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Post by Admin on Sept 4, 2012 19:41:00 GMT -5
Sept. 9 – Creation: The Beginning of Life as We Know It - Chapter 1 in The Story: Gen 1-3 . This is one of the best known sections of the Bible. The Creation - In the Beginning. Look at all that God has done. Consider His Creation of everything. Consider God creating His people. That is the title of this ongoing study. The awesomeness of this initial creation - from nothing to everything. The first light. Then there is matter, physical laws, galaxies, solar systems, planets, the components of each tiny atom. Macro and micro - each in perfect detail and complexity. God spoke and it happened. Wow! But it continues through all the levels of creation to mankind. Male and female. Life. Look at the entirety of life: birds, reptiles, mammals, plants, insects, humans. The variety and complexity is enormous! And the garden - the perfect utopia. Walking and talking with God. Perfection exactly as God created and intended that it should be. But it doesn't last. Sin enters the world. Mankind sins against their creator. The garden is sealed away and we are out. So much content in three short chapters - share some of your thoughts with the class. Share some of your questions. Take a moment to praise God for the incredible awesome Creator that He is! There are thousands of ways to get sidetracked in these opening chapters. Attachments:
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Post by arthurpare on Sept 5, 2012 22:43:31 GMT -5
Wow - this is such rich material. The opening chapters of Genesis really create such a solid foundation. I had not noticed the distinction between 'God Created' and 'Let There Be' in the opening lines. We have frequently heard that repetition is akin to exclamation points in scripture - so 1:27 where God created is emphasized three separate times when it had only been used twice in the preceding 26 verses must mean something! As different as light is from the chaotic void, man is from the world. Singular, unique, unable to find a suitable companion from all the creatures. Distinct, set apart, called out by God... first verse of a beautiful melody that repeats throughout scripture. How beautiful, how subtle.
We are given this quick overview of creation and then chapter two gives us some more detail. Specifics. But not details on how God created the duck billed platypus but on how He created the one he declared Very good.
Why did God create? More importantly, Why did He create mankind?
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Post by Admin on Sept 6, 2012 20:52:54 GMT -5
Bob Bailey sent the following to his class - worth reading and discussing: Greetings! I am excited to be back with you for our study of the Story of God Creating His People. As you have probably heard, we are going to do a 9 month survey of the Bible with the intent of gaining deeper insight into God's plan for all of us and how that plan should transform the way we live. The text this week in Genesis Chapters 1-3 or Chapter 1 of the book, "The Story." Whichever you choose to read, please bring your Bible to class. This text from Genesis is of course the telling of the creation, the garden, and the fall of mankind; stories we know well. Do we know them as well as we think we do? If you'd like to read Genesis chapters 1-3 online, click here: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201-3&version=NIV (there are several versions to choose from, if NIV is not your cup of tea). As you read, you might think about the following: 1 What is it exactly that "begins" in Gen. 1:1? 2 Who are the characters in the story? 3 How are things different at the end of Chapter 3 than they were at the end of Chapter 2? 4 What do these Chapters say about who we are and where we come from? See you Sunday, Bob Bailey |
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Post by arthurpare on Sept 8, 2012 21:39:27 GMT -5
From Fee/Stuart book II (pg 16) In exchanging the truth about God for a lie, we saw God as full of caprice, contradictions, hostility, lust, and retribution (all projections of our fallen selves). But God is not like our grotesque idolatries. Indeed, if he is hidden, Paul says, it is because we had become slaves to the god of this world, who has blinded our minds, so that we are ever seeking but never able to find him (see 2 Cor 4:4).
Second, the Fall also caused us to distort—and blur—the divine image in ourselves, rolling it in the dust, as it were. Instead of being loving, generous, self-giving, thoughtful, merciful—as God is—we became miserly, selfish, unloving, unforgiving, spiteful. Created to image, and thus represent, God in all that we are and do, we learned rather to bear the image of the Evil One, God's implacable enemy.
The third consequence of the Fall was our loss of the divine presence and with our relationship—fellowship—with God. In place of communion with the Creator, having purpose in his creation, we became rebels, lost and cast adrift, creatures who broke God's laws, abused his creation, and suffered the awful consequences of fallenness in our brokenness, alienation, loneliness, and pain.
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Post by arthurpare on Sept 9, 2012 21:11:43 GMT -5
Lyn described three of the four "chapters" or sections of the scriptural narrative in the Cornerstone class: Creation, Fall, and Redemption. The fourth is consummation.
The biblical narrative does not begin with people searching for a God; it begins with God before all things. God is the source, the creator.
Man coveted godlikeness and chose to seek it over communion with the creator. We lost the vision of God, the image of God in us (we were created in the image and likeness of God), and our perfect fellowship with God. Tragic, distant, rebellious.
The longest section is Redemption. From almost the moment of the fall, God has been displaying his mercy. When we read Romans 8:31 it flies in the face of the fall. God is not against us and trying to punish and destroy us; God is with us, for us, loving us. God has called us and given us lavish gifts, including his law, his wisdom, and his story. The unfathomable love and grace of God makes this our story.
Finally, there is consummation. Still being written, still being experienced, still being lived out. God has already set this final chapter in motion through the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The author and finisher of life is bringing us back to the perfect creation; back to the garden; back to his holy presence without that stain of sin and the enmity that came between us.
Share with us what was discussed in your class and what questions and comments you have.
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Post by arthurpare on Sept 11, 2012 8:21:54 GMT -5
Outside the first three chapters - but my mind has been thinking about this for a while. God didn't say "Thou shalt not kill" for a long time. Yet Cain knew it was wrong to kill Able. What makes it "wrong" besides God's explicit command? What is the root of morality? And also, why did God protect Cain? What is the root of mercy? These questions may not have a definitive answer this side of heaven, but I think they are worth considering.
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Post by James on Sept 11, 2012 10:31:32 GMT -5
Also inGenesis 13:13 it says Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
Outside the law (like we are) what defines sinning greatly against the Lord?
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