authority and the source of all that is right and good. That "someone" is God!
In Romans, Paul writes, "[19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:19-20 (ESV). In other words, every person that has ever lived can look out at creation and see that this had to be designed by a source of ultimate authority. They can see the stars at night, the trees, the rolling hills, the mountains, lakes, oceans, streams, animals, and people. Deep within they truly know that these things did not just "appear" from nothing. Nor did they "evolve" into something over time. After all, science proves the existence of God. It is science that states "from nothing, comes nothing"! There fore we know that something must have been before the nothing! And that something is God. So, Paul states that we can see evidence of God in His creation and we are without excuse! Those are tough words...But they are truth. When we die or Jesus comes back and we stand before God to give an account of our lives, no one can say, "I didn't have enough proof that you existed!" or "Why didn't you just reveal yourself to me". God's given proof for his existence. He has shown he exists to every person. Again, look outside. Look in the mirror! Creation is proof enough. The problem is not whether there is or there is not a God. The problem is some people do not want to ACKNOWLEDGE that there is a God. They do not want to admit that there is a supreme being of authority who reigns over their life. If they admit that, then they know that they can't be their own God. It was the serpent, Satan in the Garden they gave these false words to Eve, [4] .. “You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5. People who don't acknowledge God, want to be God. If They want total control of their own life. They want no authority over them. If they acknowledge there is a God, then people understand that one day they must answer to Him. I hope I have established that there is a God! So, in my next blog-otional, I will discuss what is God like. Take some time this week to think about who God is. Think about God our Creator. For further study read: Genesis 1 and Romans 1. I grew up in churches that emphasized emotional experiences over the truth of God's word. I usually heard that theology and doctrine were divisive and all that mattered was how we loved God with our heart. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that the Holy Spirit operates within people and has gifted them according to his will. I believe we must love God with ALL our heart, as well. I do feel that I was somewhat misguided by this understanding as I always longed for a move of God that made me feel a certain way. I would often read the Bible out of context and try to place scripture into my personal thoughts on God and my emotional experiences. Obviously, I did it wrongly! You see, God wants us to not only love Him with our heart, but also with our mind! It's very difficult to love someone you do not know. I would have never fell in love with my wife if I didn't get to "know" her. I got to know what she liked, how she thought, what she wanted from me. It's the knowledge of her and who she is that gave me a deeper love and understanding for my wife. God is no person, however, he does desire his creation do be in relationship with him. So, he wants us to know Him with our minds! He has given us His Word to teach us about Himself. To be properly grounded in our relationship with God, we need to know Him with our mind. We need to know who He really is, what he desires, what He hates, who we are in light of Him, and what He has done for us. That's really what theology is! My desire is for the students that I teach to love God with their heart, but in order to do so, they must have a right understanding of who he is. I want students (and myself!) to continually love God with their minds, as well. That means, we must open scripture and read diligently to find out who God really is and what he is saying to us! We continually pursue true knowledge and understanding, which is only found in scripture. That is why we study God's word and from our understanding of who God is, we can begin to understand his Word and our world more. I want students to LOVE theology! With my blog-otionals, I want you to think rightly and grow deeper in your understanding of the truth of God, which is found in His Word! So take some time and read through the following passages. Think about how God has called us to love theology (a proper knowledge of Him!).
-Romans 12:1-4 - Hosea 4 -2 Peter 3:18 - Phillippians 3:8-10 As we continue to look at Theology, I'll write more in a few days on the nature and character of God. Until then, keep studying' the word!!! |
AuthorJoe Burrows Archives
May 2017
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