• 180-minute Explanation – page 1 •
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MARKERS OF SAME CONTENT:
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1 10-min. & 30-min. & 180-min.
1-1 30-min. & 180-min. only
1-1-1 180-minute version only
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WHAT WAS BEFORE THE BEGINNING?
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In the beginning God...
Genesis 1:1 –
the first words in the Bible
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Before…you brought forth the…world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2
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WHERE DID EVERYTHING COME FROM?
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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
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By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:3
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Through him [Christ] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:3
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In the beginning you [God] laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out… They will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
Psalm 102:25-27
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You hung the earth over nothing
​Job
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The first heaven and the first earth… [will] pass…away.
Revelation 21:1
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So everything that we see came from Creator God and has a beginning and an end. Only God is eternal, without beginning or end.
Question: How did that computer get there?
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If you see a computer sitting on a table, do you say: “Oh, I wonder how it got there? It must have gotten put together by chance. It must have gotten on the table by chance”?
No! We instinctively think: “Someone designed it and made it. Someone put it on the table on purpose.”
Aren't we humans, and the entire universe, far more intricately and wonderfully designed than any computer?
Is it reasonable to think that this universe, and this earth, and we humans are simply here by some unplanned accident – simply by chance?
It actually takes "faith" to believe that.
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Isn't it at least as reasonable to think that God made everything?
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WHO IS GOD?
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A. Only God is eternal.
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[God says:] I am the...First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Revelation 22:13
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Before…you brought forth the…world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2
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As [God] the Father has life in himself, so he has granted [God] the Son to have life in himself.
John 6:26
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God depends on nothing for his existence – he is self-existing.
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B. He is the Creator.
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Is he not...your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Deuteronomy 32:6
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Question:
Where would you draw a line to divide the following list of things into 2 distinct groups?
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God
humans
the universe
stars, planets
animal
trees, plants
mountains, rivers
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Bible's Answer:
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GOD = creator
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humans = created
the universe
stars, planets
animals
trees, plants
mountains, rivers
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• So, could Creator God just be a force or spirit within nature?
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The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you.
II Chronicles 6:18
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Creation (nature) is not God, but is simply God’s “artwork.”
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Creator God is not part of his creation but transcends all that he has made. Creation could never contain God. He is greater than the universe he has created. So he could not be just a spirit or force within nature – or within a great tree, or a beautiful mountain.
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• Or do you think that man could invent or make Creator God?
1. [God] the Father has life in himself.
John 6:26
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If Creator God is self-existing and depends on nothing else for his life, do you think that man could have invented him or made him?
2. Since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone–an image made by man’s design and skill.
Acts 17:29
Who exists first, a father or his child?
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A father cannot be created by his children! If people are Creator God’s children, how could we, his children, possibly make him?
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3. God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” …So God created man in his own image.
Genesis 1:26-27
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Since we are God's offspring, made in his image, do you think that God could be something less than what we are?
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We have personality, intelligence and creativity, and are capable of sophisticated communication. If we, as God’s children, are created in his image, do you think that God could be less than what we are? How could he be just an inanimate object made of stone or wood? Or, if we have personality, is it reasonable to think that he could be nothing more than an impersonal, animating force in nature?
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4. He [God] is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Acts 17:25
The craftsman…nails down the idol so it will not topple.
Isaiah 41:7
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If Creator God needs nothing from us, do you think that he would be something that needs to be propped up by us, using tools and hardware so that he will not fall over?
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5. Then God said, “…Let them [humans] rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth.”
Genesis 1:26
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Why would we want to worship, pray to, or rely on something below us in status?
6. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Acts 17:24
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If we cannot even make a building that God can live in, how can we make God?
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7. [Creator God says:] I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”
Isaiah 46:9
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[God says:] “Who is my equal? Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?”
Isaiah 40:25
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[Creator God says:] “Be silent before me, you islands.”
Isaiah 41:1
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So to make an idol or to pray to anything else but Creator God is extremely disrespectful and is a sin against him.
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C. God is a loving Father.
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Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you.
Deuteronomy 32:6
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As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
Psalm 103:13
Pray…: “Our Father in heaven…”
Matthew 6:6, 9
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:8
The Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
Proverbs 3:11
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D. God has a rich personality with deep emotions.
[God said:] “I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my soul.”
Jeremiah 32:41 [NAS]
The Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
Isaiah 49:13
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
I Peter 5:7
God…richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
I Timothy 6:17
So God is generous.
You shall not make for yourselves an idol, in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.
Exodus 20:4-5 [Shinkaiyaku]
Illustration:
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If someone whom you love and who belongs to you deserts you to be with someone else, how would you feel? If you truly loved them, would you not feel jealous? But if you did not love them deeply, you might not have such strong emotions? Creator God loves his children deeply.
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The Lord...is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
II Peter 3:9
We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
I John 4:16
E. God is amazingly creative.
God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
Jeremiah 10:12
[Creator God says:] “I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. ‘You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.’”
Isaiah 45:6-8
The Lord said…, “See, I have chosen Bezalel [to build my tabernacle]…, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts–to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.”
Exodus 31:1-5
Creator God could not give creativity to us if he did not possess it himself.
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F. God is Ruler of all things.
Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:37
Question:
If God is Lord and ruler, what must we do?
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Answer:
We must obey him.
[In the future] all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.
Psalms 22:17-28
G. God is Judge of all things.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one [God] who is able to save and to destroy.
James 4:12
H. God is Savior.
[God says:] "Apart from me there is no Savior."
Isaiah 43:11
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I. God is unique in heaven and in the universe.
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[Creator God declares:] "Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no Savior."
Isaiah 43:10-11
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QUESTION:
Is God like breakfast cereal?
Or is God like gravity?
In an American supermarket someone counted the number of varieties of breakfast cereal (for example, Cornflakes) on the shelves. There were 164! Each customer can choose to buy whatever kind of cereal they like. There is no right or wrong choice. It is up to each person's preference.
Is God like cereal? Are there many gods, and we can choose the one that we like best? Is the choice simply personal, so that it doesn't really matter what god we choose? Is the end result basically the same for all choices?
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Or is God like gravity?
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​Gravity just "is"! It doesn't matter what I think or believe about gravity. My opinion or preference doesn't change gravity at all. Even my existence has absolutely no effect on the existence of gravity! If I had never been born, gravity would still be the same.
Whether I believe in gravity or don't believe in gravity, if I jump off the top of a skyscraper, the results will be the same. Gravity just "is"!
[Creator God says:] I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”
Isaiah 46:9
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J. One-God-in-3-Persons: or the same essence in 3 forms –
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• God the Father
​In the Bible​ "God" usually refers to God the Father.
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• God the Son
The Son of God – Jesus Christ
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​• God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit – God's Spirit / Christ's Spirit / the Spirit
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​They have the same:
Nature
Heart
Purpose
Character
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God is love.
I John 4:8
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"I, the Lord your God, am holy.
Leviticus 19:2
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But they have different:
Roles
Functions
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What do they do? What are they like? Relationship to one another?
Love – the Father loves me because I lay down my life
Unity – I and the Father are one
Glorify each other – Spirit glorifies me. Father glorifies the Son. Son glorifies the Father.
Son submits to the Father.
​Location: Christ physically on earth in one place. Spirit (of Christ) present with every believer/child of God anywhere in the world.
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All three were present at the creation of the world:
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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ...And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2
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Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you.
Deuteronomy 32:6
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In the beginning was the Word [Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made.
John 1:1-3
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How do we know that in this section "the Word" refers to Christ?
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Because ...
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The Word became flesh [human] and made his dwelling [on earth] among us.
John 1:14
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Jesus was in heaven as God.
Then he came to earth as God plus human being.
​So he was 100% God and 100% human being.
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In Christ all the fullness of the Deity (God) lives in bodily (human) form.
Colossians 2:9
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[Before Jesus was born] the angel said to her, "...Mary...you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. ...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most high will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."
Luke 1:30-32, 35
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Verses where all three (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are mentioned at the same time:
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God's [children]...have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the [Holy] Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ.
I Peter 1:1-2
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Baptiz[e]...them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19
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Does 1-God-in-3-persons make logical sense?
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At first it may seem to be a logical impossibility.
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But there is a very common thing in our world that has the same characteristic –
of being 1-essence-in-3-forms.
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WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
When you received the word of God…you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God.
I Thessalonians 2:13
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You [God] have magnified your word according to all your name.
Psalm 138:2 [New American Standard Bible] [shinkaiyaku]
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Nothing is superior to these 2 things:
• Who Creator God is – his name, his identity.
​• Creator God's word.
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All scripture is God-breathed.
II Timothy 3:16
So the Bible is from Creator God and is his message directly to us. The Bible does not originate from people.
Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
II Peter 1:21
But God used men to write God’s message as his Holy Spirit guided their thoughts and words.
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All your words are true.
​Psalm 119:160
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Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105
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How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.
Psalm 119:9
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The Purpose of this Web Site is to Clearly Hear and Understand God's Word:
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The goal is to present and explain God’s word (the Bible) as clearly as possible. This is accomplished best when Creator God, himself, speak to us directly in his own words. So, much of this web site is God’s own words taken directly from the Bible.
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May you personally hear Creator God speaking directly to you.
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Overview of the Bible:
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• Contains 66 books.
• Written by about 40 authors.
• Written over about 1500 years – from about 1400 BC to about AD 90.
• Has amazing unity from beginning to end (as shown on this web site).
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Bible's 2 Main Parts:
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Part 1 – OLD TESTAMENT
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This is the story of:
• Who God is.
• The creation of the world.
• Israel until 400 years before Jesus was born.
​• The preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
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It was originally written mostly in Hebrew.
Part 2 – NEW TESTAMENT
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This is the story of:
• Who Jesus Christ is– his teaching and miracles – his birth, life, death, resurrection, and return to heaven.
• Jesus' followers telling the Mediterranean world about him (over approximately the next 45 years).
• The end of the world and the creation of a new heaven and new earth.
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This is the explanation of:
• All the things that God does for us in Jesus Christ – now and in eternity.
• How we can receive what Christ does for us.
​• How we can live to please God.
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It was originally written mostly in Greek.
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The Bible references you are reading here in English have been translated from the original Hebrew and Greek.
The Bible Contains Great Variety:
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• People’s experiences with God.
• Teaching about God and about having a relationship with him.
• Explanation of why there is evil in the world.
• Answers to why the world, people and life are the way they are.
• Prayers to God.
• Complaints to God.
• Questions of God.
• History of God’s actions with people.
• Philosophy about life.
• Wisdom about marriage, child raising and other relationships.
• Dealing with hardship and suffering.
• Prophecy about future events.
• Promises from God to us.
• Description of truth and reality.
• Poetry.
• Description of eternal life.
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WHO IS MANKIND?
God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over … all the earth.” …So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
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1. We are made in Creator God’s image.
2. Both male and female reflect God’s image.
3. God made us responsible to make the most of his world and to take care of it.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15
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4. God made us for himself.
[God’s children say:] Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people.
Psalm 100:3
5. God longs to have an eternal relationship with us.
[At the end of the Bible Jesus says:] “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20
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6. We do not have life in and of ourselves: we neither created our own life nor sustain our own life.
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7
In him [God] we live and move and have our being.
Acts 17:28
[Jesus asks:] “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Matthew 6:27
7. God’s desire is to make us like his Son Jesus Christ.
God…predestined [his children] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Romans 8:29
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WHAT KIND OF WORLD DID GOD CREATE?
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 1:31
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• The world was perfect.
• Man was originally created to live forever.
• There was no evil, no sorrow, no death.
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Is God generous or stingy?
God…richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
I Timothy 6:17
Your Father in heaven … causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:45
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God commanded the [first] man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden…
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– but God prohibited only one thing –
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…but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
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Why did God put one forbidden thing in the very center of the Garden?
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We don't know for certain!
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God doesn't directly tell us why he did it– the Bible doesn't explain it.
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But we could speculate:
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• True obedience involves a choice.
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Illustration:
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A mother says to her 4-year-old child, "Don't eat the cookies." Then she puts the cookies on the top shelf of the top cupboard and shuts the door. Now it is impossible for the child to reach them, so it is impossible for him to disobey. Is this true obedience?
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Robots cannot make choices. God did not make us as robots.
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God created man in his own image.
Genesis 1:26-27
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​• Obedience to God is based on a relationship to him:
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Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (and with all your strength)."
Matthew 22:37-40
(Mark12:30)
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[Jesus said:] "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
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Robots cannot love. God did not make us as robots.
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• Disobeying God's command is disrespectful to God himself:
Whoever keeps the whole Law [of God] and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder."
James 2:10-11
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Who gave the command is the important point!
Breaking God's command is a violation of our relationship with God himself.
This is the most serious consequence of Adam's sin.
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So maybe God was testing the relationship that Adam & Eve had with him.
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WHAT IS THE RESULT OF DISOBEYING GOD?
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
[God said:] “If…you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins.”
Leviticus 26:18
Disobeying Creator God is sin –
so sin is far more than just committing a crime.
SIN ––––> DEATH
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DID ADAM OBEY GOD OR NOT?
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Did Adam obey God’s command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
She [Eve] took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband [Adam], who was with her, and he ate it.
Genesis 3:6
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HOW DID ADAM’S SIN CHANGE THE WORLD?
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Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 5:12
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WHAT WAS MAN’S RESPONSE TO HIS SIN?
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8
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Adam and Eve’s relationship to Creator God had been broken.
Illustration:
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They felt like little children who do wrong: They do not want to look into their parent’s eyes – instead they want to hide from their parents.
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WHAT ARE SIN’S PRIMARY CONSEQUENCES?
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The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
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The Lord God said, "The man has now... [come to know] good and evil. He must not be allowed to...take also from the Tree of Life, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:22-23
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So man died in 2 ways:
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1. Physically –
Adam & Eve began to grow old and eventually died.
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Your body is dead because of sin.
Romans 8:10
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2. Spiritually –
Adam & Eve immediately died spiritually. Their relationship to God was destroyed.
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Your iniquities have separated you from your God.
Isaiah 59:2
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You were [spiritually] dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world.
Ephesians 2:1-2
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WHAT WAS GOD’S FIRST RESPONSE TO ADAM’S SIN?
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But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
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God took the initiative.
God came to call the man back to himself – God did not immediately destroy him but showed him mercy.
God did this on about page 3 of the 1,000+ page Bible!
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What does this tell us about the message of the rest of the Bible?
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Even now, God is calling us to himself throughout the entire rest of the Bible.
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Jesus said … “[I] came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Luke 19:9
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Jesus, himself, came from heaven to earth for this purpose. God’s focus is on bringing all people back into a father-child relationship with himself.
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And this is still God’s invitation on the last page of the Bible:
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“Come!” Whoever is thirsty let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
Revelation 22:17
Question:
“Where are you?” ​​
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GOD PRESENTS OPTION #1 FOR OVERCOMING SIN:
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The Lord said to Cain [Adam & Eve’s son], “…If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; …but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:7
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Question about "you must master sin:"
Is this a reasonable solution?
Yes. It is the most obvious solution – and very reasonable.
If we just master sin, the problem goes away!
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Then why does it seem so unrealistic and unreasonable to us?
• Because it would take enormous effort on our part to do it.
• Because we don't want to do it.
​• Because we know that we can't do it, even if we want to.
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Later, God gives his Law:
God's Law expands in great detail on his original instruction to "master" sin.
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[Creator God said,] “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 18:5
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This is Option #1 for gaining eternal life:
With all our power we must try to never do wrong and always do right –
We must be a perfect person.
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Question:
Is it possible for us to do this?
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Answer:
Some centuries after Adam, during the time of Noah, Option #1 had already proven to be a failure.
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WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL REQUIREMENT ?
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To review: What did God tell Cain (Adam and Eve’s son) to do about sin?
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On Cain and his offering he [God] did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry… Then the Lord said to Cain, “…If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:5-7
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• We must do right to be accepted by Creator God.
• If we do wrong, sin is waiting to attack us.
• Sin wants to possess us.
• But we must overcome it.
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DID MAN DO RIGHT? DID MAN OVERCOME SIN?
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Centuries later, during the time of Noah, the earth was filled with evil and violence.
The Lord[’s]…heart was filled with pain. … God saw how corrupt the earth had become. …So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people [with a flood], for the earth is filled with violence.”
Genesis 6:6, 12-13
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So God destroyed all people and saved only Noah and his family.
Why did God punish all mankind like this?
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.
Revelation 4:8
Did this terrible punishment change man's heart?
[After the flood God said:] “Every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.”
Genesis 8:21
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Man didn’t change! Even the threat of great punishment doesn’t change our hearts.
Man had not mastered sin.
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GOD'S 2 OPTIONS FOR OVERCOMING SIN & DEATH
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Option #1: The Way of Works
Or: Trying Hard to Be Good on Our Own
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• We must be righteous by trying hard to obey God's Law and be a good person.
• Most people in the world rely on this method!
• Many think that if they are good enough they will go to heaven.
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Option #2: The Way of Grace & Faith
Or: Trusting in God to Make Us Good
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• God makes us righteous as a free gift.
• This gift is solely based on what Jesus Christ did for us when he died on the cross and rose from the dead.
• We receive this free gift by believing and relying on in what Christ did for us.
• As a result, our sins are forgiven, we become God's children, and we receive eternal life.
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The 2 options run side by side throughout the Bible.
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Both options are presented to the world through the man Abraham & the country Israel.
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Question:
• Which option do you think will succeed?
• And which option do you think will fail?
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THE FIRST HINT OF OPTION #2 IS AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE BIBLE:
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1. God hints that Option #2 is a gift from him – so it depends on what he does for us.
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On page 3 or 4 of the Bible – after the snake (Satan) deceived Eve, and Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God told them not to eat – God said to Satan:
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"Because you have done this, ...I will put enmity between you and the woman [Eve], and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Genesis 3:14, 15
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Who is the woman's offspring who will crush Satan's head?
​Years later we find out that it is the Messiah.
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This is a hint of future deliverance:
The Messiah will defeat Satan and save us from his control.
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God is just beginning to reveal his plan to save the world from sin and death.
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2. Then the Bible hints that Option #2 is based on our faith – not on our own efforts.
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First, God curses the ground, because of Adam's sin:
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"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce throrns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Genesis 3:17-19
Then, Adam and Eve are kicked out of the Garden of Eden, and they have two sons:
One of them has faith.
The other does not.
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Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on [1] Abel and [2] his offering, but on [1] Cain and [2] his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then...Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:2-5, 8
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We are under a curse – Cursed is everyone who does not obey the Law.
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So we see that from the very beginning that righteousness/salvation is based on faith in God, not on our own efforts to be good people.
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GOD BEGINS A 2000-YEAR PROCESS TO HELP THE WORLD
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​First, God chooses one man & one nation:
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God chose one man Abraham (originally called Abram) to become the father of a nation, Israel:
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“I will make you [Abraham] into a great nation, and I will bless you…”
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– then God promises to bless the whole world through Abraham –
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“…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:2
Manga Vol. 1, page
How did God bless all peoples on earth through Abraham?
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Jesus Christ [was]… the son [descendant] of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1
This Jesus was born about 2000 years after Abraham in the country of Israel. He was the Messiah who came from heaven to bless the whole world.
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Question:
The Bible focuses first on Israel.
But are my people and my country also blessed by Creator God?
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​Answer:
[God said to the Messiah:] I will…make you a light for the Gentiles [non-Israelites], that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 49:6
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The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.
Psalm 97:1 NAS
Israel is not an island nation.
But there are other nations made of islands.
[In heaven] there…was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne [of God] and in front of the Lamb [Jesus Christ].
Revelation 7:9
Every group of people on earth will be included in God’s blessings (because of what the Messiah did for them).
But God’s long, detailed plan needed to start with a specific person in a specific place with a specific group of people before it could spread to the whole world.
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Illustration:
So God’s blessing through Abraham to the world is like an upside down funnel –
From this one man, God's blessing spread to many.:
Abraham
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/ \
/ \
Israel
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ Whole \
/ World \
But Abraham had a big problem:
Abra[ha]m said, “O Sovereign Lord, …I remain childless… You have given me no children.”
Genesis 15:2-3
Manga Vol. 1, page
Abraham was at least 75 years old. How could God make him a great nation if he had no children?
Then God made a promise – that was humanly impossible to keep.
[God] took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars…So shall your offspring be.”
Genesis 15:5 / Manga Vol. 1, page
Next, we see one of the most important statements in the Old Testament!​
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Abra[ha]m believed the Lord, and he [God] credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
Manga Vol. 1, page
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1. Abraham believed God and trusted him.
2. So God viewed or credited Abraham's faith as righteousness.
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Illustration:
You may have no money in your checking account. But if the bank decides to credit $1 million to your account, then you have it. In the same way, we have no righteousness of our own. But if God credits it to us, we have it!
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Not having a righteousness of my own...
Philippians 3:9
[Abraham was] fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:21-22
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So to put it simply: Our righteousness comes from believing Creator God.
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This was true for Abraham even though he lived about 2000 years before the Messiah.
It was also true for all others in the Old Testament who were accepted by God.
Abel
Noah
Abraham did nothing to earn it:
God said: I am making my covenant with you.
In response / As a sign of accepting God's covenant, Abraham was circumcised: Now I belong to God.
Later, his faith produced acts of obedience: Sacrificing Isaac. – that's how we now that his faith was real.
But faith and being declared righteous came first (Option #2), then came works – works did not come first (which would be Option #1).
Everyone in the Bible (whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament) was saved by faith in God.​
(faith/ belief in the resurrection)
​But this faith was not fully explained until the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
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What does this tell us about becoming good (or righteous) in God's eyes?
What then shall we say that Abraham…discovered in this matter? …When a man works, his wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. However to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Romans 4:1, 4-5
This righteousness was not something that Abraham possessed on his own – or that we possess on our own:
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Illustration #1:
When you work at your company, you get paid because you earned the money – the company owes it to you. They must pay you because you worked for it. It is not a gift.
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Illustration #2:
When a friend gives you a special gift, you simply receive it. You don’t work for it and you don’t earn it. It is only because they are generous that you can receive the gift.
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So Abraham received something because of his faith:
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• Abraham received righteousness. It was a gift from God.
• Abraham received it only because of his faith in God – not because he worked to earn it.
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​But later, David had something removed because of his faith.
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What did David need to have removed?
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[King David] struck down Uriah...with the sword and took his wife to be....[his] own. ...But the thing David had done displeased the Lord. The Lord sent Nathan [the prophet] to David. ...Then David said, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan replied, "The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die."
II Samuel 11:27; 12:1, 9, 13
​Manga Vol. 2, page
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​Then David made another of the most important statements in the Old Testament:​
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"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him. ...I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord'––and you forgave the guilt of my sin."
Psalm 32:1-2
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The Bible later explains the importance of what David said:
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David...speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. ...To the man who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Romans 4:6, 5
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1. What was David's faith in?
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[David's] trust...[was in] God who justifies the wicked.
Romans 4:5
David had sinned and needed to be made right (justified) before God.
David needed forgiveness for his sins.
That's what he trusted God for.
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​2. What was the result of his faith in God to forgive his sins?
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His faith is credited as righteousness.
Romans 4:5
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​David not only received forgiveness for his sins; he received righteousness (purity, goodness) from God as well.
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David deserved neither forgiveness for his sins nor righteousness. They were both gifts from God. And he received them only because of his faith in God.
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Illustration:
When we seriously wrong a friend, we apologize. Even though we do not deserve to be forgiven, if they choose to forgive us, our wrong deed is not counted against us. And we have been given a precious gift.
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Righteousness through faith was true for Abraham even though he lived about 2000 years before the Messiah.
It was also true for David, who lived about 1000 years before the Messiah.
It is true for all others in the Old Testament who were accepted by God.
​Everyone in the Bible–in the Old Testament and the New Testament–is made righteous in God's eyes by only one thing: by faith in God.
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The righteous will live by his faith.
Habakkuk 2:4
There are 2 important parts to being righteous in God's eyes – and both involve faith:
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1. Something is removed from us:
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Our sins are forgiven by God.
So he does not count the evil that we have done against us (we are justified).
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We learn this from David.
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2. Something is added to us:
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We are assigned or credited righteousness by God
So he gives us the goodness that we do not have.
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We learn this from Abraham (and from David as well).
What do we believe God for?
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We especially believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.
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​As Abraham did – Romans 4:17-22
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