Grow In Grace
THE ONE TRUE GOD IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Exodus 20:11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day.” Nehemiah 9:6 “You are the LORD—you alone. You made the heavens—the highest heavens, and their entire army, the earth and everything that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.” Psalm 33:6, 9 “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made. By the breath of his mouth he made the whole army of stars. For he said, ‘Let it be,’ and it was! He gave a command, and there it stood.” Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth...” Colossians 1:16 “For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen...all things have been created through him and for him.” John 1:3 “Through him everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made.” Mark 10:5-6 “But Jesus told them…from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. The Creation Account—Genesis 1-2 Day 1. Light
1:3-5
Day 2. Sky
1:6-8
Day 3. Land formations, bodies of water, plant life
1:9-13
Day 4. Heavenly bodies (sun, moon, stars)
1:14-19
Day 5. Fish and birds
1:20-23
Day 6. Animals and people
1:24-27
Day 7. Rest
2:2
Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we know that the universe was created by God's word, so that what is seen did not come from visible things.”
For Additional Study For more Scripture passages that refer to God’s creation see: Deuteronomy 4:32 Job 12:9 Job 38-40 Psalm 24:2 Psalm 95:5 Psalm 102:25 Psalm 104:5 Psalm 124:8 Isaiah 40:28 Isaiah 45:12 Isaiah 48:13 Mark 10:6 Acts 4:24 Acts 7:50 Acts 14:15 Romans 1:25 Romans 4:17 Hebrews 3:4 2 Peter 3:5 Many biblical writers wrote of God as the Creator of all things. In order to support a different idea of how all things came into existence, a person would have to say that most of the Bible is not trustworthy, including the words of Jesus himself. Read Genesis chapters 1 and 2 for personal study.
The Theory of Evolution is not Scriptural The Bible speaks of the days of creation as literal, 24-hour days. Genesis 1:5 “God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning—the first day.” Exodus 20:9-11 “Six days you are to serve and do all your regular work, but the seventh day shall be a sabbath rest to the LORD your God. Do not do any regular work, neither you, nor your sons or daughters, nor your male or female servants, nor your cattle, nor the alien who is residing inside your gates, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. In this way the LORD blessed the seventh day and made it holy. God made all things “very good,” not needing evolution to complete the process. Genesis 1:31 “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning—the sixth day.” 2 Peter 3:5-6 “You see, what they are intentionally forgetting is that the heavens came into existence long ago by the word of God and that the earth came together out of the water and between the waters. Through these waters, the former world perished, when it was flooded with water.” Christians do not deny that species adapt to their habitats within certain bounds, but they recognize a difference between that and “molecules-toman” evolution. Does it really matter whether a person believes in evolution or creation? It is true that we are saved by believing that Jesus died for our sins and not by believing that God created the world in a certain way. But the question is whether we are going to believe what God has told us: How are you going to read the Bible? If people are free to say that the story of creation is a myth, then what will prevent them from saying that the story of the virgin birth is a myth, or to label the ascension, the resurrection of Christ, the prophecies concerning the second coming of Christ as myths. Churches that tolerate theologians who deny the historical accuracy of Genesis l and 2 will also tolerate people who question the historical correctness of the accounts of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 11
For Additional Study Answers in Genesis is an excellent resource for understanding Creation from both a biblical and scientific perspective. Answersingenesis.org
God’s Care for his Creation Genesis 8:22 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Psalm 145:16 “He opens his hand, and he satisfies the desire of every living thing.” Psalm 104:14-15 “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants that people use to produce food from the earth. Also wine that makes people’s hearts glad, olive oil to make their face shine, and bread that sustains their lives.” How would you describe the activity of God in relation to his creation?
For Additional Study Angels: Special Creatures As created beings, angels were created during the days of creation and they were very good. There are many of them (Luke 2:13; Revelation 5:11). They do not die (Luke 20:36).
God’s Special Creation Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man in our image.” Since God is spirit, what do you suppose it means that people were created in the image of God? The following passage may help: Ephesians 4:24 “...put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.”
They are unlike human beings—no marriage (Matthew 22:30). They are not allknowing (Mark 13:32) The serve God (Psalm 103:20-21). They are spirits who serve God’s people (Hebrews 1:14).
Creation Ruined Genesis 2:16-17 “The LORD God gave a command to the man. He said, “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden, but you shall not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Every time Adam and Eve did NOT eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, what were they doing?
12
Some angels rebelled against God in heaven and were expelled from God’s presence forever (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; 1 Peter 5:89).
Genesis 3:1-7, 14-19 “Now the serpent was more clever than any wild animal which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not from the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it. You shall not touch it, or else you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die. 5 In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was appealing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She gave some also to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
For Additional Study
14 “The LORD
God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all the livestock, and more than every wild animal. You shall crawl on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel. 16 To the woman he said: I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing. With painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you. 17 To Adam he said: Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, “You shall not eat from it,” the soil is cursed on account of you. You will eat from it with painful labor all the days of your life. 18 Thorns and thistles will spring up from the ground for you, but you will eat the crops of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the soil, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The rebellion of Adam and Eve brought death, just as God had said. Because Adam and Eve, the first people, sinned, sin infected all people after them. Genesis 5:3 “Adam...became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his own image.” Romans 5:12 “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned.” Ephesians 2:3b “Like all the others, we were by nature objects of wrath.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death.”
13
Sinful nature, inherited sin, original sin, totally corrupt nature—all are terms that describe the fact that every person is conceived and born with sin. Psalm 51:5 “Certainly I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me.”
GOD’S EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL PEOPLE God has expectations for all people, just as he did for Adam and Eve. God gave his expectations, or his law, in two different ways.
For Additional Study
Romans 2:15 “In fact, whenever Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires—even though they do not have the law—they are a law for themselves. They demonstrate the work of the law that is written in their hearts, since their conscience also bears witness as their thoughts go back and forth, at times accusing or at times even defending them.”
The ceremonial laws were given only to the nation of Israel. In addition to being ways to worship the Lord, they also pointed to the coming of the Savior. They served these purposes for a time—until Jesus came.
God creates people with a sense of his law. He writes it on our hearts. What evidence do you see of that?
God also had his laws written down. The book of Exodus tells how God gave all those laws to Moses and the Israelites. There were three types of laws given: Moral Laws The Ten Commandments Ceremonial Laws Worship regulations Civil Laws Governing regulations The moral law, as summarized in the Ten Commandments, stands as God’s expectations for all people of all time. Not only are they written on people’s hearts and recorded in the Old Testament, they are also repeated by Jesus and the New Testament writers. We will study them in detail in a later lesson. The Ten Commandments 1 You shall have no other gods beside me 2 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God 3 Remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy. 4 Honor your father and your mother 5 You shall not commit murder. 6 You shall not commit adultery. 7 You shall not steal. 8 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 9 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. 10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. 14
The civil laws also were given to the nation of God’s people for a time. Israel was a theocracy (“rule by God”). They were to function according to these laws in order to identify them as a unique nation, to keep order, and to maintain this nation of God’s people while they held both the promise and family line of the Savior who would come. The Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Romans 7:7
Matthew 5:48 “So then, be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
For Additional Study
James 2:10 “In fact, whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles in one point has become guilty of breaking all of it.”
Romans 3:23 “Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
What does God expect from us and all people?
What do the following passages tell us about all people? Psalm 14:3 “Every one of them has turned away. Altogether they have become rotten. There is no one who does good. There is not even one.” Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy cloth.”
Genesis 8:21 “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth.”
Psalm 143:2 “Do not bring charges against your servant, because no one living can be righteous before You.” 1 John 1:8, 10 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us...If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us.” All people are ___________________________________________. Galatians 3:11 “Clearly no one is declared righteous before God by the law...” Romans 3:20 “For this reason, no one will be declared righteous in His sight by works of the law; for through the law we become aware of sin.” Galatians 2:16 “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ.” Based on those verses, which of these statements is true:
If I just try my best, God will be satisfied.
As long as I don’t commit any horrible sins, God will accept me.
Doing more good than bad will make God pleased with me.
No one can be saved by their attempts to keep God’s law. 15
“Justified” is another word for “declared righteous.” Other words for sin found in the Bible: Debt Disobedience Iniquity Lawlessness Rebellion Transgression Trespass Wickedness Read Romans 7:1425 to see how the Apostle Paul described his struggle with sin.
Any breaking of God's holy law is called sin.
For Additional Study
Sinful Nature (original sin, inherited sin)
The purpose of the Law
Psalm 51:5 “Certainly I was guilty when I was born. I was sinful when my mother conceived me.” Romans 5:12 “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned.” Actual Sins of thought, word, and action Commission and Omission Known and Unknown Voluntary and Involuntary As sinful people by nature, we have no ability to save ourselves. 1 Corinthians 2:14 “However, an unspiritual person does not accept the truths taught by God’s Spirit, because they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually evaluated.” We are spiritually __________________________. Ephesians 2:1 “You were dead in your trespasses and sins.” We are spiritually __________________________. Romans 8:7 “For the mind-set of the sinful flesh is hostile to God, since it does not submit to God’s law, and in fact, it cannot.” We are ___________________________ of God. Isaiah 59:2 “No, it is your guilt that has separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden God’s face from you, so that he does not hear.” What does this passage mean for a person’s life… In this world? ____________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ When they die? __________________________________________ _______________________________________________________
16
CURB The Law acts as a curb to hold the ungodly behavior of all people in check. It checks, at least to some extent, the coarse outbreak of sin in the world. 1 Timothy 1:9 “...the law is not laid down for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for godless people and sinners, for unholy and worldly people...” MIRROR The Law acts as a mirror to expose the sin in all people. Romans 3:20 ...through the law we become aware of sin.” GUIDE The Law acts as a rule to teach Christians what good works they should do. Psalm 119:9, 105 “How can a young man keep his path pure? By guarding it with your words…Your words are a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.” When God brings a person to faith in Jesus, the thankful Christian asks, “How can I thank you, Lord? God answers by directing them back to his commandments. Only the Gospel can give a person the desire to live by God’s commands. For this reason, only Christians see the Law as a guide for thankful living.
THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN COMES THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST GOD FORGIVES SIN BASED ON FAITH IN HIS PROMISES Old Testament believers were saved by trust in the promises of a Savior. Galatians 3:6,8 “So also Abraham ‘believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’…Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’” Psalm 103:2-3 “Bless the LORD, O my soul...who pardons all your guilt...” Psalm 130:3-4 “If you, LORD, kept a record of guilt, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is pardon.” This faith in a Savior was based on God’s promises that he continued to give to his people over the course of time. Genesis 3:15 “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brother Israelites. Listen to him.” Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.” Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born. To us a son is given. The authority to rule will rest on his shoulders. He will be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, from you will go out the one who will be the ruler for me in Israel. His goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.” Finally, God sent his Son as promised Galatians 4:4- 5 “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.” 17
For Additional Study The word “gospel” means “good news” and refers to the good news of forgiveness and salvation that is found through faith in Jesus Christ. Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God announced His eternal plan of rescue. Speaking to the devil in Genesis 3:15, the Lord promised that a human descendant of Eve would crush the devil’s power and win people back to God. Adam and Eve didn’t realize that this Deliverer would come some 4,000 years later. During those years, God divulged more and more details of how he would send the Rescuer; how and where he would be born; from whose family he would come. These and other details were revealed by God through the Old Testament prophets.